Confusing lameness...

EquestrianFairy

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My horse was diagnosed today with hock arthritis.. once xrayed she was nerve blocked we all assumed ‘yes!’ Sorted...

When xrayed, feet were checked for balance, pretty much spot on, navicular bone looked great, nothing seemed unusual.

Suddenly she went lame on her right front after hocks were nerve blocked.

Vet was abit suprised and decided to Nerve blocked only the foot (or as vet called it, the first stage) she came sound.

- his only response for this was to basically inject the hocks, have some physio and see if front lameness was a compensatory issue (ie, pressure on sole or sore heels).

Is this normal? As now I’m just even more upset than I was before we even got to the vets.
 

scats

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Sometimes when you relieve one area that was causing a problem, even if temporarily, another will show itself. It may well have been hidden because the horse wasn’t trying to hold itself to compensate for the hind lameness.
 

scats

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Navicular doesn’t just have to mean changes to the bone. It’s now recognised as a syndrome that can affect surrounding soft tissue. This obviously wouldn’t show on an X-ray. If the lameness persists, I’d be MRI-ing the foot.
 

EquestrianFairy

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The vet suggested an MRI in two weeks if she doesn’t come sound after hock injections.

Ive had this horse 6 months... I can’t quite believe this is happening.
 

ester

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There's a whole heap of soft tissue in the hoof. If she was lame on it I would think that more likely than sole pressure/sore heels. (sore heels is usually a soft tissue issue description).
 

scats

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The vet suggested an MRI in two weeks if she doesn’t come sound after hock injections.

Ive had this horse 6 months... I can’t quite believe this is happening.

Really sorry to hear that. I’ve had two with soft tissue injuries in the feet, both as a result of field injuries (one of the reasons why I don’t do herd turnout now). They both presented with mild lameness at trot, worse on soft ground and no lameness in walk.
Fingers crossed it’s nothing major.
 
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