Am I being unreasonable- horse still lame

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Cinders

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It's coming up to 3 months since my mare went lame and there has been absolutely no improvement
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Back in November she went lame about a week after she skidded and slipped over when canter on the lunge in the field. She was fine after that and the only slight sign was a bit of stiffness but a week later out of no where she went hopping lame. She went to the vets and had an x-ray and nerve blocks which were inconclusive. She had 3 weeks box rest which didn't really help and she was a real handful, rearing and leaping when going for grass in hand that we decided to turn her out. I have no way to fund it myself and parents aren't will to pay so we can't go down the veterinary route to find out the cause.

About a month ago i was so fed up we decided to try this muscle and joint specialist, he firstly said her back was out so sorted that and then worked on her stifle. He said what had caused it was her stifle joint being slightly twisted and so the muscles have knotted to compensate for it. I was shown how to massage and stretch the bad leg which i did religiously morning and night. He said she would be sound within a week which i can't say i believed! The following weekend she was actually looking freer and taking bigger steps with her bad leg. He came out again and said she was 75% there which i didn't agree with as she was still very lame in trot. He once again said give it another week and she'll definitely be sound. 2 weeks later and since this cold weather she's taken 10 steps back, she's gone back to looking noticebly not right in walk and is as hopping lame in trot as she was when she first went lame, i've still been doing the exercises but feel like i'm wasting my time as it's having no effect.

I don't know what to do with her, maybe i should try her on bute again but i don't know what that would achieve with masking the pain?! I don't know whether it's worth getting a different physio to have a look at her either? I'm not even convinced it's muscular as she comes out of the stable in the morning stiff but when she comes in again at night she's almost worse rather than better. Oh and just to add there is not heat or swelling which makes things so much harder.

Am i being unreasonable to expect some progress after 3 months or would you not expect improvements until say 6 months?!

Any adivce or opinions much appreciated.
 
Well it depends on what the problem is.  I think you need to bite the bullet and get the vets out again or resign yourself to turning her away for at least 6 months and hoping she comes right. 

Personally I would get the vets to do a whole body scan and then they can pinpoint the area of the problem.  The thing with x-rays is that they have to be confident of where the problem is, else they might be x-raying the wrong area entirely.

You should expect progress within 3 months unless it was something more serious - sorry not the answer you wanted & I hope to get to the bottom of her lameness.
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I think you need to get the vet out, I know how hard it is when parents are not amicable to getting vets, but a hopping lame horse is one that needs vet attention, not a physio (who shouldn't be treating her without vet referral anyway..)
 
Id have to agree with Dixie ,you realy need to bite the bullet and get the vet,may be a different vet but if you leave it too long you will start getting problems in other places where she will compensate and it will be harder to get to the route of the prob, best of luck with it .
 
If it is a tendon/ligament, which it does sound like, because the muscle person thought so and pinpointed the problem, (especially since he made her feel a bit better for a week or so) then you really shouldn't be turning her out if she messes about out there.

Those tissues take 5-6 months to heal and for the first month or 6 weeks its pure box rest and no additional movement. Then after that - depending what your vet says - you usually go on to steady walk for a month or so, then build up.

Poor you, don't worry too much, she wouldn't come sound within under three months if she has torn a muscle/ligament,etc and she should come sound eventually. It takes time.

As the other two said, sadly, you really must MUST get a vet out, especially if she is hopping and you really are probably doing something not quite right for her at this stage.

Xrays won't give you a prognosis for a muscle, a mobile scan should, and they are not too expensive, including call out I guess around £70
 
If your vet tells you to put her on box rest I would try giving her a calmer, also this cold weather does make things worse, make syre she is rugged up, warm and on a joint supplement, good luck!
 
Gonna be blunt. But if no one is prepared to pay for a vet to examine and treat your horse - then you quite simply shouldn't have one.

She clearly needs some kind of medical attention, and to not give it her is negligent.
 
I wouldn't keep on potching about with physios. If your mare really is hopping lame then you need to have a vet to see her asap, and a lameness work up to establish the cause of the problem. Horses don't do well when they are this lame and you really can't justify sticking her in a field and crossing your fingers. Also, if she remains this lame 3 months after the initial injury then there may be a significant problem. I would suspect that it is not muscular given the duration of the problem.

Giving her bute other than under the advice of a vet is illegal, and is not in the interest of your horse.

Although it is too late for this injury, I'd consider budgeting for some insurance so that you don't find yourself in this predicament in the future.
 
How long is a piece of string? How long it takes to get better entirely depends on what the problem is. You can't continue without a definate diagnosis as you are playing guessing games. You really need to pay for further investigations so that you can get the correct treatment for the diagnosed problem. If she is coming in worse after being in the fiels then there is a possibility that it is soft tissue injury i.e tendon or muscle. As if soft tissue is injured it has to be rested completely to recover. Messing around on it all day will only inflame it amnd make her seem worse.
Its not great if you don't have the money to fund vets bills but unless you do take it further you may not ever find out what the problem is. Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the advice!

I know i needed a bit of a shove in the right direction and i do honestly realise it's clearly not going to heal its self and i hate seeing her like this although i must add she's not hopping lame in walk so it's not like an rspca case.

I'll have a talk with parents and really try to get her sorted out it's just difficult because my parents aren't very horsey and dad is almost refusing to spend another penny on her as the first vet bill was £400 and they couldn't even hint at what the problem was so dad was very peeved.

When we first took her to the vets they said if she didn't get better they'd send her to newmarket for bone scans as they didn't have the facilities and quoted us a starting price of £1500 but it'll clearly be a lot more than that. I would pay myself but i'm 18 with no proper income and would no doubt struggle to pay even half of that. Any idea of how much we should be expecting to pay?
 
I don't think anyone can realistically give you a price on what money is involved. But your parents clearly have a duty of care to your horse.

It's such a shame when situations like this arise - and makes things terribly stressful.

Is you horse insured??????

Either way a visit from the vet doesn't cost the earth - and they may just say turn her away for 6 months.........

You parents must have some ideas of the costs involved with keeping horses - you obviously compete in different disciplines - which all costs money. I wonder if you have your own transport? That's not cheap.

I really hope that you get to the bottom of your horses problem - and that mum and dad are more sympathetic to your situation.
 
It's not that we can't afford the treatment but dads tight as anything with money and as he says it's not a just cause! No she's not insured either hence the bulk of the problem this is due to once again dad thinking it's a waste of his money.

I'm not moaning about getting a vet as she's already been seen by one but it's the MRI/ bone scanning that is needed to find the problem. Mum says she doesn't feel she's worth the money it would cost us and dad said we should just get rid and he'll get me a new one. Hardly the point! If he's got money to spend on a new one then he can afford to help me out with the treatment.

Before all this happened, yes i was competing regularly and we do have our own trailer, money towards all that never seemed to be a huge issue.

Going to have a serious look at my own funds as i would do anything to get to the bottom of it and get her happy again.
 
I had a very similar thing.

We knew it was in the fetlock as thats where the infusion was but joint fuild tests, xrays, nerve blocks and 3 months box rest and still no definate conclusion was reached.

We then decided that the only way to know was to operate as cartledge damage was suspected and there wa sonly one way to find out.

My mare was only 1/10th lame on the straight and on a circle a bit more so but i was right to go ahead.

They found masive cartledge trauma and had i waited my horses would now be retired. Lucilky i caught it early and box rested her for 5 month then she had 3 months turnout and camne back into work 5 weeks ago.

Def need to know why, chiros and physios and not quailfied to make a diagnosis and a full vet exam is needed asap.
 
Then I'd point out to my dad that if he wasn't willing to pay for insurance he has to be willing to pay for the vets bills, simple as, no iffs no buts, thats part of your responsibilities as a horse owner.
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And I'd offter to take on a part time or another part time job to pay him back some of the money, if it would sweeten him up.
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oh, and never own a horse again without decent insurance!
 
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