Is there such thing as too much maintenance?

[SkipsFlight]

Apologies in advance for the long post, reaching out for some other perspectives here. I have a 15 year old gelding that, until last summer, I was showing PSG. He then obtained a suspensory injury and has been very slowly rehabbing. For the last year or so he has been getting annual hock injections and this year my vet suggested adding SI injections to the appointment to help him feel more comfortable. At this point I’ve dropped continuing on my Small Tour journey and am happy to have him do lower level work/hacking/retire/whatever he seems happy and comfortable to do BUT I do feel like I have steered my horse wrong somewhere in our care for this injury to have happened and I’m currently looking at maintenance (among many other factors as well).

I fully believe that we ask a lot of our horses and that maintenance is necessary for support. My horse gets regular massage, acupuncture and chiro as well as the aforementioned hock injections and of course regular vet/dentist/farrier/saddle fit appointments. He’s at a barn that prioritizes all-day turnout, good nutrition, cross training, and good footing. However, at some point is maintenance “piecing together” a horse so that it can do more than what it perhaps physically should be doing? I want my horse to be happy and comfortable well into old age and if injections help him then I’m 100% all for it BUT is there a point when it’s used to push a horse too far?

In the past I had strongly felt that maintenance was only fair for horses that we ask so much of and that such care would help prevent big issues. Now that my horse has had such a big injury I’m evaluating whether or not maintenance was masking other issues that we subsequently missed, leading to the suspensory (evaluating other aspects of training, care, showing, etc as well).

I honestly feel sick thinking about my horse and whether I have pushed him too hard in the past or used maintenance as a cover up thus leading to his suspensory injury? Is there a point where maintenance moves from great care into a morally grey area?

I’m hoping to find out:

1. Is there a point at which maintenance crosses a line?
2. If you’re comfortable sharing, what maintenance does your horse receive?

Thanks in advance for reading this (lengthy) post, appreciate any insight or shared experiences.

[Scribbler]

@SkipsFlight

Apologies in advance for the long post, reaching out for some other perspectives here. I have a 15 year old gelding that, until last summer, I was showing PSG. He then obtained a suspensory injury and has been very slowly rehabbing. For the last year or so he has been getting annual hock injections and this year my vet suggested adding SI injections to the appointment to help him feel more comfortable. At this point I’ve dropped continuing on my Small Tour journey and am happy to have him do lower level work/hacking/retire/whatever he seems happy and comfortable to do BUT I do feel like I have steered my horse wrong somewhere in our care for this injury to have happened and I’m currently looking at maintenance (among many other factors as well).

I fully believe that we ask a lot of our horses and that maintenance is necessary for support. My horse gets regular massage, acupuncture and chiro as well as the aforementioned hock injections and of course regular vet/dentist/farrier/saddle fit appointments. He’s at a barn that prioritizes all-day turnout, good nutrition, cross training, and good footing. However, at some point is maintenance “piecing together” a horse so that it can do more than what it perhaps physically should be doing? I want my horse to be happy and comfortable well into old age and if injections help him then I’m 100% all for it BUT is there a point when it’s used to push a horse too far?

In the past I had strongly felt that maintenance was only fair for horses that we ask so much of and that such care would help prevent big issues. Now that my horse has had such a big injury I’m evaluating whether or not maintenance was masking other issues that we subsequently missed, leading to the suspensory (evaluating other aspects of training, care, showing, etc as well).

I honestly feel sick thinking about my horse and whether I have pushed him too hard in the past or used maintenance as a cover up thus leading to his suspensory injury? Is there a point where maintenance moves from great care into a morally grey area?

I’m hoping to find out:

1. Is there a point at which maintenance crosses a line?
2. If you’re comfortable sharing, what maintenance does your horse receive?

Thanks in advance for reading this (lengthy) post, appreciate any insight or shared experiences.

IME many injuries are the result of biomechanical flaws in the riding and training catching up with the horse. So the first place I would look would be that.

Second, it’s not that there’s “too much maintenance” per se, but that “maintenance” on a horse is not like maintenance on a car. It doesn’t fix things. It just helps manage chronic or progressive conditions that will eventually outrun the power of medical intervention. There may also be a limited number of times you can use some techniques like steroid injections

I would say that if the horse is popping up new chronic stress injuries, it’s time to downgrade his activity level a bit. Not necessarily retire. But I would suggest going back to basics making sure he can stretch to the bit out and down at walk and trot, bascule, lift his back, things that sometimes get lost in dressage training. Let him live on a field. Trail ride with gentle hills. Give him a year or two of gentle work and quiet constant movement that is within his scope, stop schooling 20 metre circles or canter pirouette or extended trot, and then see if he stabilizes. Maybe take off his shoes and use boots.

I agree, in humans as well as horses, weakness in one area throws out other areas. Like a pronating foot in humans leading to back pain and unlevel pelvis, etc.

[Amy3996]

Having been through the soft tissue injury rigamaroll myself, I sympathize. Try not to beat yourself up. I think it’s commendable that you’re willing to take a hard look at what might be able to be done differently or better in the future. As far as maintenance, I do believe that there can be too much of a good thing.

A dear friend of mine purchased a then 5yo, 17h Appendix gelding in 2020. She wanted a partner to tinker around at intro/training dressage, maybe do some trail riding. He was underweight, and of questionable physical and neurological soundness at PPE. My friend meant well, thought she could patch him up, but ended up buying a horse with multiple glaring red flags and against the advice of her vet.

By the time she put him down at 8 in March of this year, he’d had 2 rounds of EPM treatment, therapeutic shoeing on a 3 week cycle, hock and stifle injections, ulcer treatment. Thousands of dollars in bodywork. Every expensive supplement under the sun. All to try to make a sound horse out of one who was very much unsound to begin with. We later learned that he had been started under saddle as a young yearling, and found multiple YouTube videos of him being ridden W/T/C at 18 months old. A necropsy revealed pelvic fractures, various ligament and tendon issues, and abnormal bone development in his neck that severely limited mobility. Euthanasia would’ve been a kindness from the day she bought him. IMO, this version of maintenance crosses the line, however well-intentioned.

[FjordBCRF]

@Amy3996

We later learned that he had been started under saddle as a young yearling, and found multiple YouTube videos of him being ridden W/T/C at 18 months old. A necropsy revealed pelvic fractures, various ligament and tendon issues, and abnormal bone development in his neck that severely limited mobility.

Ugh. Poor pony.

[JB]

@SkipsFlight

I have a 15 year old gelding that, until last summer, I was showing PSG. He then obtained a suspensory injury and has been very slowly rehabbing. For the last year or so he has been getting annual hock injections and this year my vet suggested adding SI injections to the appointment to help him feel more comfortable.

If this is the extent of injury and maintenance, then I don’t see how the maintenance things could have caused the injury. Do you mean the hock/SI injections started before the suspensory injury? It so, it couldn’t have been long before, right?

Were you riding him when the suspensory happened, or did he come in from the field/out of his stall lame one day?

Horses are born trying to kill, or at least maim themselves, and many success in spite of the most diligent care.

Training to get to PSG is a lot of work, many hours building fitness and along with it pushing some limits which is required to gain fitness and suppleness, however small the push.

Hock and SI injections aren’t going to hide a suspensory problem. But sore hocks/SI could definitely contribute to soft tissue overload and subsequent injury.

If he’s happy doing the lower level work, sound, bright eyed, hold weight well, not exhibing unusual (for him) “training” issues, then motion is lotion. The healthier his muscles, the happier his joints and tendons and ligaments.

As for your direct questions, IMHO:
1 - If you’re having to inject every 3 months just to ride a “sound” horse for 30 minutes a day, it may be time to hang up or at least keep things even lower level than that
2 - my only maintenance horse is 33 and he’s on 1/2gm bute twice a day which keeps him happily tooling around the pasture eating grass The real JB however started hock injections to keep jumping happily around age 15 or so, and even that wasn’t a lot, 2’9" courses every few weeks maybe, with light schooling in between .The day we had to inject at 6 months was the day I stopped jumping him, other than little crossrails for amusement. But flatwork was still done, and we moved to cantering first at his own pace and posture to get his body warmed up, then did the work he was comfortable doing. By 19 or so, rides were just for fun, a few days a week, mostly walking and some trotting. His level of comfort dictated what I did to and with him

[Amy3996]

@JB

Horses are born trying to kill, or at least maim themselves, and many success in spite of the most diligent care.

I once heard someone refer to sporthorses as “glorified farm animals with suicidal tendencies.” That’s stuck with me ever since.

[Rel6]

@SkipsFlight

For the last year or so he has been getting annual hock injections and this year my vet suggested adding SI injections to the appointment to help him feel more comfortable.

Does that mean that before the “last year or so,” at the age of roughly 13ish, your gelding was happily showing PSG without any joint injections? Because to me, a horse that makes it to teenage years comfortably doing and training for a job that asks a lot of their body is not one that is being propped up by maintenance.

While yes, there can absolutely be too much maintenance, and its incredibly commendable that you are looking into any biomechanical causes…it sounds like it is entirely possible your house was one with age and work-load appropriate maintenance who was also unlucky enough to sustain a tendon injury.

[SkipsFlight]

Great point re: biomechanical flaws in riding and training! I do think that’s where the injury has come from and where I should be looking.

I also agree that revisiting the basics and stepping down is a wise next step - appreciate the validation, thank you!

[SkipsFlight]

Thank you so much for the kind reply, it’s hard not to blame myself for this!

Oh your poor friend and horse! That is an incredibly difficult situation, and it does seem she had the horse’s best interest at heart.

[SkipsFlight]

Correct - the hock injections started before the injury and my vet is suggesting adding the SI injections now to keep him comfortable as we rehab.

He came in from the field lame one day and it was after a weekend off so I’m not totally sure whether it happened the Saturday or the Sunday.

I also think your point about sore hocks/SI contributing to soft tissue overload is relevant. Getting my horse to use his back correctly has been one of the basics we’re always going back to and I think in this case it contributed to the injury.

Appreciate the insight into your own horses as well - sounds very reasonable and healthy

[FjordBCRF]

My experience as a human with too much maintenance …

I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome and am awaiting more info on other possible autoimmune complications. I have had EDS since I was born but was only diagnosed in 2015. I have always made my health a priority because I know that if I don’t, I have the potential to go downhill fast.

My maintenance:

• Gluten Free - Whole Foods Plant Based Diet
• Daily structured workouts
• Weekly physical therapy (for now)
• Prioritize low stress living
• PEMF daily
• ADA accommodation to work remote from home

All my doctors have told me they wish all their patients were as open to lifestyle modifications as it only helps. In your horses case, I imagine the same. If you weren’t keeping as up on things, I wouldn’t be shocked if you had issues with him sooner than you did.

I look at these types of things as preventative care. Does it mean some kind of body breakdown will never happen? No. But it very well may prolong it and thats the best we can all hope for ourselves or horses.

[SkipsFlight]

Correct - to be more specific at 13 we were just under at Fourth Level but yes.

I appreciate the kind comment, thank you very much!!

[SkipsFlight]

Wow!! I commend you for making your health a priority, I know that’s not easy!!

I also appreciate your insight, I think that’s a great way to look at maintenance and preventative care

[JB]

@SkipsFlight

He came in from the field lame one day and it was after a weekend off so I’m not totally sure whether it happened the Saturday or the Sunday.

I had one who decided to rupture his peronius tertius tendon one night between the end of work, and getting out there after dinner to put hay out. You can do all the right things and they still do the dumbest stuff

@SkipsFlight

Getting my horse to use his back correctly has been one of the basics we’re always going back to and I think in this case it contributed to the injury.

I guess I’m still not quite clear why you’re blaming yourself for his injury. Since he goobered himself on a weekend off, all it takes is 1 misstep doing stupid horse things to greatly damage what was a very healthy structure.

[Manni01]

Yes!! I agree with you wholeheartedly . Glad that this lifestyle works for you I try to live the same. And I try to keep my horses the same as well!

[IPEsq]

Coming back from a significant layup can be pretty hard on things like hocks and SI. And sure, it may be a training and biomechanics issue, but don’t forget there’s also a huge fitness issue to correct posture, which the horse lost while the suspensory healed. And perhaps there is a conformation cause that contributes to all of these things (like being built straighter behind). Adding SI injections would not bother me at this stage. If there is no pathology in there, then it’s not like you have to start down the road of injecting that every 6 months or a year necessarily. But perhaps it will help now to increase comfort so that the horse can work more correctly as you move forward in rehab.

[Laurierace]

I don’t think there is such a thing as too much maintenance but I definitely think there are people who use “maintenance” as bandaids so they don’t have to stop and actually let whatever is wrong with the horse heal. As a racehorse trainer deciding which was which was like 99% of my job. You need to support them while they do their insanely physical job but you don’t want to cover anything up with that support that can cause a breakdown.

[outerbanks77]

@SkipsFlight

Correct - the hock injections started before the injury and my vet is suggesting adding the SI injections now to keep him comfortable as we rehab.

FWIW, my vet talked me into SI injection for my mare when she was being brought back from an almost 18 month layup. She was just wonky in her way of going under saddle, and the SI injections got her over the hump to get back to normal work (just training level at that time). That was almost 3.5 years ago and she never needed it again; it seemed she had just gotten stuck/stiff from so much confinement.

[kaya842]

@JB

all it takes is 1 misstep doing stupid horse things to greatly damage what was a very healthy structure.

To put this more into perspective, take a look at some cadaver leg images (if that doesn’t bother you too much). It’s crazy and fascinating how little there really is holding these massive and heavy animals up. After seeing a cadaver leg, it really hit home how delicate their legs are/ can be and that no amount of bubbling wrapping them will keep them 100% safe. All to say, please try not to blame yourself! It sounds like you give him a wonderful life and the injury was a fluke.

[JB]

@Amberley

Things I see consistently leading to unsoundness include using chiropractors, especially without any xrays or actual idea what is really going on.

that’s not a good practitioner then, not at all. There are some really good chiros out there, and I’ve used 2 of them to make significant improvements in the way my horse was moving and using his body

@Amberley

And often theraputic shoeing makes things worse not better.

that’s not a good farrier then. Therapeutic means to help.

We can’t lump those things into the categor of “don’t do them”, because that’s like saying “I’ve seen lots of riding make things worse”, which is 100% true BUT that’s a problem with the application of the riding, not the fact that they were ridden to begin with.