Bone spavin (arthritis of the hocks)

[Patricia Lake]

My previously hard-working (jousting and hunting) 20-year-old mare has had spavin for a while but only in the last couple of months it has started to be painful. She is not lame but finds it difficult to pick her hind legs for hoof-cleaning or the farrier. The vet saw her a month ago and put her on 1 gram of bute (phenylbutazone) daily. I had been giving her Buteless (a herbal anti-inflammatory) and Cortaflex but neither seemed to have helped much. I don't think 1 gram of bute is enough as she is still uncomfortable but only when picking her hind legs. I would appreciate any answers from anyone who knows about bute, spavin etc and also:

1 My mare still has an excellent appetite - does this mean she is not in that much pain? With people, dogs and cats, the assumption is if there is good appetite there can't be anything much wrong. Is it the same with horses? I am trying to establish in how much pain or discomfort she is.

2 If a horse is not lame when walking around a field, trotting and cantering, is this a good way to know how much in pain she is?

3 My mare does not appear to be lying down nor rolling as she used to occasionally up until a couple of months ago when her arthritis seems to have deteriorated. My question on this is: does not lying down make things worse? I would appreciate any information at all. Thank you.

[Piaffe]

Hi Patricia,

If your horse was in severe pain, she wouldn't want to move, eat or do anything, however pain thresholds are different from horse to horse, as they are in humans.

It may be that she just finds carrying a weight harder now, if she moves freely in the field without signs of lameness, especially in trot. (slight lameness is normally much more obvious in trot).

You don't say whether she is living in or out, or whether she seems worse in the mornings after being in etc etc. Could it be that she just stiffens up over night?

If you are worried, please call your vet back again - bute is merely the equivalent of Nurofen for humans - an anti-inflammatory. I hope your mare gets sorted out soon.

[Mehitabel]

with most horses, it seems to be that stopping eating is a sign there's something serious wrong, but they don't normally stop until they're in major pain.
if she'll willingly trot and canter of her own accord in the field, then she isn't in a lot of pain, although weight sometimes makes a big difference.
she probably isn't lying down because she's having trouble getting up and down, which is obviously hard on the hocks.
is she sound ridden, or stiff?

[Patricia Lake]

Thank you for your reassuring replies. I look forward to other replies regarding bute etc. I have thought that if 1 gram of bute over a period does not make her better regarding picking her hind legs, perhaps I should consider putting her down because I must assume she is in pain, I hate the idea that she is uncomfortable. The problem is, arthritis unlike lameness or other problems, does not go away, it just gets worse particularly at her age. For the moment, as it's summer, she stays out 24hours a day but she has shelter if she needs to use it. She is not being ridden at the moment, the last time was about 4 weeks ago when she seemed uncomfortable. Maybe when she goes back to livery in September the problem will get worse because she will be stabled for many hours? Or maybe it will get better as her stable has thick rubber matting as she can wear her magnetic boots?

[Mehitabel]

i've had good results with magnetic boots. is buteless devils claw? i've had good results with arthritis with that as well. another thing you can do is feed cider vinegar - not something i've used myself, but i've only heard good things about it.
there are plenty of things you can do to manage arthritis - obviously not all horses respond, and you might be unlucky, but it's defintitely worth checking out all the options first. some are also better being kept in light work.
there's a thread a bit further down the page called "arthritis and glucosamine" plenty of advice on there.

[Patricia Lake]

Yes, Buteless is a devil's claw and yucca plant liquid mix, made by Equine America I think. I believe it has delivered good results on horses with not as advanced arthritis or joint problems as my mare.

[lamprellsarah]

i have tried cider vinegar on my arthritic mare, i found it no good really
her being stabled makes the problem worse, the can't keep moving and stay flexiable they tend to stiffen up when standing around in a stable.
also though it gets worse in the winter due to the coldness getting to it, magnetic boots although i haven't tried i meant to be fairly good, i have tried a copper ankelt and found this little use, but then it's hard to compare.
my mare had done veyr well on codlivine supple joint, but i am going to try cortaflex and see what happens.
i would definatly recommand if you aren't riding her maybe just leading her out in hand, she will enjoy it, and it will loosen her up and you may well see an improvement.
she certainly don't sound in pain.
i don't see a need to consider putting her down yet, it sounds like she has a while yet, as she isn't in pain!!
yeah i have heard devils claw is good, although again my mare isn't taking any of that yet.
my horse is 22, and has a 15% reduction in her front leg due to a broken knee!!

[Zingy]

If you want a stronger alternative to devils claw, try NatureBute from Global Herbs. I've got my horse on it and it's the only thing I've found that really mimics the action of bute - it's far stronger than devils claw and much faster acting - apparently it's made from frankincense!

[Patricia Lake]

Thanks for that Zingy, I shall try her on the Global Herbs supplement.