Older pony gets sore, bute before or after? or... ?

[_Liz]

Hello, today I have a question for my dear mother who trail rides her 23 year old paso/app pony. Pony has been deemed “servicably lame” by her vet for the last 10 years or so. This was my large pony as a kid that my mother refused to sell His issues include weak stifles, arthritic hocks, bone spurs removed from both knees, etc. His walk is usually 100%, his trot is off and on lame, about 1-2/5 usually, and his canter - is more of a scramble/paso gait these last few years or so.

Currently, pony gets ridden about 3x per week, mostly walk, some trot. For fun, my mother joined a trail riding club and trail rides for up to maybe 4 hours either mostly or exclusively at the walk. Pony is on a good joint supplement and had his hocks injected less than 6 months ago. He has been quite sound until his last trail ride. This is a common pattern for pony, the longer rides seem to take a toll on him, even though he LOVES getting to ride with other horses and getting out on the trail.

The question here is: is it better to bute pony before the ride, after the ride, both? Is there something else she should be doing or using? I don’t believe it is time to retire dear pony, as he is much happier and sounder in light work, and his lameness never seems to bother him. The only times it has, he’s had work done, like being injected or his bone spur surgeries. I guess I’m looking for insight from others with older ponies or horses that are challenged in the soundness department. What do you do to keep them happy? He does NOT show, so anything is fair game here.

Thanks everyone!

ETA: Here’s a FB photo of me giving dear pony kisses and treats in his pasture, just because he’s freaking adorable!

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[halo]

Bute can be really dangerous to use on a continuing basis. I have stopped giving Bute at all to my race horses. I have instead started using Previcox, much easier on their tummies, and works great. A horse dosage is the same as the dog dosage, believe it or not, so its very cheap, too.

I just purchase the large 227mg. pills that you’d get for a dog, cut them in quarters, and give a horse one of the quarters. It really works well.

Interesting thread:

http://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/5/196266.html

[_Liz]

Thanks, I’m not familiar with that, but will look into it.

To clarify, pony only does “long” trail rides about 1x per month. The rest of the time he is ridden in a pasture or down local dirt roads for about 30-45 minutes. He seems to get sore after his longer trail rides, and that is the only time she butes him, he does not get bute on any kind of a daily basis.

[Carol_Ames]

real job?

What your real job?. nothing involving English; I hope:lol: Check in an online dictionary for the spelling for the correct spelling of that joint;) on the hind leg which, was injected on your pony:yes:

[KBC]

[QUOTE=Carol Ames;5969365]
What your real job?. nothing involving English; I hope:lol: Check in an online dictionary for the spelling for the correct spelling of that joint;) on the hind leg which, was injected on your pony:yes:[/QUOTE]

I was actually relieved when I went and checked, I thought it was going to be much worse:lol:

[_Liz]

Glad to give you guys a laugh! Somehow, that’s one of my favorite mistakes to make. I do it all the time I know that a hawk is an animal and a hock is a part of equine anatomy. Spelling has never been my forte, please forgive me.

[Reagan]

Honestly, I would bute both before and after. He is 23, why not keep him comfortable? My mare had some back/SI issues for a while and my vet said to go ahead and bute her the night before, morning of, and night after any hard work just to help her feel good. There is no point in making them sore if we can avoid it

Talk to your vet and get their advice, maybe next time they are out for something else, or just over the phone. There may be something else you can do, adequan or one of the other injectables.

I love that your mom is having such a great time with him, I hope he can stay comfortably working for a few more years

[_Liz]

Thanks for the advice and kind thoughts Reagan! This pony is a trooper. He’s been officially my mother’s pony for almost 10 years now, and she simply adores him. At almost 60 years old, she LOVES to ride him bareback in his hackamore

In the past, her vet has said to go ahead and bute pony to keep him happy, and also recommend he be ridden walk/trot and trail ridden - to which my mother has happily done. Adequan in the past has not done much for him, so my mother’s weary to try that again. The real question was on frequency and timing for bute, and I like your method of night before, morning of, and evening of. I would guess a gram per dose should be adequate.

For the record, I have lived 400 miles from my mother for almost 6 years, so I do not see or ride pony with any kind of frequency. I am currently living in Sweden, so talking to MY vets, and people in MY horse circles is difficult at the moment, hence my turning to COTH wisdom

[lovey1121]

[QUOTE=Reagan;5969507]
Honestly, I would bute both before and after. He is 23, why not keep him comfortable? My mare had some back/SI issues for a while and my vet said to go ahead and bute her the night before, morning of, and night after any hard work just to help her feel good. There is no point in making them sore if we can avoid it

Talk to your vet and get their advice, maybe next time they are out for something else, or just over the phone. There may be something else you can do, adequan or one of the other injectables.

I love that your mom is having such a great time with him, I hope he can stay comfortably working for a few more years :)[/QUOTE]

This, or Previcox. I’d keep him as happy and pain-free as I can for as long as I can.

[baylady7]

Before the ride

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I second/third/whatever the advice for 1g the evening before the ride, 1g the evening of the ride, and 1g the evening following the ride. Keeping inflammation down is not just for pain control, but also to inhibit further damage to those old joints. Bute takes about 12 hours to be fully effective in terms of anti-inflammatory value (though pain relief comes faster, IME). At that amount and on a once/month schedule, there should be no adverse tummy effects. But you could always add U-Guard or one of the other ulcer-preventatives to his diet on those days as well.

It will also help if he can stay out of his stall for the couple days following the big rides (as long as he has some kind of shelter available in his paddock/pasture).

Glad your mom and her old friend are having such a good time together!
:yes: