Concussion injury/bruise?

[MGG]

Our pony is lame and has been for about 3 weeks. He didn't have a known incident, he had just been out in the field at night and in during the day as usual and when my daughter came to ride him one evening he was lame.

He is 100% sound in the school on the lunge, 95% sound trotted up in a straight line on concrete (the odd dubious step if you stare really hard) but really lame in front on a small circle on a hard surface.

The vet is having a hard job diagnosing the problem. They have nerve blocked him to his near fore hoof, but not with 100% certainty. He has no swelling, heat, sensitivity anywhere. Flexion tests fine. He's had his shoe off and no obvious bruise and no reaction to hoof testers. He has had his foot xrayed and nothing showed up bar a tiny roughening of his pastern bone on the outside which they say could be something or nothing.

Vet said to re shoe him and put pads as he was leaning towards bruising/concussion as he has improved slightly over the last week and that was with no shoe on one front foot. He had the pads put on yesterday and he is exactly the same as he was without the shoe and pads.

Would you expect to see an immediate difference with pads if it is a bruise? Or does it take a while? Any brilliant ideas anyone? The vet is coming again on Tuesday.

Thanks!

 

[MissSBird]

I went through this all last summer, and my mare was similar. Sounder on surfaces, little less sound on concrete and clear problems on a small circle on hard surface.

For me the next day after the pads went on she did seem to improve relatively quickly. My farrier did warn me, however, that the pads can sometimes make the problem worse at first until the horse settles on them.

Personally I'd box rest on a good deep bed (right the way to the door) and remove from the stable as little as possible. All exercise on a surface and stop trying to see if he's any better until the vet comes. Basically keep him off the hard ground and give him a few days to recover. If he's not better by Thursday then I would be concerned and prodding the vet for further advice.

 

[lochpearl]

Mine got concussion and it was on all 4 - he was crippled and could barely move let alone trot, the only thing I thought it could be was messing about with my other one in the field when the ground was hard and upping his work load to more trotting on the road. He had a big injection of bute when the vet came, then another sachet that night and then 2 the next day and on the third day he was trotting sound. We then had a few more days on bute on box rest and then turned out with a few more days of box rest, this was about 2 weeks ago and he is back in normal work - avoiding hard ground for the time being - still being hacked but not too much fast work - trotting on road, he is doing his first dressage on Sun!

If they cannot see what the problem is then it could be soft tissue damage, I would be inclined to get them to ultrasound the feet and fetlock/pastern area, this will show up anything that is hiding, Good luck x

 

[MGG]

Thank you

He is in and on a deep bed and I haven't been trotting him up (or in fact doing anything with him) between vets visits except for after the farrier had come so I could see, as asked by vet, what if any difference they made.

I guess I need to stay patient. My plan is to leave him alone resting until the vet comes again Tuesday which would be a week after they last came and he will have got used to the pads so we should get the best view.

 

[KingCharles]

horse on yard did a similar thing. Its taken adges to come right. He was on box rest for a few weeks, then walks out. He is now on 20 mins hacking in walk a day and out in a small paddock where he cant run round. The vet said he has seen a lot of horses with this same problem. He was only lame up front on a circle. At first they thought it may be a sholder becasue there was no swelling or heat. however it is bruseing due to concussion. He did his when he was turned out for the first time in a large group in the summer turnout. Went otu fine, looked fine whilst out, came in fine. Showed lame on the lunge very slightly. seemd to get worse, then a bit better, but never right. Vet said not to lunge or ride circles and to hack in straght lines. His owners where tempted to keep trying him on a circle to see if he was still lame and it was making him worse.