Smarty – a seven year old bay Hanoverian mare

Smarty was examined as an outpatient on the 24^th July 2013 for medication of both sacroiliac joints following examination of the horse at home. Smarty had previously had arthroscopic surgery on both hind fetlock joints for OCD lesions and had made good progress after that surgery. In the bone scan which led up to the initial diagnosis of OCD, uptake in both sacroiliac joints had been noted. When examined at home recently Smarty was sound at the trot but showed marked dynamic abnormalities at the canter which showed her to be struggling at the canter with little hindlimb impulsion and being very heavy on the forehand. Using the results from the previous bone scan, it was felt that the sacroiliac joints were likely the most plausible explanation for the dynamic signs. Both left and right sacroiliac joints were medicated on the 24^th July under sedation with 160 mg of DepoMedrone in total and Smarty was discharged back to her owner that day. If the clinical signs do not respond to treatment then the diagnosis can be reviewed.