My friends gelding has alot of extra fluid in his hock joint. They got the vet to inject the joints, but the fluid just built up again. My question is, what is the fluid doing and does it cause problems? i have heard that it can lead to dry hock joints (no senovial fluid). is that true? what should she do about it. B/c getting hocks done costs about 250$ in our area???
Answers:
from what you have said it sounds like the horse does not have any problems because of the fluid build up and having it injected is just so it does not look bad. your friend should not worry about it as long as the vet knows it is there and has no problem with it. she is just fine with what she is doing right know and if the horse shows know sings of lameness then it is all right to ride.
without knowing the vets diagnoses of the reason for the fluid build up, it is hard to say what treatment options there are
Is the vet doing inter-articular injections (actually in the joint) or is he draining fluid out of a bog spavin? If he is doing joint injections what is he injecting with? How long did it take for the fluid to build back up? Is the fluid built up around the entire hock joint or located in just one area. Is the horse lame when the joint is fluid filled? It is hard to help answer your question without some of this information. If the vet is just using cortisone to inject in the joint that is not as beneficial as hyloronic acid which in artificial joint fluid. There are 3 places to do inter-articular injections (upper, lower and middle joint of the hock). Is he doing all three? The hock joints can actually fuse over time but this in itself does not have to be a bad thing. It happened to my thoroughbred a veteran of 165 races over 10 years. He still traveled sound and even behind. Tthe one hock that fused just flexed slightly differently from the other. Also, often when the hocks are worked on but you don't get the improvement you want or it doesn't last as long as you think it should look to the stifles as they could be the real culprit and often times need to be injected as well.
Hi just read your update. Sounds like it is more cosmetic than that it is actually effecting the way your friends horse is travelling. Which if that is the case is not much to worry about. It doesn't sound like the horse is over worked either. As far as the footing that would depend on how soft it is. I myself much prefer a good cushion rather than hard ground but if the footing is too deep or to loose (breaks away too easily) this can put a strain on hocks, stifles, ligaments and tendons. Think of sand at the beach. You want something that approximates the sand closer to the shoreline (the sand with moisture that gives your foot some purchase) rather than what you usually park your towel on.
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