I will start this post by asking for kindness and support as I feel as though I have failed as a horse owner. I feel like I have done everything I possibly could (and then some) within my financial reason at 26 years old and have officially run out of ideas.
I have owned my beautiful, 7yo APHA mare for 3 years now. When I bought her, she was a bit green still and her history prior to me was pretty low key due to the previous owner's pregnancy. She was started and pretty well trained, but not driven into the ground like some youngsters. I, to this day, feel good about the way she was brought up and started.
I'll try to keep this as short as possible - About a year into owning her, my trainer at the time said she was moving NQR in her hind end. The biggest indicator that something is wrong is that she flat out refuses/gets dangerous cantering on her right lead only, getting herself so worked up to the point that I could feel her heartbeat through my western saddle. I knew right away that this was pain related, not behavior like me ex-trainer believed and punished her for (she's ex for a reason!). LL is fine - quiet and soft. X-rays of her RH (clinic vet was sure it was RH) to find hocks and stifles to be clean, then sent to the university for a nuclear scan that was also clean but the university vet said the LH was the culprit and that findings in xrays show that she has arthritis at a 5-6 out of 10 with suggestions of retirement (at 5 years old!). Brought her home heartbroken to have my new-to-me barn call vet insist that while she had some changes in that LH x-ray, it was not that severe. Together we decided to send her to be turned out for 6 months and had her magna-waved daily during that time (I personally was not ready to inject so young). Vet said that was the next best thing. Finally I brought her home, added Previcox daily and did inject all joints in both hocks and both stifles on her 6th birthday in March 2018 (sorry, mare!), and they lasted around a month. 4 months later, moved her to a paradise of a barn that allows for turnout 8+ hours a day. Since moving there in August, she has been so on and off at random times with no true pattern. I had to switch vets due to the location (rec'd by barn mate), but she is in agreement that the RH is the problem leg once again. I opted to inject again in January and they, again, only seemed to last a month or two. She is now compensating specifically in her RF which is making her just completely discombobulated (per my vet during her spring vax appointment). The vet was nonchalant about it, and said "well, we can inject her knee and maybe her SI as well."
I'm at a loss. I love this horse more than life. I was riding lightly a couple days per week to keep her active, W/T only, and some days she's fantastic and others she can hardly trot at all. Since her spring vax appointment, I have stopped riding altogether and don't know where to go from here. I don't have many horse friends for guidance and I'm so heartbroken feeling like I failed my mare. I personally have never heard of an arthritic horse not having a positive outcome to both daily Previcox and injections so maybe I am naive. I'm not sure I really trust this vet, but I also feel like I shouldn't bring in another opinion. I guess this is my final cry for help.
I have owned my beautiful, 7yo APHA mare for 3 years now. When I bought her, she was a bit green still and her history prior to me was pretty low key due to the previous owner's pregnancy. She was started and pretty well trained, but not driven into the ground like some youngsters. I, to this day, feel good about the way she was brought up and started.
I'll try to keep this as short as possible - About a year into owning her, my trainer at the time said she was moving NQR in her hind end. The biggest indicator that something is wrong is that she flat out refuses/gets dangerous cantering on her right lead only, getting herself so worked up to the point that I could feel her heartbeat through my western saddle. I knew right away that this was pain related, not behavior like me ex-trainer believed and punished her for (she's ex for a reason!). LL is fine - quiet and soft. X-rays of her RH (clinic vet was sure it was RH) to find hocks and stifles to be clean, then sent to the university for a nuclear scan that was also clean but the university vet said the LH was the culprit and that findings in xrays show that she has arthritis at a 5-6 out of 10 with suggestions of retirement (at 5 years old!). Brought her home heartbroken to have my new-to-me barn call vet insist that while she had some changes in that LH x-ray, it was not that severe. Together we decided to send her to be turned out for 6 months and had her magna-waved daily during that time (I personally was not ready to inject so young). Vet said that was the next best thing. Finally I brought her home, added Previcox daily and did inject all joints in both hocks and both stifles on her 6th birthday in March 2018 (sorry, mare!), and they lasted around a month. 4 months later, moved her to a paradise of a barn that allows for turnout 8+ hours a day. Since moving there in August, she has been so on and off at random times with no true pattern. I had to switch vets due to the location (rec'd by barn mate), but she is in agreement that the RH is the problem leg once again. I opted to inject again in January and they, again, only seemed to last a month or two. She is now compensating specifically in her RF which is making her just completely discombobulated (per my vet during her spring vax appointment). The vet was nonchalant about it, and said "well, we can inject her knee and maybe her SI as well."
I'm at a loss. I love this horse more than life. I was riding lightly a couple days per week to keep her active, W/T only, and some days she's fantastic and others she can hardly trot at all. Since her spring vax appointment, I have stopped riding altogether and don't know where to go from here. I don't have many horse friends for guidance and I'm so heartbroken feeling like I failed my mare. I personally have never heard of an arthritic horse not having a positive outcome to both daily Previcox and injections so maybe I am naive. I'm not sure I really trust this vet, but I also feel like I shouldn't bring in another opinion. I guess this is my final cry for help.

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