I have a 15 yo Arabian that was diagnosed with Sacroiliac Joint Disease shortly after I purchased him 9 years ago. He had a pre-purchase history of pulling out in the cross ties and landing on his ass. Also had a major downing in the cross ties. He was okay walk/trot but could not canter to save his life; ran straight into jumps. I moved him to free roam on a 50 acre ranch with 40 geldings. Sometimes his back end would just drop out but he was mostly fine on W/T. So it went for a couple of years.
Trying to move him to SoCal, he had two complete flips (reared and flipped onto his back) on trailer training (this was AFTER he worked for a whole month with a BLM-certified emergency rescue hauler) and arrived in SoCAl with a goose bump on his forehead. So, more trauma. (Note, I was never properly advised after these traumas. He should have been stalled for 45 days post-trauma. I think no vet thought he was worth it.) He was on Adequan and in time Prevacox. I injected his hocks, stifle, SI and a bone chip in his pastern. I continued to do lite trail with him until last May when something seemed to change. He became an “amazingly calm” trail horse. At first I thought he’d just become a great trail horse but then I discovered his calmness was unnatural, guarded. He was also calm in the wash rack whereas normally he was a nutcase in the wash rack (I’d given up using it altogether). Normally, he hated his feet being touched by water but all of a sudden he didn’t mind. Then in May he and my fat pony escaped and ran all over town for two hours with their halters and lead ropes dragging. They were found without their halters, so probably additional neck injury there.
We spent the summer dealing with suspensory injuries from the escape (my vet initially under treated the suspensory injury.) So when all the suspensory injury stuff seemed resolved, I started riding him a teeny bit on a flat, smooth trail but he was a wobbly wreck. My vet said he’s just out of condition. His stance became more and more distorted (both right legs pulled together under him), began to limp and “porpoise” with his head (that was not new but it got worse.) Vet tried blocking everything and finally said that we had to do a bone scan. (Vet notes indicated: unblockable front end lameness and shifting lameness.) Nuclear scan showed hot neck C5/6/7, SI bi-lateral, navicular bilateral, and right hock was the worst. I had everything IA injected and also did Adequan, Osphos and got X-rays of the feet and hock. Hand walked him for weeks and he seemed to be getting better. Then I added a walk under saddle every three days. After a few weeks, he got WORSE under saddle, not better. The last day I rode him, he was barely walking, avoided the slightest incline, walked like he was on ice over a paved driveway, and moaned. I got off after 40 yards.
I called the vet out for a post-injection follow-up. We had the vet tech ride him walk, trot and canter. The vet tech fell off at the canter! I could tell my horse would be in a lot of pain afterward. To my astonishment, the vet told me to get him working W/T and even canter! Vet insists the horse is not neurological but I’m not convinced. Since the exam, I’ve had my horse on Prevacox and he seems painful (we also had a blast of cold weather.) Low head position (very uncharacteristic), standing with right hind limb under him and right forelimb behind (so his right legs almost touch). I think he stands with his back leg under to relieve the sacroiliac. (My dog stood like that as his hip arthritis worsened.) I think his right front leg behind with his left front leg in front is his neck pain. He also doesn’t want the pony to come near him and he’s not eating out of his hay net (ok eating off the ground.) He stumbles on hand walks.
Soooo, should I believe the vet and ride him to exercise him? It seems cruel! Will exercise HELP? Should I believe my experienced friend who tells me that he could collapse from the neck arthritis impinging on his spine? Should I get a neck x-ray? Should I do shockwave therapy? I don’t know what to do. I don’t think my vet even sees pain and he’s a bit too hard on horses for my taste.
