Dragged front leg

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LittleIndian23

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My horse is on box rest after arthroscopic surgery on his knee. He also has capsular foot pain from very mild navicular bursitis, for this he had front shoes with pads to add support.
He has 2 walks a day both 5 minutes long.
He recently developed all the signs of an abscess brewing in the foot but is non reactive to any hoof test or flexion test, has no heat or swelling in legs or feet and no raised pulse.
Some days he walks out ok, some days he is so post legged he can't bring his right leg forward, only up to the same level as the left.
On Saturday he started walking seriously bad, the worst in a week and he is on 2 danilon a day! Saturday evening at one point he seemed unable to lift the leg as he brought it forward and dragged his toe along the ground. He also did that once Sunday morning. Then last night and this morning he's walking perfect (not to jinx myself) has anyone had any experience of similar?
Both farrier and vet stumped!
 
No idea what could be the cause but if the vet is stumped and agrees I would get a physio involved to see if it is some form of muscular issue higher up that has been brought on by the other problems and possibly being made worse because he is on box rest, some gentle physio may really help and they should give you some exercises to do every day which will be suitable for your horse and his ongoing rest.
 
LittleIndian23 said:
Have spoken to physio who thinks it's not something she can help me with as she thinks it's all in his foot?!
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That's rather a negative response, most would be happy to come out and assess before coming to that conclusion, a horse that has been lame, has been operated on and is on box rest may well benefit from some treatment.
One of mine had physio when he had a long standing abscess and was holding himself awkwardly, she couldn't do much but just a decent deep massage made to pony more comfy, the fact that yours has good days and bad suggests it could well be muscular and that physio could well be beneficial and certainly worth a try, if you are insured it should also be covered as part of the therapy required to get him back to full health, if not insured it could be £50 well spent to get a different perspective on things.
 
I'm going to get him seen by his usual guys when they are next on a visit over here.
He walked sound Sunday/Monday but was lame again last night although now it looks like its the uneven ground which makes him lame!? He is fine on hard even surfaces but after going up a slope or along a part of the yard where the concrete has lost some areas he goes very short on one leg and puts his toe down. I'm wondering if this might be connected to his navicular bursitis?
 
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