Nickles1973
Well-Known Member
My horse has had one issue after another for over a year now. It began with bruising of his paper thin soles and diagnosis of hoof imbalances. I followed the vet and farriers advice and and he was shod in straight bar shoes. After 4 months of this his hooves looked bloody awful and he was showing lameness in his back end. I had a new farrier come by and he was horrified by his hooves. Together we worked towards taking him barefoot and this has been ongoing ever since. I have overhauled his diet and spent a fortune on hoof boots to keep him comfortable.
In July I called the vet about his back troubles which I was sure were caused by a freak accident he had in the field. (450Kg pony caught a front leg in the crossed leg straps of his turnout rug) Vet started with flexions etc and diagnosed djd of the fetlock. We had steroids and HA injected but when the lameness persisted the vet moved on to injecting his hocks after inconclusive x-rays. The vet also scanned his suspensory ligaments to rule them out and we then had a diagnosis of bilateral psd.
Only then did the vet then accept that it was his S/I actually causing the disunited canter and shortness behind. He has since had Steroids into his S/I and shockwave over his S/I and back.
Ffwd to 27 February and after working closely with a physio and chiro on strengthening his back, S/I and encouraging him to work correctly he was proclaimed sound by the vet and I was advised to start a 6 week fittening program but was also told to enjoy him.
4 days in and thanks to a cock-up by my yard owner a mass stampede was triggered in the field and my horse was at the head of it all.
He is lame in front again. And when I trotted him up in the school on Friday he also looked to be holding himself behind and toe dragging again. (Something with all the physio we'd virtually eliminated)
I am at my wits end. His hooves look from the outside to be so much better than they were but the fact that he is so footy and has seemingly bruised his feet so badly suggests they are not good enough.
I am also gutted that one hooley in the field would be enough to hurt his back/ S/I and that suggests that actually he isn't going to be able to stand up to much work.
I am considering putting shoes back on the front. At least short term to make him more comfortable as I wonder if being sore in front is why he is looking stiff behind too?
Any suggestions as to what my next move should be would be much appreciated. I am sitting in a pool of self pity at the mo and am seriously considering throwing in the towel.
Tripple choc cookies and hot chocolate to anyone that has got this far.
In July I called the vet about his back troubles which I was sure were caused by a freak accident he had in the field. (450Kg pony caught a front leg in the crossed leg straps of his turnout rug) Vet started with flexions etc and diagnosed djd of the fetlock. We had steroids and HA injected but when the lameness persisted the vet moved on to injecting his hocks after inconclusive x-rays. The vet also scanned his suspensory ligaments to rule them out and we then had a diagnosis of bilateral psd.
Only then did the vet then accept that it was his S/I actually causing the disunited canter and shortness behind. He has since had Steroids into his S/I and shockwave over his S/I and back.
Ffwd to 27 February and after working closely with a physio and chiro on strengthening his back, S/I and encouraging him to work correctly he was proclaimed sound by the vet and I was advised to start a 6 week fittening program but was also told to enjoy him.
4 days in and thanks to a cock-up by my yard owner a mass stampede was triggered in the field and my horse was at the head of it all.
He is lame in front again. And when I trotted him up in the school on Friday he also looked to be holding himself behind and toe dragging again. (Something with all the physio we'd virtually eliminated)
I am at my wits end. His hooves look from the outside to be so much better than they were but the fact that he is so footy and has seemingly bruised his feet so badly suggests they are not good enough.
I am also gutted that one hooley in the field would be enough to hurt his back/ S/I and that suggests that actually he isn't going to be able to stand up to much work.
I am considering putting shoes back on the front. At least short term to make him more comfortable as I wonder if being sore in front is why he is looking stiff behind too?
Any suggestions as to what my next move should be would be much appreciated. I am sitting in a pool of self pity at the mo and am seriously considering throwing in the towel.
Tripple choc cookies and hot chocolate to anyone that has got this far.
