How long for hock injections to take effect? Or what else could this be?

[FineAlready]

[QUOTE=IPEsq;8452586]
I may have missed it, but does his back palpate sore?[/QUOTE]

Good question - forgot to mention it. The vet palpated him last week and said his back felt really great, supple, and well-muscled. I routinely palpate his back while tacking up, and all has seemed fine to me there too.

My saddle is a Schleese that is custom fitted to his back at 6 month intervals. The most recent refit was in October.

[beau159]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8451493]
I know I’ve seen other threads on this, but can’t find them. I’ve had my horse’s hocks injected before, and he usually shows almost complete improvement within a week. [/QUOTE]

My vet has told me that injections have their max effect approximately 7 to 10 days from when they are done.

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8451493]
There was a LOT of watery fluid in the right hock when the needle went in for the injections.
…
For what it is worth, he’s 10 years old and does have visible changes in his hocks on x-ray, although I did not get a new set of x-rays this time. He has a small spur on the left hock, and narrowing joint space on the right hock.[/QUOTE]

Okay. So here’s my personal opinion on this. I will NEVER inject a horse without doing x-rays first. Never. I figure if I am going to dish out the money for injections, I want to know exactly what is going on with the bone structure and how it is progressing.

With my Red, we were battling a fusing hock on the right side. The difference in just one year with his x-rays was incredible.

So I guess that would be the first thing I would advise. Before you decide to inject (or I guess in this case, do anything further), take new x-rays and see what is going on,

Was there a lot of fluid on BOTH hocks or just one or the other?

Narrowing joint spaces … if he fusing or simply losing cartilage?

Keep in mind that injections do help for spurs and for fusing, but they may not take away all the pain. Last year when my horse Red got injected, they helped a lot but not 100%. I had to also start him on Previcox to help with what the injections couldn’t do. Then he was fine.

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8451493]
Now we are at day 7, and he looks and feels just as bad as he did before injections when he starts out, but he works out of the lameness within about 7 minutes after picking up the trot (he had been largely working out of the lameness prior to injections also).

Same question about stifle problems - could he be working out of it into soundness if he’s stifle sore? [/QUOTE]

Was there any fluid on the stifles with palpatation?
Any bony changes on the stifle via x-ray?

My Red also has a problem with a catchy right stifle. He never “works out” of it. It’s there constantly. Fortunately for him, he does not have a bad case and it only “catches” when I let him trot uncollected. Or I see him crossfire on the backside of his barrel turns when it is bothering him. Again, not something he can “work out of” but has to be maintained. He’s definately better with regular riding.

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8451493]
The vet palpated him last week and said his back felt really great, supple, and well-muscled. I routinely palpate his back while tacking up, and all has seemed fine to me there too. [/QUOTE]

Have you had a chiropractor check him?

[IPEsq]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8452649]
Good question - forgot to mention it. The vet palpated him last week and said his back felt really great, supple, and well-muscled. I routinely palpate his back while tacking up, and all has seemed fine to me there too.

My saddle is a Schleese that is custom fitted to his back at 6 month intervals. The most recent refit was in October.[/QUOTE]

Hm ok. I wasn’t thinking saddle fit, btw, but rather back soreness secondary to the hocks.

[FineAlready]

Beau - I honestly have never made it a habit to x-ray every time on a horse that has been x-rayed previously. This horse is probably due for a new set of x-rays though.

Stifle is not remarkable from the outside or on palpation. Prior stifle x-rays showed nothing abnormal, but I may have new x-rays taken.

Both hocks had watery fluid, but the right one had way more.

Chiropractor (who is actually a vet, so does VSMT) hasn’t looked at him yet for this issue, but she sees him several times a year usually and he is frequently out in his SI, so that’s a definite possibility.

I just made an appointment for him for next Monday with another lameness vet from my regular clinic. Naturally, the vet that did the injections is on vacation now through Jan. 5. I do like this vet also though and she has seen this horse before.

IPEsq - yeah, I actually couldn’t believe he WASN’T back sore. I thought for sure he would be because he was so sore behind.

I think I’m going to just go easy on him until Monday’s appointment. Probably just some tack walking and very light lunging if he can do that without going nuts.

[tpup]

I had to stop injecting hocks because it did a number on my horse’s stomach. Flared his ulcers badly. (something in the injection). We tried injecting minus that ingredient which helped, but eventually moved him over to IM Adequan every 2 weeks (my guy was 20 something though). He had allover arthritis and severe hock arthritis. The Adequan was great and we did a few rounds of IRAP which also helped TREMENDOUSLY. If he doesn’t want to trot and becomes that upset it makes me think possibly ulcers. The hock injections may have flared mild ones or existing ones. I’d ask the vet about that. Good luck - frustrating for sure!

[DarkBayUnicorn]

I would get his SI scanned and treated if needed. Hock injections should restore full comfort after 72 hours. Think about the cycle of power in a properly engaged horse, and SI is directly affected by hock weakness.

I also have to say that I’ve never seen a sound horse ridden in a Schleese. They are local to me, and incredibly nice people, but honestly. 99.9% of the horses I’ve handled that were ridden in Schleese saddles were back sore.

[FineAlready]

So, I did some troubleshooting. Last night and this morning, I put Surpass on the right stifle. He just about killed me when I touched the right stifle, but was okay with me touching the left one. So I really do suspect that’s the trouble area.

I stuck him on the lunge this morning. Let him walk 15 minutes on the lunge at first. He started out short on the RH, but not quite as bad as he’s been. Had him trot a little and he looked pretty sound - probably still slightly off on RH but not like he was previously. He did, however, want to stop after a single lap of trot. He did this several times. Each time he picked up the trot, he’d trot one pretty good looking lap and the halt. That’s pretty unlike him, so I know something is still bothering him. We had no blow ups today because I just let him walk some walk laps when he needed them. I didn’t do much - just a soundness check, really.

So…we will see. I could be wrong, but I really suspect that stifle is the trouble spot. I would think he would have been really lame today after going kind of crazy lunging yesterday if it was his suspensory. Still no heat or swelling anywhere. Not even stocking up, and they were in yesterday due to weather.

[retrofit]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8453697]
I would think he would have been really lame today after going kind of crazy lunging yesterday if it was his suspensory. [/QUOTE]

Not really. This is a ligament, not a tendon, so often they aren’t as painfully lame. Also, sometimes stifles get sore simply because the leg isn’t moving properly. I hope you’re right and it’s not the suspensory, but I would still strongly suggest doing the block and hopefully ruling it out.