Anyone have experience using ProStride for SI joint issues? Or anything other than steroids?
I posted some time ago about some strange performance issues my horse was experiencing. He had possibly tweaked something on import just over a year ago, had a couple bad slip/spook/splat things last winter/spring when it was difficult to get a vet or chiro out due to COVID restrictions, and he had a fall at a show in August due to the perfect combination of poor riding on my part and poor footing.
Muddying the waters were a couple of colics (one requiring hospitalization), possible ulcers, and IAD symptoms seemingly triggered by wildfire particulates and excessive temperatures. Among the usual minor bumps and dings that horses tend to do to themselves.
Worst performance followed a very awkward spook/splat (spooked at a walk, tried to do the splay leg thing but wasnāt sure if he wanted to spin, knuckled over badly behind) in April at a particularly loud snow bomb. Couldnāt get chiro out for some time. Chiro did improve things a lot, but canter performance deteriorated, and he was chronically sore behind. Injected the SI in June but did not get very far in terms of conditioning before the bad colic. And then just started the upswing from that before the crash and the worst of the fires. A few weeks following the fall, he was tripping, grinding his teeth, leaning and rooting (his usual default is to be light to inverted in the bridle), barely able to canter, fell to his knees a couple of times during vet exams, had shifting lameness that didnāt flex positive or block out. Ruled out a lot of possibilities in the airway, EPM, etc. Some (IMO aggressive) chiro work gave him a lot of relief. Started back feeling more like himself/his usual personality. Shifting lameness gone although he doesnāt move symmetrically one direction vs the other.
Moved south for the winter to help his lungs recover and to get some snow free turnout. Continued to work on treating his back/working up axial skeleton issues. Overall he has improved a lot and now we are kind of back where we were pre-SI injections. Finally found something that makes sense:
L5-L6 are fused. Because of his conformation, very little of this area is visible on our PPE X-rays (sprung ribs, too much meat in this area). We could see the dorsal spinous processes were close, but it appears the body of the vertebrae are fused including transverse processes. No disc appreciable between. L4-L5 are close-ish dorsally but look ok otherwise. L6-S1 forms kid of a V resulting in the disc bulging dorsally. And finally, there seems to be some significant changes in the right SI joint even though heās been more sore at the left. Looks like a spur forming or something. Very irregular. Left side looks normal. Vet thinks the SI changes could have happened recently, like months not years ago. I suspect the lower lumbar could have already been fused/fusing since what we can see on X-ray shows no changes from PPE. Who knows about the sacral disc. No signs of ligament damage or any other soft tissue problems. Due to his conformation, itās not really possible to image the lumbar facets.
Vet thinks steroid would not last very long. Goal is to try to finally get him stronger and drop a few lbs, but I think he needs some sort of pain relief to help him work better. He is willing (he is a good boy), but limited. And working while compensating has only been making his left side sore. I donāt know if steroid would last ālong enoughā provided he doesnāt have some other major setback like last summerās colic.
Vets are suggesting ProStride. I have not done any biologics on this horse, and I have some concerns about an adverse reaction being a little more likely with a biologic, given the anatomical area involved. Wondering if anyone has done this.
