OCD: good article, and some thoughts/questions -

[Live2Jump]

I saw this article on OCD (in the racing industry) in horse care and wanted to share:
http://www.consignorsandbreeders.com/Booklets/CBA-OCDBook.pdf

It sure paints a more hopeful picture compared to what used to be heard about OCD. I'd love to know if anyone here has found other good articles on OCD to share, or if anyone has had experiences with successful treatment/maintenance. It sounds like there is good hope for recovery if things are caught early.

Prevention.
What are sport horse breeders doing now to prevent OCD their youngsters (msm, etc)? Do you ever x-ray them (as it sounds like they do in the racing industry) to see if there are any issues developing, or do you just do your best to balance nutrition/turnout and watch for any problems? It sounds like many abnormalities disappear on there own within a few months, so is there any point to x-raying a young horse if you don't see any problems externally?

Heredity.
I know that some registries require stallions to provide x-rays, is this a factor in your selection? Which registries require this, and which ones don't? Do you ever x-ray potential broodmares?

Treatment.
If you do have a foal that develops OCD despite it all, do you go for surgery followed with Adequan, or give it some time to see if it will resolve on it's own, or are there other treatment options in between?

Resale.
If a surgery is done on a youngster, and the vets say that there is now a great shot at having no other issues in that joint, do you still have to sell for a lot less, or does this not cause as much panic for a potential buyers as it used to? Do you just find that these youngsters sell later, once they are old enough to have been in work for a while and can prove that they have remained problem free?

** And last but not least, at what age can you stop worrying????? :) **

[Samotis]

I am amazed at how many TB's get OCD surgery every year. There was an article I just read about a vet in Kentucky and it was astounding at how many surgery's he did a day!!

I have a coming 2 year old. His mother was a racing TB and his father is a 17 hand jumper. Of course I thought about the possibility of OCD!

I had my mare on Progressive Nutrition and Platinum Performance Osteon (a silicon supplement, also articles done on feeding this to young tb's) and knock on wood my colt has not had any issues. Now would I x-ray him? Absolutley if he had swelling somewhere or looked uncomfortable. I made sure to keep his mother on a great nutrition program and he has been on the same feed since he was born. Progressive Nutrition does a lot of research on the large sport horse type breeds and how to lower your chances of having any growth type problems.

I wouldn't just start x-raying to make sure. There are plenty of OCD's that people never know of and the horse is fine. But there are also ones that do get worse with age! My friend had a mare with shoulder OCD and she had surgery and the mare is sound enough to show in the jumpers. If she hadn't of done that surgery, I think the mare would just have been a pretty pasture ornament. But then it can go the other way. I know someone who had a foal that had chips in her ankle. There was no lameness and no swelling, but she did surgery. Was that right? Or would the foal be fine? Also, who even knows it was OCD. Couldn't the foal just have whacked her ankle a few times out in the pasture playing? Its so confusing!!!

I think that due to are huge advances in x-ray technology, that we see a lot more then maybe we should.;)

I would certainly be nervous about buying a horse for full price that had OCD surgery as a young horse, but then again I think most people would. Not saying I wouldn't buy the horse, I would just be careful to make sure that the horse doesn't have anything else going on and has been fine since the surgery.

I think genetics plays a big role. And yes they do x-ray stallions, but not so many mares. That could be the issue. The mare contributes a lot (some people on here say up to 60%) If I had a mare that produced a foal with OCD more then once, I would think twice about breeding her, and at least get her checked out.

[J-Lu]

In, I think, the 2008 December CotH breeding issue, there is an article on OCD.

From what I have read, some horses just grow out of it ( I have a freind whose WB did just that). Some seem to be OK but the cartilage flap breaks off, migrates into the joint fluid, and creates problems (lameness). SOme have surgery and do just fine. Some have surgery but still remain lame (a friend's horse had shoulder surgery and a very long recovery...was good for a year or so, but progressively became lame again).

Also, there is some evidence that the problems develop for many horses in utero and/or in the early post-natal stages...even if the lameness doesn't manifest until later in life.

[Kinsella]

If I were looking at a horse that had OCD surgery in the past, I wouldn't use that as an reason to pay less. The surgery was done, the horse is sound, no reason to be nervous. Especially if the horse is actively training/competing. As a seller, I would not take less for a horse in that situation either - I'd just keep on training/showing it and wait for someone else to come along. Now if there was an active OCD issue, yes, I would be concerned - based on location because I do think the location of OCD is a huge factor in future prognosis. I think there are so many surgeries in TB's because they don't have the time to wait and see if it will resolve itself.

[Kinsella]

Oh, I will add a disclaimer here. I had a horse (the first one I ever bred) that ended up with OCD lesions in both hocks. He had surgery twice (both hocks the first time and then the left hock a 2nd time since they could not get the chip to break off the first time - no, no charge to me for the 2nd one) between yearling and 2yo years. He never was lame, and to this day has never had a lameness in his hocks. He did get a course of Adequan after both surgeries, but has not been on anything since (he's 15 this year) and has competed in the hunters, jumpers and eventing.

[Samotis]

that is one thing they did say in the article is that these trainers did the surgery because they didn't want to have to do it in the middle of a racing year.

Hundreds of TB's get the surgeries and run sound, so I don't see why jumping and dressage horses can't be just as successful.

[Kinsella]

God knows we don't put nearly as much stress on them as racing does! :yes:

[Samotis]

thats for sure!

They would already be riding my guy and he is 2 at the end of Feb.!!!

Couldn't see him going anywhere too fast. (has to be the WB in him!) :lol:

[NorCalDressage]

I HATE OCD!!! I think it took a few years off my life in stress!

2 yo filly, all of a sudden came up lame in left stifle, no better after Surpass & watching for a couple weeks, xrays, whadda know, big ol lesion! Great.

So, OCD in both stifles, left worse than right. Left was subchondral cyst, right has minor flattening. No chips. Graded 3/5 lameness. Cantered like she was hobbled behind. Quite short on the left in the walk. Never any signs before this - so she was a late OCD bloomer! Lucky me!

Was all ready to have to do surgery, consulted Surgeon and he suggested trying stall rest for 90-120 days first. Evaluate at 90 days, If no improvement, surgery, if some improvement go another 30 days and evaluate movement.

Well, amazingly horse came sound. She had a course of Adequan (total of 21 shots - what every baby wishes for, lol), nutritional supplements - large amounts of E, C, trace minerals, AOs, etc, plus joint supplements, pretty high doses of Conquer gel. Starting on day 30 of stall rest we did laser therapy on her 1x a week lasting about 40mins. Once the laser therapy was started she started to improve a lot. After 3 treatments, she was walking even in stride length, but still looking "weak" in the way she used the stifle on the left. Progressively got better each weak. I hand walked her during this time to try to rehab the muscles on the left hind - before there was a pretty significant difference in the musculature of the left and right hinds, due to walking short on the left when she was lame. Also lasered on her back/SI since they can really screw that up compensating for the stifle issue.

So, 90 days come and she trots sound. Then I start short trotting sets with her, to try to further rehab her musculature. At this point she was already hand walking for 30mins. I kept waiting for her to go lame again, but it didn't happen. Did trotting sets for about a month and then tried turning her out. She is a very hot horse, so I knew that would be interesting! She had a couple yahoo incidents, but so far so good, no sign of lameness. I would watch her rodeo or do a sliding stop, me have a heart attack, and say to myself: "well, if she's not lame after that, it'll be something..."

So, turnout time became more trotting/cantering rehab work for her. Also had original vet come out and see if he saw any lameness in walk & trot - he couldn't see any. Consulted again with surgeon, suggested we needed to "stress" her a bit to test if she would continue to stay sound and likely be sound when started under saddle work. She was too immature still to be started undersaddle, so it was suggested to work her in a very large round pen or equicizer working up to 20 mins in the canter. Now, that is a LOT for a young horse, but would also tell us if she was going to relapse.

So, end of the story is she made it through the sustained work, did nothing but get stronger and better gait wise with more and more work. I was actually kinda shocked. I would also test her on things that are supposed to aggrevate stifles, like steep down hills, etc. and still no lameness or weakness. She is now back out in pasture with her buddies, much happier - stall rest for a young-in is no fun! For either of you. Haven't retaken shots of her stifles yet, supposed to take almost 12 months to show full changes, if the lesion actually goes away and bone fills in. But, the most important signs are how they actually go, not necessarily what the xray shows.

Even though she didn't have surgery, I spent just as much money as I would have with surgery. It was about 6 months from initial diagnosis, to when she was able to go back out in pasture. I figure I spent around 6-7k during that time on her. Worth it though, she's my baby & a keeper!

That's my OCD story....

[Indy-lou]

OCD is part of the breeding "crap-shoot", though most breeders are savvy enough to try to limit every aspect of its appearance in our breeding choices, nutrition and environmental influences. I know a breeder who has never had a single OCD case in multiple years of breeding, yet suddenly had a weanling colt with a filled hock. Never lame to that point. Mind you, no other horses on the place, related or not, had ever had an OCD diagnosed lameness, but here was one with a filled hock that demanded xrays. OK, vets said OCD lesion was severe enough to warrant surgery after sufficient time had elapsed and it did not "resolve", radiographically. Colt never lame to this point. Surgery done. Nightmare followed. Long story short, this never previously lame colt never recovered from the surgery, and ultimately had to be put down. There were no veterinary answers for this disaster. It's very hard to say in any definite terms whether or not surgery is the answer in a young horse that has never exhibited lameness.
Mostly I hear from other breeders that they opt for surgery because it is awfully hard to sell a horse with a known/radiographic lesion, even though sound.
My good friend who is a small animal vet tells me that he will never again opt for surgery in a sound moving canine, even if the xrays show a lesion. He previously opted for surgery in these cases, but no longer. Additionally, from a canine vet's point of view, he tells me he used to see a lot of OCD in the large dog breeds. He began to tell the large dog breeders to reduce the excess nutrition, reduce the excessive forced excercise (stop throwing the ball for your big Labs and Great Danes while they are still growing), and lo, the incidence of OCD he was seeing dropped dramatically.
It hasn't happened to any of my horses yet, (*knocks on wood*)
but, I think that it is bound to appear sooner or later if you raise a number of horses. I think I will tend towards a conservative "wait and see" decision, should it happen to any of mine, but I realize that today's buyer demands clean xrays, soundness or not. I don't know. I think you have to have a vet that you trust and go with what they recommend in any case, and hope for the best. Meanwhile implement what we know to reduce the incidence.

[Oakstable]

Today I opened a new thread on recent approvals of stallions with Grade 3 OCD.

One of them was an older Grand Prix jumper with a chip in the knee on the hind leg.

I didn't see this thread when I opened mine.

[ann kitchel]

Thank you Live2jump for posting this article. I read every word!! I have always had the same opinion as many of the participants and Veterinarians have re: OCD's and OC's. Not so much of a big deal and certainly not a deal breaker.

[Perfect Pony]

After going through a year of OCD hell with my 7 year old mare I had always planned to breed, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about OCD. At the end of the day, it seems little is really known.

I argued with vets for 3 years about my mare, knowing something was wrong but being told she was fine. She had an enormous chip in her stifle. I know several of her siblings (full and half siblings, including one half sibling that was a successful and popular stallion) and none have (admitted) any OCD. But then, once people are honest it has shocked me how many horses have it or had surgery for it! At a BNT barn I rode at there were many horses with current or past OCD, including a mare who was a premium mare in Germany, all 3 of her foals had OCD, several youngsters, and a GP/YR jumper that had OCD in 3 hind joints! All were very successful H/J at the top of the sport.

That said, I still tell every stallion owner I talk to about my mare and her history, just to be up front, and in the hope that the stallion owners will be honest if they don't think it would be a good match (if you know what I mean...).

[Indy-lou]

After reading this presentation, the thought occurred to me that perhaps the concern (some would say "hysteria") that we see in the USA over OCD has more to do with the DVMs not wanting to be sued, or feeling that they have to protect their licenses more so than perhaps the vets feel they must in other countries. It's really hard to get a DVM to "stick their neck out" when it comes to pre-purchase exams. The buyers are often left uncertain and fearful, the vet's are reluctant to take a stand on anything that shows up radiographically, and if anything does show up, buyers often feel that the horse must be hugely discounted, even if there is no lameness and no history of lameness.
And then the issue of surgery. I wrote earlier about a fellow breeder who lost a lovely horse in the events that followed surgery for an OCD lesion that never caused a lameness, but the surgery itself ended up costing the horse his life. I know that is a rare example, but still...
Thanks for posting this link. I have passed it on to others.

[Calibrachoa]

Found this thread in a search by accident and wondered if any of you could
weigh in on this:

A friend of mine has a very sweet 5 year old green draftX mare that she was trying to sell this past summer. The mare has never shown any signs of lameness even in somewhat strenuous work (4 times per week with some jumping). She had a buyer lined up, they taken her on trial and offered to put down a deposit and were just waiting on her ppe. They decided to have x-rays done and she showed an OCD on one hock. I can't remember the exact presentation but I believe it was in a non weight bearing area of the joint. The buyers didn't want to take the gamble and went else where.
My friend is willing to have the surgery done but is wary of putting a sound horse under the knife. She is now planning on hopefully leasing out the mare and if she stays sound to proceed with selling her then.
Any ideas? Do the surgery or no?

[Perfect Pony]

The question of surgery is a personal one. My mare was 7 years old and had "passed" many lameness exams. But she had subtle issues under saddle, many the unwillingness to really engage in a dressage frame, and jumping with her head high. She was also resistant tracking left and resistant to do lateral work.

When we finally found the chip my choice was to leave it, have her either stay the same or risk serious joint problems if/when the chip came loose and possibly invaded the joint capsule. Or do the surgery and risk her either becoming radically better, or radically worse.

For me, knowing she was quietly distressed being ridden, I chose the surgery. I have had a lot of complications since the surgery, she has reactions to the stitches, cellulitis around all the portal openings, and swelling in and around the joint. The joint capsule thankfully looks good.

In some ways she appears more lame after the surgery. She hops more in her trot walk transitions and still drags the RH at times. BUT, she is so much happier! She is like a new horse, no more head flipping, no more problems with lateral work, and a stride that has opened up a few feet.

I think the key is to really, honestly ask yourself, is this bothering the horse in any way?