Horse with arthritis?

Question

Should I ride a horse with arthritis like this?

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2dv74f4&s=4

I do ride him cause well he is my horse and when we got him he was like this. We put him on joint supplements and my vet says i need to keep him moving. He seems to do well too.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Arthritis? It looks like a tumor or a capped knee.

Answer 2

My old QH has the same prob. and we caught it early- but you might want to try flipping the shoes around backwards(i know sounds wacky) to releive pressure on the tip of their toe... it realy made a difference in my horse he was better in a day or so. but thats if he is lame and unsound in any way. Also important to stop the progress from going too fast you will need to keep feet dry or else the coffen bone can move and then that's a bigger prob.

good luck!

Answer 3

I guess if it doesn't bother the horse and the vet says its okay I would ride him but I would be really careful at the trot and canter and not use those gaits too much

Answer 4

Very light exercise will  actually be GOOD  for your horse, especially if they are in a stall half of the day. I would do more walking with occasional trotting, though. Exercise will help keep the joint from totally locking up. Saddle him up and just talk him on a pasture ride. Trot a little, but if you notice your horse limping stop. Exercise will slow the progress of the arthritis, just like in people. They key is moderation.

If you are wanting to do serious riding, then you should get another horse, but remember to give some attention to your older guy :)

Answer 5

Trust your vet,just be careful, dont strain him.

Answer 6

Do what the vet says to do....he knows your horse.

Answer 7

if u want u could get a new horse when u cant ride him but rember like others said trust ur vet

Answer 8

my horse when i had him had knees worse then that. . . his whole front legs were so bad that it wasnt till we started giving him treatments and suppliments to make him feel better that we found other problems.

his hoof had a problem with the bone in the hoof, no way other then to cut the nerves to help ease the pain. it took the vets at ohio state 4 hours, over 5 different times of blocking his knees to find out exactly how bad his legs where. . . they were evenly bad so each trial of blocking increased the pain so they could pin point what exactly was the problem (he was that stubborn that they told us they've never see a horse be that willing/hard working to go that many rounds to find out what was wrong)

anyway we dropped 5,000 dollars and gave him 3 more good years of riding then retired him at our farm, i would have never sold him b/c i know nobody wouldve taken care of the old guy after how hard he worked in life i owed him a good retirement...the people before me abused him and rode him into the ground, but never told us and just sold him when they were done, like he was a piece of trash. they sold him as a jumper and 1 year after we bought he had a break down in the ring that lead us to take him to ohio state.

that being said, i suggest riding the horse till the vet or trainer (or you feel it's too much before they say so, you know your horse by now)says it's too much then either retire him yourself or find someone you trust to give him a good retirement. . . there are some rescues out there that do that (i know of one off the top of my head).

Answer 9

Like the other say, listen to your vet.  Keep him outside as much as possible.  It's the best thing for horses especially with arthritis.  Keeping him in a stall just makes it worse.

Answer 10

OMG!!! Poor Horse! My ponies arathritis iant that bad!

Sorry, I would do light riding and LOTS of warm up..more just a TON of walking around to get him all nice and stuff!

If the vet says its ok than thats fiine..but just be very carful! AND LOTS OF WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!! That really helps my pony...and many other horses..In my Pony club manule it says and average horse warm up should be 20 mins. Thjats 10-15 mins walking and lots of beding and changing directioins..big circles/ figure 8s!

Answer 11

has your vet done x-rays to assess the knee joint as there are 8 bones in there.  

i've just had a mare with a similar lump but she will never be ridden.

she was x-rayed, synovial fluid sample taken and tested. then an injection into the knee joint, with bute for a few days.  this has helped.

she will go back in 6 months time for more x-rays and injection if all is fine.

yes, keep them moving.  but i would only go slowly, perhaps just for hacking.  if you wanted to do more serious riding then perhaps get a new horse.

cider vinegar or 'nobute'   work very well, i have used before.

oh the joys of getting old.