Sparky is Ouchy

My horse is the best horse in the whole wide world! Have I ever said that before? Well true to form, he was coming along amazingly well as we were prepping for our largest horse show ever this November. To my dismay 5 weeks prior to the show he developed a limp. This is any horse owners largest nightmare and fear as its extremely hard to determine where the horse hurts and can be expensive to maintain and treat.

There are theories upon theories out there as to how to analyze their gate and limp to see which leg is hurting them. If your lucky enough to figure out which leg it is that hurts then you have to figure out which joint it is (i.e. ankle, knees, hocks, stifles, shoulders or hips) and then you have to determine whether it be soft tissue, tendons, or a skeletal problem that's causing the pain. Its exhaust me just to think about all the possibilities it could be.

Being the good horse owner I am I have analyzed and researched how Sparky was moving. Its very apparent now that he bobs his head down when his front right foot hits the ground. So it pretty safe to say 1 of his other 3 legs are hurting him. After missing the horse show and having Sparky re-shod, I finally had Dr. Tryon come over and x-ray Sparky's legs.


Here is Sparkys left front leg where you can see the triangle shaped bone that is surrounded by his hoof.

Here is Sparkys right rear hock (if you see there is a large circular bone somewhat in the middle of the x-ray which connecst the lower bones and the top bone and also serves as where the horse rotate and lifts his leg. Well right where the lower bones connects to this circular bone, you will see a pin sized white mark in that joint connection which is the bone spur.)

Although we don't have a confirmed diagnosis, we did find this bone spur in both his right and left rear hocks. I'm thinking about paying for hock injections which will add fluid into the joint and give a cushion for that area in hopes of alleviating any pain. Although its not what I had hoped me and Sparky would be doing in November I am grateful that he is not hurt any worse at the moment.