Hock Spur?

[SweetPea]

Though this is not about a mini some of you may be familiar with the injury. I would greatly appreciate any help or advice.

My mare Sadie injured her leg in a fence 4 months ago. It healed really well but I started riding her lightly and noticed her being a little sore. So I had the vet out for the horses yearly stuff and had him check her leg out. He did a flexion test and she looked good. But he took X-rays too. I got a call from him last night and he said she has a spur in her hock a hock spur? Im not very familiar with them. He said she is completly rideable, its not severe but he does reccomend that I get iy injected every 3 months to eliminate sore and stiffness. And its not from her injury in the fence, he said that alot of horses get them from hard riding and stopping like barrel horses. Weird thing is I have only riden her maybe 15 times and only walk and trot in the 2 yrs I have had her. So she muct have had it when I got her. I think Im going to have him out to inject it. And I will talk to him more about her limitations and such. But over the phone he said shes pretty much good to go. It shouldnt limit her much.

Any advice, help or knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Im not familiar with this and the more you know the better.

Thanks!

 

[MyBarakah]

Hi,

Where I use to have the big horses and train pleasure horses I am very familar with the bones spurs in both the hock & fetlocks.....

You are not going to want to hear this but those injections are VERY expensieve! It will be up to you to decide how important this mare is to you and what she's worth to you....... If she's a valuable show horse or your best friend...... if will all depend what the mare's worth to you. I can't think right off hand what the injections cost but I am pretty sure they are $150 on up....... they are not cheap......

Wish I could be more encourageing......

 

[SweetPea]

Hi,

Where I use to have the big horses and train pleasure horses I am very familar with the bones spurs in both the hock & fetlocks.....

You are not going to want to hear this but those injections are VERY expensieve! It will be up to you to decide how important this mare is to you and what she's worth to you....... If she's a valuable show horse or your best friend...... if will all depend what the mare's worth to you. I can't think right off hand what the injections cost but I am pretty sure they are $150 on up....... they are not cheap......

Wish I could be more encourageing......

Thanks, Im just trying to gather as much info as possible before I decide what to do. I had a gelding last year that had to get his stifle injected, and I know first hand it dosent come cheap. (The sad story of horses in general) She is a nice mare and is special but I cant spend a fortune on her either. Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Dream]

Hock spurs are very common in large horses (you didn't mention her age). They can vary a lot in severity but they are pretty manageable for the most part. A spur is a type of arthritic change. Injections will probably help her a lot and if you talk to your vet about your budget you will probably find that you can get away with once a year or once every 6 months depending on what you want to do with her. Talk to him about other, less invasive treatments as well like Glucosamine/MSM supplements or intramuscular Adequan injections.

Don't give up on her, she can still be very useful.