close to giving up- at my wits end- lame horse

[clairefeekerry1]

hello. i am very close to giving up on my lovely boy. for those who haven't read any of my prev posts i'll be as brief as i can!
last year my 6/7 yr old gelding started throwing in the odd lame stride whilst schooling on a circle, in trot, was also bit odd in canter, no power what so ever. had the vet out, trotted up sound and flexion tested sound so left at that and if still lame told to get physio out. rode few days later- still lame. just the odd stride, felt like the front end. also becoming increasingly mouthy and gen not happy. got physio out, she felt he was quite tight but nothing more. was sound and felt bit better for about a week after. then went lame again, this time quite bad, still only when ridden. seemed to be hopping about a bit in trot all very odd. got vet back out who watched him ridden and she was unsure whether it was coming from front or back, but decided front. tried him on bute and still lame. nerve blocked both front legs (over a few visits) no response to any of them. then he went in to the equine hospital for further nerve blocks and x rays. was ridden at the vets and still lame so x rayed both front legs- everything fine. vets stumped so reffered me to a speciailst for scintigraphy and x ray's of his neck. both returned nothing. virtually no hot spots whatsoever on the bone scan. was told to take him home, ride and if he was lame call the specilaist. well, he was lame as soon as i rode so called the lameness specialst out who immeadiately said it was his hind legs, which i agree with as it became an odd hopping rather than a lameness. still sound in hand and on lunge but awfully wrong when ridden. specialst nerve blocked both back legs all way up and stifle on both sides (over several visits) no response. then sacroliilic was blocked- still lame. so specialst now stumped- suggested some kind of back/pelvic soft tissue injury maybe a strain. told to give him few months off then slowly bring back into work, lots of physio and chiro work. gave him all winter off (5 months) took shoes off etc. so, started back in gentle work 6 weeks ago- all going well, just walking out hacking starting with 10 mins building up to half an hour. feels fine. today i had to trot for few strides to get passed something (first time trotting since he's come back to work) to my horror, he was awfully lame again! same thing as before, almost worse. its not even like he's lame, its like his back legs just dont work. got off him, trotted him up in hand and he's fine. got back on trotted again, lame/odd again.
where the hell do i go from here? i barely have an insurance money left, i've had two different practices look at him. cant afford to send him to newmarket, i am at my wits end. what the hell is wrong with him?! starting to wonder if its neurological or something- he doesnt appear to be in pain. please help- what else can i do- i just want to know whats wrong!

 

[cm2581]

Are you saying he is 100% sound unridden and aways has been?

 

[clairefeekerry1]

yep. this is the common theme throughout. he is 100% sound in hand, lunged, in the field. the only time he previously didnt look right unridden was walking in hand down a hill/slope. looked very disunited behind. since he's had time off he now looks fine walking down a hill or slope. but ye, he has always been sound trotted up etc, lunged on hard and soft surfaces. when he went to the specailst they did some quite strenous (sp) non ridden stuff and couldnt see anything wrong. should also add his saddle has been checked to death by two different saddlers and has been scanned on his back to see for any pressure points

 

[cm2581]

Have you tried riding the horse bareback? I know you say the saddle has been checked, but have you tried another? Worth a try as nothing else seems to be working! It seems to be an obvious culprit from what you have written. Can't think of anything else!

 

[soloequestrian]

As above. If a horse is totally sound without a rider and lame with, it is something to do with being ridden!! Look at BALANCE International saddles.

 

[debsflo]

when you say specialists have seen him who do you mean . i would have suggested rossdales or similar for full investigations or has this already been done.

 

[debby1]

Has his teeth been looked at, other than that tack could be a cause & could you get someone else to ride him to see if he does it with them as well. do you just school and could it be a bridle lameness through boredom?

 

[applecart14]

was also bit odd in canter, also becoming increasingly mouthy and gen not happy. got physio out, she felt he was quite tight but nothing more. was sound and felt bit better for about a week after. then went lame again, this time quite bad, still only when ridden. seemed to be hopping about a bit in trot all very odd. immeadiately said it was his hind legs, which i agree with as it became an odd hopping rather than a lameness. then sacroliilic was blocked- still lame. same thing as before, almost worse. its not even like he's lame, its like his back legs just dont work. got off him, trotted him up in hand and he's fine. got back on trotted again, lame/odd again.

The points you raised above would lead me to suspect some kind of nuerological condition. He sounds just like my horse that had late onset wobblers syndrome especially the hopping sensation and the fact that you say you feel like his legs don't work. I am wondering if their is some inpingement in his spinal cord or associated nerves. Tell me, was the specialist that he was sent to actually an equine hospital? The reason I ask is because my wobblers boy came up clear when xrays were taken with a portable x ray machine when my vet came to the yard. Its because the machine wasn't strong enough to penetrate the muscles of the neck so he was given the all clear when in actual fact the damage to C4, C6 and C7 was so extensive, that when he went to Liverpool Equine Hospital for referral and had proper xrays using a large machine the results were conclusive for Wobblers/CVM.

Do you know if neuro tests have been carried out, particularly the sway test and/or circling tests? If you pull him by his tail does he stand his ground (try another horse for comparison). A normal horse will stand its ground if its tail is pulled at right angles to its body, a wobblers horse will not be able to resist falling towards you. Be careful when you do these tests. If you circle your horse in tight circles does his outside hind leg swing wide to the side. Again compare with another horse. If so i suggest you get him referred to Liverpool for a definitive answer.

I'm afraid that you might not get the answer that you are hoping to hear, particularly if he does have wobblers, but at least you will have an answer and a way of making an informed choice of how to proceed. My horse was too badly affected to help - he was dangerous as he suffered increasing attacks of ataxia due to his condition and was deemed to dangerous to ride or even keep as a field ornament as he could have gone down on someone or something at any time, so a few minutes following diagnosis he was sadly pts. He was ten and got wobblers following a fall in the field and damage to his vetebrae in his neck.

RIP Rommy - my black beauty.

 

[clairefeekerry1]

Hi. Thank you all for your replies. He went to a top regional equine hospital. Wasn't newmarket or rossdales but similar. They deal alot with race horses and event horses. They had a vet there who only deals with lameness. They did do some tests for neurological things like tight circle and backing up and all was fine. He doesnt seem to have a balance issue and seems quite happy at walk. The tack issue still plays on my mind but if two different saddlers say it fits then what else can I do? Plus the vets thought his lameness was too severe to be a tack issue. Teeth all up to date and he's been ridden by different riders to no avail. X

 

[Booboos]

R had a similar story, although he was reluctant to move, stopped tracking up, lost impulsion and at times would spin wildly 180 degrees and piss off. We did all the lameness tests you have been through, including endless nerveblocks, scintigraphy, saddle checks, physio numerous times, etc. the problem was still there.

R showed a huge improvement with a 3 week danilon trial, which convinced us the problem was still physical and not behavioural. You mention no improvement on bute, but have you tried a similar 3 week painkiller trial?

R's saddle and back had been checked numerous times, but one night when I couldn't sleep worrying about it all I decided I would just plonk another horse's saddle on his back and see what happened...huge difference. It was the saddle afterall that. The four points seemed to fit nicely, but the gullet was pinching in the middle causing neurological problems which were only temporary though and linked to when he had the saddle on so he didn't show any other symptoms at any other time. Cue millions of saddles and he finally chose a treeless (I say 'he' because he went completely differently with different saddles, the saddler and the physio were speechless, he would go from being fine to being crippled, to being fine, etc as we changed the saddles), which is not everyone's cup of tea, but as it has allowed him to return to normal competition work, it's perfect for us.

Sorry for the essay, but you never know what might help and I just wanted to share with you because I had two saddlers a physio and a vet who thought the saddle fit!

 

[sizz]

Has your horse had his hind suspensory ligaments scanned, it sounds as though it could be bilateral hind limb suspensory desmitas, these horses sometimes hop in trot and are reluctant to push from behind, but dont always show a lameness except when ridden. Because they dont always show a lameness they are difficult to block, but you can usually feel a difference after blocking the area when they are ridden. Maybe just get him scanned by a referral centre if you are running out of money . Good luck

 

[Beans1]

I'm also leaning towards the saddle being the problem, do you have a regular wool flocked saddle? Have you seen a WOW saddle? May be worth having a look at one of these, I use one on my horse, he was tripping badly with hind legs, had it altered and he was a huge amount better. Let me know if you want any more info and good luck.

 

[clairefeekerry1]

R had a similar story, although he was reluctant to move, stopped tracking up, lost impulsion and at times would spin wildly 180 degrees and piss off. We did all the lameness tests you have been through, including endless nerveblocks, scintigraphy, saddle checks, physio numerous times, etc. the problem was still there.

R showed a huge improvement with a 3 week danilon trial, which convinced us the problem was still physical and not behavioural. You mention no improvement on bute, but have you tried a similar 3 week painkiller trial?

R's saddle and back had been checked numerous times, but one night when I couldn't sleep worrying about it all I decided I would just plonk another horse's saddle on his back and see what happened...huge difference. It was the saddle afterall that. The four points seemed to fit nicely, but the gullet was pinching in the middle causing neurological problems which were only temporary though and linked to when he had the saddle on so he didn't show any other symptoms at any other time. Cue millions of saddles and he finally chose a treeless (I say 'he' because he went completely differently with different saddles, the saddler and the physio were speechless, he would go from being fine to being crippled, to being fine, etc as we changed the saddles), which is not everyone's cup of tea, but as it has allowed him to return to normal competition work, it's perfect for us.

Sorry for the essay, but you never know what might help and I just wanted to share with you because I had two saddlers a physio and a vet who thought the saddle fit!

my saddle was brand new and fitted to him by a master saddler, this was done in august a month after he went lame, so he was already lame in his previous saddle as well, but it wasnt as bad at that point, was just the odd lame stride. i am going to put another saddle on him tomorrow- haven't got anything to lose have i!!

 

[clairefeekerry1]

Has your horse had his hind suspensory ligaments scanned, it sounds as though it could be bilateral hind limb suspensory desmitas, these horses sometimes hop in trot and are reluctant to push from behind, but dont always show a lameness except when ridden. Because they dont always show a lameness they are difficult to block, but you can usually feel a difference after blocking the area when they are ridden. Maybe just get him scanned by a referral centre if you are running out of money . Good luck

hi, the specialist has said that the scintigraphy should show up any suspensory issues. this was my initial thought, the vets didnt feel it was worth scanning them as no indication this was an issue. it does appear to be coming from higher up but who knows. i will ask again, the hospital he goes to can scan fairly easily

 

[clairefeekerry1]

I'm also leaning towards the saddle being the problem, do you have a regular wool flocked saddle? Have you seen a WOW saddle? May be worth having a look at one of these, I use one on my horse, he was tripping badly with hind legs, had it altered and he was a huge amount better. Let me know if you want any more info and good luck.

my saddle was brand new- kent and masters which i believe has prolite in it to so should be nice for the horse. i've not heard good things about the WOW saddles? maybe i've heard wrong. i've had the saddler out three times in the last few months to check, the vets dont seem to even want to consider its his saddle

 

[happy_talk]

Is he lame when lunged/trotted up with tack on- eg saddle on and girthed to normal tightness but without additional rider weight?

 

[clairefeekerry1]

he is not lame as such if trotted up/lunged with full tack on however he doesnt look quite right. i accept it is obviously an issue with weight being on his back, and i dont suppose there is anyway round this

 

[Tempi]

I dont suppose you have any pictures of your horses feet do you? From the sides front and back. If not could you get some and either PM them to me or post on here so i could have a look?

Also have you thought about trying Bowen Therapy? I had a similar problem with my mare who was out on loan at the time and the vets could find nothing wrong and said she had to have 6months box rest. Long story short i interveened and took her back from the loaner and after some bowen therapy and decent shoeing from my farrier she came sound again.

Where abouts are you based?

 

[clairefeekerry1]

i'm in oxfordshire. i have x rays and footagrams (?) of his feet, could see if i could get them on email. i have had two long dicussions with the senior vet who believes this is a neurological problem. there is no further diagnosis left we can do. i really dont know what to do now

sorry forgot to add- he's had quite alot of bowen and mctimmony treatment

 

[Beans1]

my saddle was brand new- kent and masters which i believe has prolite in it to so should be nice for the horse. i've not heard good things about the WOW saddles? maybe i've heard wrong. i've had the saddler out three times in the last few months to check, the vets dont seem to even want to consider its his saddle

Might be worth a try though, if you feel like you have tried everything else you have nothing to lose. . . . . .

If you need any details PM me

Good luck

 

[Sam22]

It sounds to me like one of three things;
Suspensory desmitis - has he had the specific herve block for this?
A nuerological problem (Get his sacral area scanned per rectum). Could try him on a nuerological analgeasic like gabapentin or cheaper steroids.
A muscle problem - can present in weird and wonderful ways. Has he had a blood test to check his muscle enzymes at a time when he is actually showing the problem.

 

[Sam22]

Just thought of another condition that presents in weird ways - aortoiliac thrombosis, blood clots in the vessels to hind limbs. Can be ruled out by rectal scan.

 

[clairefeekerry1]

Just thought of another condition that presents in weird ways - aortoiliac thrombosis, blood clots in the vessels to hind limbs. Can be ruled out by rectal scan.

Hi. Yep his suspensorys were blocked with no response. Have had the senior vet out today who has had a good look thru the case and thinks he has a neuro problem. Has suggestted a two week course of steroids. But has said there is only a slim chance this would make any difference. He has blood tests which were fine. Do you know anything about steroids for neuro problems?x

 

[DollyDolls]

I would say it is something the saddle is doing to pinch a nerve and causing the lameness. Try other saddles / bareback / treeless ones & repeat the exercises that cause it currently with your standard saddle.

I know a pair of my trousers which just fit a bit tight over my hips cause me pain down my sciatic (sp) nerve, but others are fine.

I think once you find the exact problem, it will resolve. At least your horse has not turned nasty or lame all the time.