Hock injections

[Parsley1234]

15 year old 15-3 ISH x Cob has gone lame after completely sound for 4 years he does have a bit of arthritis in his hock. The head vet is coming this week to see him and decide whether to inject or not my insurance will pay for rehab what are peoples thoughts please ? I don’t really want to inject but if it’s the best way I will obviously

I had this with a previous horse. He had both hocks injected every 6 months for many years. There was no rehab, but he was kept in work until jabbed. He had a couple of days box rest after each set of jabs and then within a week was back in full work. I was told this was important as the drug only works if the hocks are worked.
Apart from the cost there were no other downsides and it kept him comfortable enough for full work including affiliated jumping.
If your vet recommends this I wouldn’t hesitate, but I would want to use a specialised lameness vet.

@ChristineCricket thank you for your reply I know they say no more than 2 x a year for injections both vets I’ve spoken too say they should last yearly although I am quite low level so not too much wear and tear just don’t want him to be uncomfortable

I started injecting dhorses hocks last year. He wasn't lame but had started looking a bit stiff behind. I have a good vet - she said the injections would break the cartilage down over time but in hocks that isn't necessarily a bad thing as the joint would then fuse which would keep them free of pain. He's having then done again next week (a year later). He's 15 and events. He has to have at least two weeks off affiliated competition and we give a couple of days off work but with turnout. I always cover the injection site with Filtabac or sudocreme for a couple of days. It made a huge difference to his dressage last year and he was much happier and relaxed.

@stugs thank you that’s reassuring to know I was worried it would make it worse x

She said horses hocks are very badly designed! Like you I was concerned about it as I love dhorse and he's been with us for 10 years but he loves eventing so I'm happy to do it to keep him on the road for a few more years.

@Stugs tgsrs so reassuring he’s a great chap and I want him to have a full life xx

Hock injections can work really well for minor arthritic changes, and like PP said the great advantage is that it's not too traumatic a procedure for the horse and they actually work best when the horse is kept pretty much in their normal work routine rather than needing a lengthy rehab routine. They worked really well for my little cob mare who wasn't obviously very lame or wrong behind but had started to show a drop in performance/behavioral changes which resolved very quickly after being injected (she subsequently turned out to have a lot of other health issues leading to an early retirement but the hock injections weren't to blame for that...)