itsonlyme
Well-Known Member
So, Dolly-Pony is a 12.2hh 11 year old Welsh A cross. She came back off loan and didn't seem right. I noticed she was dipping her back when groomed, so called her physio out. Basically, she'd lost weight whilst out on loan and her saddle had become too wide and was sitting on her withers (which are non-existant - she's a barrell!) Three physio sessions later, no more flinching, so we got to work.
Still not right.
I'm too big for her, i know that (i'm 9 stone), but she's a stocky little thing. But i was worried i was squishing her! I got people to watch me ride her and the general opinion was "she's not right, but i can't see why".
So i called the vet. Trotted up sound inhand and on the lunge on hard ground. But as soon as she was trotted under saddle, she went wierd again. The vet said it was unusual to be so sound inhand, then go so lame when ridden. She checked her over, but found nothing, so Buted for 10 days, boxrested for 14, then the vet came back and she was exactly the same.
We took her into the vets last week; the plan being to nerve block. Did all the usual trot-ups and stuff and our vet decided that it was probably a waste of time nerve-blocking because in her opinion the lameness (which was in both hind legs by the way) was high up and just referred us straight to Leahurst.
Took her there yesterday. 4 vets, plus students, all looking quite confused! She's taking shorter strides with her left hind, but spending less time on her right hind... She's also dishing outwards with her right hind in walk.
Conformation-wise, she's quite straight behind.
Anyway, left her at Leahurst so they could nerve-block her hocks (they were thinking spavins of both hinds), but when they phoned to let me know how they got on, it turns out that Dolly had absolutley NO intention of letting anybody stick any needles into her legs! So after several failed attempts, they had to give up.
She had a gamma scan today, which showed...not a lot
Apparently both legs were glowing all the way down more than 'normal', but nothing significant. The left was glowing 30% more than the right (which i thought was a lot, but vet said not). Ruled out any arthritic changes. The other place that glowed a BIT was the sacroiliac joint.
She's radioactive now for 48 hours, so has to stay in horsepital and can't be touched. On monday, they're going to xray her fetlocks and hocks, but are guessing they won't show anything. They're then going to TRY and nerve-block the SI and see what happens.
God, that's really long isn't it?! Sorry! Basically, what i was wondering is if it IS sacro pain, has anyone got any experience of this? Vet was saying there isn't much they can do other than physio and whacking a load of drugs into the joint and working her on bute for a while. Is this true? What about the long-term?
If it isn't sacro pain, anyone have any other ideas what it could be? The vets think that sometimes, some horses just "develop these abnormal gaits and you can't do anything about it"....
Sorry for the ramble and thanks in advance for any help x
Still not right.
I'm too big for her, i know that (i'm 9 stone), but she's a stocky little thing. But i was worried i was squishing her! I got people to watch me ride her and the general opinion was "she's not right, but i can't see why".
So i called the vet. Trotted up sound inhand and on the lunge on hard ground. But as soon as she was trotted under saddle, she went wierd again. The vet said it was unusual to be so sound inhand, then go so lame when ridden. She checked her over, but found nothing, so Buted for 10 days, boxrested for 14, then the vet came back and she was exactly the same.
We took her into the vets last week; the plan being to nerve block. Did all the usual trot-ups and stuff and our vet decided that it was probably a waste of time nerve-blocking because in her opinion the lameness (which was in both hind legs by the way) was high up and just referred us straight to Leahurst.
Took her there yesterday. 4 vets, plus students, all looking quite confused! She's taking shorter strides with her left hind, but spending less time on her right hind... She's also dishing outwards with her right hind in walk.
Conformation-wise, she's quite straight behind.
Anyway, left her at Leahurst so they could nerve-block her hocks (they were thinking spavins of both hinds), but when they phoned to let me know how they got on, it turns out that Dolly had absolutley NO intention of letting anybody stick any needles into her legs! So after several failed attempts, they had to give up.
She had a gamma scan today, which showed...not a lot
Apparently both legs were glowing all the way down more than 'normal', but nothing significant. The left was glowing 30% more than the right (which i thought was a lot, but vet said not). Ruled out any arthritic changes. The other place that glowed a BIT was the sacroiliac joint.She's radioactive now for 48 hours, so has to stay in horsepital and can't be touched. On monday, they're going to xray her fetlocks and hocks, but are guessing they won't show anything. They're then going to TRY and nerve-block the SI and see what happens.
God, that's really long isn't it?! Sorry! Basically, what i was wondering is if it IS sacro pain, has anyone got any experience of this? Vet was saying there isn't much they can do other than physio and whacking a load of drugs into the joint and working her on bute for a while. Is this true? What about the long-term?
If it isn't sacro pain, anyone have any other ideas what it could be? The vets think that sometimes, some horses just "develop these abnormal gaits and you can't do anything about it"....
Sorry for the ramble and thanks in advance for any help
x