New horse clicking sound in back legs

Question
I purchased a 7 yr old MFT that had not been ridden regularly for 5 years. I had a purchase exam done on him including flexion tests and checking his back for soreness all the basics were checked exept x-rays. He passed everything but was scored a one intermittent on a left rear on his flexion test. The vet said it was very muddy there and he had mud on that hip, so it was possible he had fallen. He said that he was stiff on that leg a few steps and then came out of it. He did it three times and last time no stiffness.  I was not able to be there because he was purchased out of state. When we got him home I noticed he is resting his hip on both legs mostly the left. He doesn't act lame when walking him. There is also a clicking sound coming from is sounds like his fetlock joint. The vet didn't notice this at the time because he had shoes on. I had a chiropractic done on him and this vet seemed to think he has a sore back. Do you think he is needing conditioned for lack of use. I am worried that I made a mistake even when I had a purchase exam done. I am starting him on cosequin ASU and vitamin E along with a multi vitamin. Is there anything else I can be doing other than getting the blood checked that was saved from the Coggins test to see if he was drugged before the exam.
Thanks Tamara Terpstra

Answer
Tamara,

I suspect he's got some arthritis developing in that hind leg.  Possibly in the fetlock joint.  You've started him on Cosequin, which is a good first step.  If he shows little/no improvement after 30 days then you may have to get a better picture of what's going on.  I would get both fetlocks and hocks X-rayed to see what the joints look like.  Depending upon what the X-rays show, you may need to go to go to a more aggressive treatment, either Legend/Adequan or possibly injecting the joint. He's been checked out by a chiropractor, which was a good thing to do.  If he had adjustments done, he may need them again.  If he's not using that hind leg correctly, and is compensating for a lack of flexion then he may well have sore muscles elsewhere - back, hindquarters, shoulder.  See if you can find an equine massage therapist to work on him to alleviate muscle problems.

He's not been used for 5 yrs. so I can well imagine that he needs some conditioning but you need to get his physical issues addressed first.  Don't count him as a total loss.  He sounds like he just needs some help to get over issues he's got, some of which may come from his previous environment, other from previous use.  Get him X-rayed and find out the status of his joints then go from there.  He's very young, not even fully grown yet (won't be until he's 8), so age is on his side.  

Let me know how this goes.  I see so much damage in horses of this age because of training too hard, too early.  I won't even get on a horse until they are 4, and then only for brief periods.  The spine is the last area of the skeleton to finish growing so I don't want to cause problems later on by stressing the horse too much early on.

Good luck with him.

Lyn