Feeling like i've let her down :(

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Hedwards

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Apologies in advance if this is long! So a couple of weeks ago (after approx 1 week off not being ridden as i was away) Connie went lame, not dramatically, but was definitely lame on her offside fore. Vet came, did hoof testers etc. prescribed bute and box rest, farrier was due about 4 days later so he had a look, we thought we'd found an abscess. phoned vet who advised poulice (which i'd already done once farrier had been), and contiune box rest. which i did, with no improvement, vet again last week, did a nerve block to confirm definietly in the foot, again with box rest.

Vet been again today, to take x-rays as their next thought was a fracture to the pedal bone - what it actually is, is laminitic change and rotation of the pedal bone!

The vet was really suprised, so took an x-ray of the other fore - and it couldnt be any more perfect with no rotation at all! she's not particularly overweight (when she had been out she was in a muzzle) and it was very sudden. i just feel like i should have managed her differently but i'm not sure how. like i say she was muzzled (turned out between 6pm & 6am), fed 1 cup of Bailey's No14 low cal per day and a squirt of soya oil and 1 haylage net. it is possible she's had it before, as her owner (she's on loan to me) had literally dumped her in a field and allowed her shoes to drop off etc. for over 3 years and was in a bit of a state when i collected her.

I've got this horrible guilty feeling now like i shouuld have done something differently, but not sure what... so she's on a nice deep bed, the vet and my wonderful farrier are going to have a chat for next steps (probably heart bar shoes) and box rest! I'm gutted as i was planning on attempting to qualify for the BD regional championships this summer, but i think that'll be out the window now :(

Any vibes and/or advice anyone can offer will be gratefully recieved!

Here she is when i got her (so you can see her feet, and the one closest is the one with the pedal bone rotation)
Photo0096.jpg

And this is 2 weeks before she went lame, having the time of her life doing the RAF
Cramwell pleasure ride (and vetted in sound!)
RAFCramwell.jpg
 
So Sorry for you! You really must not feel guilty, it sounds like you were doing everything right and were looking after your girly perfectly! As you say you don't know whether She's had it before but even if she had i doubt you'd have done anything different as you kept her in and muzzled her when she was out! Unfortunately it seems like downright rotten luck! She's obviously in the best possible place with you, wish you the best of luck for a speedy recovery! X x
 
What a difference between the 2 pics, she is lovely, what is the time difference between the pics?
Tbh, the steps you took, ie box rest, is what you would have done anyway. It would have been different if she had gone straight back on to the grass.
I would put her on hay, soaked for at least 12 hours to take the goodness out of it, get magnesium (magnitude, you can get it from www.supplementsolutions.co.uk) it's pretty cheap.
If you need to feed anything use something that is recommended by the laminitis trust, like happy hoof.
It's just time and patience really. go on the lamintis trusts web site for loads more info.
Hope she is better soon.
 
I am very sorry you are having to deal with this, but in your second picture I would say she is very overweight. The culture is more and more towards obese horses.

I really hope she gets better soon, and you can put it down to experience and enjoy the rest of the summer.
 
chestnuttymare the first photo was July 2009 and the other was April 2010. I'll definitely look at the laminitistrust website Thanks! i spoke to the vet about haylage or hay and he said haylage would be fine as she has been known to have some kind of allergic reaction to hay in the past (since i've had her). me and my 2 friends who keep our horses together currently thinking about transferring the horses onto a primarily fibre diet (we have one predisposed to tying up and this has been recommended) - using the top spec top chop lite - so i think this will be her main feed going forward.
 
Scally - I'm suprised you think she is 'very overweight' - can i ask what it is that has made you say that - only because i cant really see it myself as i see her everyday, and the vet has said he doesnt see her as overweight for her type. (also she actually weighed more in the first photo!)
 
She has a very thick, and cresty neck (not the worst I have seen by a long long shot). She has an ample barrel on her, and her bum looks very nicely rounded. If you go on the WHW website, it will show you condition scoring (with a video) so you can have a look yourself.

Sorry if I seem mean, but so many people these days have horses that are carrying too much weight and laminitis is around every corner for these horses and ponies.

Having seen the devastation this disease causes and the pain that horses suffer, and the culture more and more to have horses that are on the heavy side, people need to be honest and stand back and look hard at their horses.

I really hope she is sound soon, as she is a cracking looking mare.
 
Hmm, thats really interesting Scally, and thanks for replying - you certainly dont come across as mean!! i did ask the vet about her weight, he condition scored her at somewhere between 3 & 4 today - but in no way did he see her as overweight for her cob type (she's currently weigh taping at 497kilos and she's 15.1 and a bit) - hence his suprise at the diagnosis. I think i need to have another look at the photo...
 
I am no expert but in the first photo her off fore hoof looks quite deformed so I suspect that the real damage had been done before you took her on. The fact that the laminitis has affected this foot in particular would tend to back this up. It sounds as if you have been trying hard to manage her weight and your vet did not seem over concerned about her weight so don't beat yourself up too much. She looks like an extremely good do-er - whats her breeding?
Hope she gets better soon.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse and I hope that it makes a quick recovery.

Laminitis is sadly a very painfull condition.

I have got two Laminitic horses and I keep their weight permanently well down. Not all Laminitis is caused by eating too much grass but being over weight means that a horse is very much more siseptible to Laminitis. Laminitis can be caused by a number of different reaons such as Insulin Intollerance, Emerging encystead small red worm, Cushings disease, Steroids, Stress, Working on hard ground etc.

You need to gradually get the weight down of your horse (but don't starve it). Ideal would be too see it's ribs and loose the crest in it's neck.

If you horse has Laminitis then it should be kept in it's stable on a very thick bed until it goes lame and then a further 4 weeks to allow the condition to stabilise, have rubber foot supports on both it's front feet to relieve the pain and prevent further rotation of the pedal bone and don't feed it any hard feed and only one section of 1 hour soaked hay every 4 hours.

Your vet may be able to determine what has caused this incident of Laminitis by taking blood.

Take a look at the Laminitis Trust Web Site (they sell rubber foot supports).
 
What awful feet she had:(

I agree with Scally that she does look a tad on the tubby side - I think given this new information, I'd want to aim to get that score down to a 3 if possible, as the lighter she is the better. 4 is overweight if you're scoring on a 0-5 scale afterall, so closer to 3 would be preferable IMO :)

Good luck with her:)
 
I'm very anti obese horses and my immedite thought was that she isn't! A 3/4 score on this chart doesn't indicate anywhere near dangerously overweight. Or is there a different one with 3/4 being fat?

It's academic now, but have you any pictures of her feet to look at?
 
brighteyes said:
I'm very anti obese horses and my immedite thought was that she isn't! A 3/4 score on this chart doesn't indicate anywhere near dangerously overweight. Or is there a different one with 3/4 being fat?

It's academic now, but have you any pictures of her feet to look at?
Click to expand...

Condition scoring can either be done on a 1-10 or a 0-5 scale - either way is correct, they are just different methods. I have always used the 0-5 scale, where 0 is emaciated and 5 is obese.

On the 0-5 scale:
0 = emaciated
1 = poor
2 = moderate
3 = good
4 = fat
5 = obese

If you scroll to the bottom of this page: http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice and download the Right Weight leaflet PDF document, it tells you about this scale :)
 
Thanks for that. I don't body score here - if I can't see a suggestion of ribs, good hip and shoulder definition, the backbone hovering there beneath the skin and a soft crest under the hand, it's clamp down. All ours are run on laminitis control, even though it is not really applicable.

If you have read quite a few of my posts, you'll see I can't abide fat horses. The only horses with a right to be in extra good condition in summer are those who are going to winter out unrugged and unsupplemented through til spring on mountainsides and moors. So not many!
 
I agree about fatties, can't be doing with fat animals - but I do like to get my hands on them and have a good old prod:D
 
In terms of weight, height and build she looks very similar to my laminitic mare. Mine isn't obese, but she is bigger than she should be, given her condition (5 degree rotation in all 4 feet about 6 months ago). As others have said, with horses like ours we should be aiming for them to look skinny, as unlikely as that actually happening may be!

I'm so sorry to hear yours is suffering though - I assume the vet ruled out that the rotation is old? Has she got lines in her hoof where the direction of the pedal bone has changed - if it's a new bout you'll see the hoof deforming as it grows over the next few weeks/months.

It is worth bearing in mind that it's not just weight/food related - have her blood taken to check or cushings and equine metabolic syndrome. If it's only one foot there's also the possibility of another cause such as concussion, although you'll probably never know if it is.
 
FionaMc said:
In terms of weight, height and build she looks very similar to my laminitic mare. Mine isn't obese, but she is bigger than she should be, given her condition (5 degree rotation in all 4 feet about 6 months ago). As others have said, with horses like ours we should be aiming for them to look skinny, as unlikely as that actually happening may be!

I'm so sorry to hear yours is suffering though - I assume the vet ruled out that the rotation is old? Has she got lines in her hoof where the direction of the pedal bone has changed - if it's a new bout you'll see the hoof deforming as it grows over the next few weeks/months.

It is worth bearing in mind that it's not just weight/food related - have her blood taken to check or cushings and equine metabolic syndrome. If it's only one foot there's also the possibility of another cause such as concussion, although you'll probably never know if it is.
Click to expand...


Oooh, good point. The hoof looks a bit clubbed to me on the first pic anyway.

Is there a digital pulse? I must say laminitis in one foot only points to a more obscure trigger than the usual culprits of grass and laziness in equally large quantities.
 
Thanks for the messages everyone. We have no idea if this is old rotation, she was pretty much just dumped in a field when i got her, and as you can see from the photo she was 'fatter' than she is now, and with very poor feet, so it is more than possibble. the vet hasnt taken bloods yet, we just want to get her over this bout. Farrier coming on Thursday to put 'inprint' shoes on her, and vet will be on hand to re-xray, and probably take bloods then. it is looking more and more likely that there is some other reason for this than it being a weight issue (dont get me wrong she is on a diet and will need to loose weight, but i dont believe in any way that she is 'very overweight').

I'd like to think of myself as a very competant owner (with 22 years horse ownership experience, and also have a degree in animal science), but this has really knocked me for six. she is 18 years old, and I've had the most wonderful past year with her, and she is the sweetest horse you could ask for - the perfect patient (no need to sedate for x-rays etc) i'm just keeping everything crossed we can get her through this. I'm hoping to find her 'owner' in the next week or two and have her signed over to me for £1 (her owner hasnt tried to contact me once in the 11 months i've had her - although i believe there are some significant 'personal issues' there - mainly linked to alcohol). Poor old Connie! just because i love her sooo much here are a couple of photos of our year together so far (fingers crossed for a few more)
winning our first ever trec comp:
LeTrecHeaugeJump.jpg

jumping with our eyes closed:
IMG_0299.jpg

xc machine:
ScannedImage-11.jpg

bit more dressage:
ScannedImage-1.jpg
 
Have to say in the 2nd pic she does look fat.....
Presume 1st pic is shortly after you got her?
I would have her on strict weight loss sorry.
 
i dont think she is very overweight atall. i think its hard to body score a horse by looking at a photo. i hope she comes right soon. my horse is having nerve blocks this week for lameness that isnt settling. good luck!
 
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