close to giving up- please help- lame horse

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clairefeekerry1

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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
 
Oh how awful for you - big hugs. Not read any of your posts before and can't think of anything hugely helpful to say (except could you try a few more paragraphs next time, it's hard to concentrate on a big block of type at my age :)).

Any chance you could video him and upload it to youtube or photobucket with a link? You could then have a whole panel of wannabe vets/general wise people on here to have a diagnosis session.

Can you add any further info - things like breeding, what he's done so far, which leg - just in case anyone has a lightbulb moment. I was thinking of something like upwardly fixating patella, or a mild shiverer, but could be miles off really.

I would have thought turning him away for 5 months would have sorted most things out, so a neurological condition could be a reason, but not necessarily...horrible situation for you.
 
The only thing I could think of is that his tack - specifically saddle - is causing a problem or the pressure of a rider on his back.

Have you tried riding him bareback or with different tack? May be even try with a different rider?

Sorry I'm not much help but I really feel for you :(
 
I have nothing helpful to add but wanted to offer some sympathy and good wishes as I have followed your posts. I really hope you get to the bottom of this as you seem to have tried so hard. ((hugs)).
 
hello it must be so hard i am having a similar thing happened with my horse just started riding again and getting on really well having had hind leg lameness no real reason slight changes in hock x ray and then to my horror came in monday with puffy tendon and lame so more vets and scan etc. any way some friends with slightly lame horses odd actions both old and young have tried vetrofen and are truely shocked as has worked wanders its a alternative to bute no devils claw its quite expensive but im assured it works i am going to get some to try its cheaper than more vets might be worth a try read up on it
 
sorry re the paragraphs or lack of! i was pretty upset.

yes he is 100% sound un ridden. before his time off he sometimes didnt look right walking down the slope in his field, kind of disunited at the back, but apart from that he lunges, trots up sound, always has done.

his tack has been checked to death by 2 different saddlers and the vets. his saddle was scanned on his back too for any pressure points. its not one specific leg as such, best way to describe it is his front legs trot but his back legs canter or hop. he never ever bucks or shows any discomfort to being tacked up or ridden. nice and forward going in walk. ears forward in trot, just thats its not really a trot! the vets thought it was too severe to be an issue with his tack. i have ridden him bare back and cant see much of a difference.

he has been ridden by differnt folk, including the spealist vet, with the same outcome. he seems v happy in himself.

previous to this he was cometing low level bsja, schooled to novice and gen just a lovely polite well mannered horse. it started with him feeling not quite right then gone on from there. i've had him about 18 months, was 5 stage vetted when i got him. he was in a lovely home previous to me with no issues.
 
Have his spine and pelvis been x-rayed?

I know that you are at the insurance limit so this may not be possible. It could be pressure on the spinal cord causing the hind leg problem when weight is on his back.
 
Sorry I have no ideas that no-one else has had.
i can however recommend acupuncture if you can find someone to do it. My vet has done it on 2 of ours and has made a huge difference to muscle problems in neck and back.
 
I had a horse that appeared lame in front and had incoordination behind - a good indication of it being neurological was that when going down a steep hill he dragged hind hind toes markedly. It was thought to be caused by a narrowing of the gap between the cervical vertebrae (neck) pinching the nerves. I had this diagnosed at the AHT but it was hard to absolutely confirm. So even if it is his hind legs affected it may be caused by something in the neck. Like your horse mine passed a 5-stage vetting but within 6 months was showing signs of this as his schooling progressed. Yours does sound very similar - if mine was out in the field you couldn't really tell there was anything wrong.

I hope it gets sorted I know how awful going through something like this is. :(
 
Faracat said:
Have his spine and pelvis been x-rayed?

I know that you are at the insurance limit so this may not be possible. It could be pressure on the spinal cord causing the hind leg problem when weight is on his back.
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hi, i haven't had his spine or pelvis x-rayed, mainly because the scintigraphy is highly senstive in picking up spinal or pelvic issues then to be followed up with x rays. since his scintigraphy came back showing nothing in that area whatsoever they decided its not worth x raying that area. i still have about £1500 left on my insurance so i have a little bit of scope but suppose the vets need to have some sort of reason to justify x-raying that area, plus would an x ray show up a nerve problem?? vets didnt think it was a trapped nerve as he shows no explosive behaviour. he tries his hardest to trot but the action is all wrong
 
sussexbythesea said:
I had a horse that appeared lame in front and had incoordination behind - a good indication of it being neurological was that when going down a steep hill he dragged hind hind toes markedly. It was thought to be caused by a narrowing of the gap between the cervical vertebrae (neck) pinching the nerves. I had this diagnosed at the AHT but it was hard to absolutely confirm. So even if it is his hind legs affected it may be caused by something in the neck. Like your horse mine passed a 5-stage vetting but within 6 months was showing signs of this as his schooling progressed. Yours does sound very similar - if mine was out in the field you couldn't really tell there was anything wrong.

I hope it gets sorted I know how awful going through something like this is. :(
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thank you- thats interesting. his sometimes presents as front lameness, it did at first anyway and occasionally did at the latter stages as well. at his worst he looked very uncoordinated walking down a hill behind. did you get a spinal x ray done? the scintigraphy should have shown this up in mine though? dont suppose yours had a good outcome??
 
Scintigraphy - what is that? There is another diagnostic test you can do which involves scanning for heat - its not too expensive at £3-400 for a full body scan. Google equiscan.

Maybe find a biomechanics expert and see if they can pick anything up?

Like others, my immediate feeling is back/nervous system/sacroilliac/pelvis type problems.

Nothing else to suggest, but best of luck x
 
Naturally said:
Scintigraphy - what is that? There is another diagnostic test you can do which involves scanning for heat - its not too expensive at £3-400 for a full body scan. Google equiscan.

Maybe find a biomechanics expert and see if they can pick anything up?

Like others, my immediate feeling is back/nervous system/sacroilliac/pelvis type problems.

Nothing else to suggest, but best of luck x
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hi, he had the thermography from equiscan just before he returned to work, didnt really show much. there was a mild hot bit on his spine but not a true 'hot spot'. scintigraphry is where the inject with radioactive stuff and scan the bones. shows changes in bone structure and where soft tissue or ligament etc is having to repair itself etc etc. only certain equine places offer it. took up £1300
 
hiya how frustrating for you first thing have you had his feet x rayed at all??? the next thing i would try which maybe a bit far out is the black box where you send off some of his mane from the roots and they put it on a black box i am afraid i am a little bit sparse with details as thats all i know really but it sounds like your at the end of your tether so anything is worth a go also i used once a lady who talks to horses she hadn't met any of my horses i just gave her details of where they were situated in the yard and their names and ages again a bit sparse but these are relatively cheap options if you think it might be worth looking into . you may be skeptical and i am not saying that will will definatley work but worth a go ?? i knew someone who had lost a terrier in some 2000 bales once and they called in a physic who located the terrier immediately 11 sometimes hocus pocus is the answer!! please let us know how you get on xxx
 
Faracat said:
I have no idea how much it costs but an MRI scan would show alot of detail.
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looked into that, but, it costs about £1400 and my ins woul cover half, so i'd have to find £700. quite dificult since i've already spent £1500 of my cash on saddlers, chiros, physios etc. secondly he'd have to go to newmarket and they would want to do there own range of tests first (most likely repeat nerve blocks etc) and thirdly they only do it in 'sections' so would need some good evidence of where to do it!
 
doodleberry said:
hiya how frustrating for you first thing have you had his feet x rayed at all??? the next thing i would try which maybe a bit far out is the black box where you send off some of his mane from the roots and they put it on a black box i am afraid i am a little bit sparse with details as thats all i know really but it sounds like your at the end of your tether so anything is worth a go also i used once a lady who talks to horses she hadn't met any of my horses i just gave her details of where they were situated in the yard and their names and ages again a bit sparse but these are relatively cheap options if you think it might be worth looking into . you may be skeptical and i am not saying that will will definatley work but worth a go ?? i knew someone who had lost a terrier in some 2000 bales once and they called in a physic who located the terrier immediately 11 sometimes hocus pocus is the answer!! please let us know how you get on xxx
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hi, both front feet x-rayd and fine- honestly i am a sceptic but a horse whisperer has crossed my mind!
 
clairefeekerry1 said:
thank you- thats interesting. his sometimes presents as front lameness, it did at first anyway and occasionally did at the latter stages as well. at his worst he looked very uncoordinated walking down a hill behind. did you get a spinal x ray done? the scintigraphy should have shown this up in mine though? dont suppose yours had a good outcome??
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Unfortunately no the outcome was not good :( in total I spent 2 years trying everything I could think of but ended up PTS at only 8 - I was devastated. Luckily I was fully insured with LOU so financially I was OK.

He had the full work up and a full Nuclear Scintigraphy (he had already had a half body scan at my local vets). He was then x-rayed around the hotspots although they were not particularly significant TBH I think they came up with a theory but could never really prove it. Something like SI injury doesn't show up well on x-rays as too deep and the joint too small (current horse has those problems (oh joy!)). It was nearly 10 years ago now so can't remember all the detail . Was treated with steroids injected between the joints, had shock-wave and physio. The neuro tests were more about how the horse moved his legs when turning on the spot and also had to reverse up a slope.

I later found out my horse had been hit by a car as a youngster when he got out of hois field and I think that caused it.
 
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