Bone Spavin in Hocks and Dragging Toes

[andrealouisea]

Hi

My 16.0hh TB x Trakkie mare has just been diagnosed with Bone Spavin in her Hocks

I have continued to exercise her and am doing slow regular work on reasonably soft ground

However - she has been dragging her hind toes when trotting, This has resulted in her taking her toes right back. It is also causing her shoes to come loose after about 2 weeks wear. She has normal shoes on and her fronts go 8 weeks between sets

Any ideas what I can do to stop the toe wear?

Thanks in advance

Andrea

[Donnie Walker]

Andrea - in the absence of a photograph and radiographs, facilitating
and easing break-over is an available option for you, possibly raising the heels and rolling a backed-up toe. Farrier/vet should make this decision. Remember though, no type shoeing can correct the spavin. You must be patient and let time take its course. Consider some type of joint supplement. I've had great success with 20% systemic glucosamine, 10cc every 10 days either IV or IM. It peaks between 3/5 days and is eliminated by the system between 12/15 days, thus the 10 day cycle is important. It is far superior to a feed additive in that it by-passes the digestive system.

To quote Dr. Clayton from the 2003 Bluegrass Symposium:

"There is still a considerable amount to be learned about hock function and compensation for lameness. When these are better understood, we will be in a position to explore the effects of shoeing on hock function in normal horses and in horses with hock joint pathologies".

[andrealouisea]

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post Donnie

I have contacted my Vet and discussed the possibility of getting her on some IM Glucosamine - I am awaiting her getting back to me with some costings and suitability details
I will also have a chat with my farried about raising her heels - He has already rolled the toes on her hinds and although there is an improvement its not really as significant as he expected

Thanks again for your help - I will keep you updated

Andrea

[Ronald Aalders]

Hi,

As a rule of thumb we were taught that a horse dragging its toe has a knee or stifle problem, while a horse with a hock problem would tend to wear off the medial side of its foot or shoe.

This simple and maybe a little out of date rule would leave your horse with a knee problem, not a hock problem. The horse was diagnosed with spavin, sounds like a hock problem to me, but I do wonder about the truth of this rule of thumb. The complicated part is that the hock can not move independently from the knee, peroneus tertius on one side, the achilles tendon on the other, so maybe thats proof enough the rule is wrong.

Any thoughts?


Ronald Aalders

[Shockn&Gucci_rule]

Hi,
As a rule of thumb we were taught that a horse dragging its toe has a knee or stifle problem, while a horse with a hock problem would tend to wear off the medial side of its foot or shoe.

<SNIP>

Any thoughts?

Ronald Aalders

That's so interesting - I'd never heard that "rule" before, but it sure is true w/ my 1-1/2 yr. old colt. He was in a trailer accident a bit over a year ago that left him w/ injured hock, and he wears off the medial side of his hoof quite drasticly in comparison to the lateral side. If I let the hoof go more than 3 weeks w/ out a "touch up" to balance it, he'll toe out on that leg quite a bit.