Hi everyone!
I was hoping to hear some of your personal experiences with treating horses with Ringbone.
My dressage pony who is 12years old was diagnosed with ringbone (high ringbone - pastern joint) 2 weeks ago. I am looking for the best treatment options for him.
I’ve been researching and discussing with my vet what would be the best option, he suggested cortisone or tildren.
Do you guys have any success or unsuccessful experiences with these drugs?
I have also been looking at osphos, as it is a similar drug to tildren but only a fraction of the cost but the side effects and the success rates of both drugs aren’t convincing. Also, noticed other options such as IRAP or Pro-stride for treating ringbone.
He is currently having corrective shoeing as well as having therapeutic treatments. I really want to give him the best chance for a recovery.
So any experiences with any joint injections for ringbone and their success rate or basically anything you have done to make your horse more comfortable would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
You might want to do more research and talk to your vet. The disease is progressive and irreversible according to everything I have read and been told.
One of my horses has high ringbone diagnosed last August (endurance horse with 1000 competitive miles). She was already retired for the past 3 years due to a different injury that has healed and is now a pleasure horse.
I tried Previcox for 2 weeks and there was no improvement. I had a joint injection done (cortisone, HA and antibiotic) and she has been sound ever since. I am expecting to get 6 to 12 months out of the injection before re-doing it (from my vet).
My vet was very clear that she will never compete again but pleasure riding was fine. She is 16 so I was happy she can still do light riding. Short break-over (trimming or shoeing) is very important to slow down the progression. Good luck with your horse.
p.s. one of my boarder horses also had high ringbone, for the last 12 years. She was ridden for another 11 years after diagnosis. Maintained with joint injection, same as above. Her joint has now completely fused she looks terrible moving but now she has no pain from it.
High ringbone is the better of the two options (high vs low). How good it comes in time is various. Arthritic joint changes can result in wearing clean again and being functional, or partial fusion (reduced flexion) which may or may not cause pain, or full fusion (no flexion) which can be functionally sound. How much calcification you are currently dealing with will determine the extent of the damage to the joint. How much work any horse with ringbone can do is dependant on each individual situation. You will find out in time.
Treatment in early stages involves attempting to reduce inflammation and stop the bone growth. Cortisone injections have been used for decades, and anti inflammatory drugs. Your vet may have any of a number of other similar new treatments, which may work the same or maybe better. Which you choose to try depends on how much money you have to spend, and whether you feel that your vet’s advice is good advice.
Success in re establishing functional soundness can be influenced by the original source of the injury. If it is influenced by the horse’s own conformation, this can be a problem that makes it difficult to change or improve for the horse. If it was influenced by a management problem, usually farrier skills (unbalanced shoeing), fixing that can be key to success. If it was influence by an injury, over use or concussion, more chance that it may resolve successfully. If influenced by “wear and tear” in advancing years, injections and drug therapy is always an option.
With a partial or full fusion of the joint, rolling the toe to provide an easier break over is often used to aide soundness.
