A little advice please

little_critter

little_critter

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I'm blessed with a pony who is never sick or sorry, which means on the rare occasion when something is wrong I'm rather clueless!
Was going to go on a hack today, just got 10m down the road and a car came so I trotted to get out of the way. My pony felt lame. We had only trotted a few strides so I asked again, she was resistant then trotted and still felt lame so we went back to the yard.
The lameness is on her off front.
I initially thought maybe she had trodden on a stone but thinking about it she felt lame from the first step, it's not like she was ok then suddenly went lame.
She's not hopping lame, felt ok in walk but there's unlevelness and a slight nod in trot. ( I checked for stones in her feet immediately and again back at the yard)
So what to do? Leave it a few days and if she's still lame call the vet?
She's happily munching in the field at the moment.
 
Does she have any heat in the hoof and have you checked for an elevated pulse? Could be an abscess or a bruise! But I would also watch for lami at this time of year!
 
I'm being very careful ref feed and grass so I would hope it's not lami. I'll check for heat and pulse when I go back down. Would lami present as lameness on one side only?
 
As well as the foot, you will need to check all down the leg for heat & swelling, if there is any, cold-hose the area for 10 minutes, keep her in. If she's tweaked a tendon or ligament, a vet would probably prescribe bute + 6 weeks box rest with 10-15 mins hand-walking each day.
 
Thanks jennbags. I'm sitting here kicking myself that I didn't think to thoroughly check all legs.
I guess it's possible she could have tweaked something as I tried to trot out of the way of the car so early in the hack: she hadn't warmed up.
 
As long as she's fairly calm in the field, not a problem, but if she's likely to go for a hoon around, I'd go & get her in now to check it out. A tweaked tendon/ligament will heal fairly quickly - but if she does more damage, it could be a very long road to recovery. Hopefully it's just a sole-bruise or something though!
 
JennBags said:
As long as she's fairly calm in the field, not a problem, but if she's likely to go for a hoon around, I'd go & get her in now to check it out. A tweaked tendon/ligament will heal fairly quickly - but if she does more damage, it could be a very long road to recovery. Hopefully it's just a sole-bruise or something though!
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She's not one for expending any more energy than she has to so won't be hooning around. She only moves if she wants to find more grass! (And I reiterate I'm strip grazing, just in case anyone thinks I've chucked her in a field of lush grass)
 
Sometimes it's not he leg you think it is but the opposite one so I always check all 4 hooves and legs for heat and legs for swellings. Agree with what everyone on here has said.
 
Just something to add to the things already suggested, has she been shod within the past few days, if so possibly some nail binding? Certainly would be getting some advice from vet and/or farrier if no improvement tomorrow.
 
sueonmull said:
Just something to add to the things already suggested, has she been shod within the past few days, if so possibly some nail binding? Certainly would be getting some advice from vet and/or farrier if no improvement tomorrow.
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She was last shod just under 2 weeks ago so I think I can rule that out.
 
I did a thorough check this evening. No heat in her feet. Can't feel a digital pulse. No lumps, bumps, heat or swelling on any leg. The only possibility is it looks like she's lost a bit of frog on her near fore.
Trotted up again and she looks better than this morning. I'd say this morning she was 3-4 tenths lame, this evening 2-3 tenths.
I'm keeping a close eye and will trot up again tomorrow evening.
 
Hmmm. Pony went lame again on Monday. Similar level of lameness to last time, again no heat, lumps or bumps. I called the vet first thing on Tuesday but they can't come out until Thursday morning, by which time I expect there will be nothing to see.
She was also a little bit unlevel last weekend (literally just enough for me to think is she/ isn't she lame?)
I'll be trotting up this morning to see how she is and then calling the vet to see whether it's worth her coming to look at a practically sound pony.
So frustrating, I want to know what is causing this but there is probably no point the vet seeing her when there isn't much to see (will see what the vet says when I call today)
 
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