From great highs to the depths of despair

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MegaBeast

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Had a super day Sunday at Westbuckland - double clear round a beefy cross country (plenty of additional 20cm of brush) to finish on our dressage of 40 leaving us in 11th, out of the placings by 0.5 penalties. Was our first affiliated double clear and it felt well within her comfort zone so have been walking on air since.

Now the lows - madam is lame :( went up to ride tonight and she felt totally unlevel as soon as asked for trot. So she's been trotted up and it looks like her off fore. No heat/swelling, had both front feet prodded with caliper things and she's slightly tender on her heels but same on both legs. Flexion test for both fetlock and knee made no difference, she remained 2/10 lame. Vet is going to nerve block tomorrow so we know what we're dealing with.

Am now fearing the worst, she's been stiff on the left rein for a while, but that's quite normal for her and only manifests when warming up for dressage not jumping.

Please stop me panicking, legs/feet are so precious that I can't help expecting the worst. Any suggestions would be much appreciated or sharing of your own experiences. I'm also worrying that if she needs box rest she'll climb the walls as she doesn't respond well to being in when the others are out.
 
Very sorry to hear that, sure vet will locate area tomorrow but most likely to be in the foot, maybe abcess or foot bruising so will keep my fingers crossed this is the case.
 
Thanks, am hoping so. Although was the vet that poked at the foot tonight (I keep my horse at his wifes yard where his horses are too and he was cleaning the lorry out after showjumping when I nabbed him) and he didn't locate anything specific in the foot.

If it wasn't for the stiffness on the left rein then I would be thinking just bruising but I do just wonder. And when I got my dressage sheet back Sunday the judge commented that she looked uncomfortable as she was fussing a lot with the contact so put it all together and alarm bells are ringing.

She is due to be shod and her off fore is quite damaged around the edge so may be that, although have a feeling I'm clutching at straws.
 
oo, firstly, well done on 11th and DC! :D

but im terribly sorry to hear she's not quite right now :( It may be slight bruising of the sole? or a sceptic foot that needs tubbing?

fingers crossed its nothing more serious. i know its difficult - but do try not to worry too much (and by god, stay away from looking up symptoms on the internet!! worst thing to do ever!!)

<<vibes>> xxx
 
MandyMoo said:
and by god, stay away from looking up symptoms on the internet!! worst thing to do ever!!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I know enough to be worrying without looking things up! Sometimes ignorance can be bliss.

Desperately hoping it's just bruising - low heels, typical TB feet, needs shoeing, and farrier commented on thin soles the last time. But just got this niggle that it's something mechanical.

After all I've been through performance wise with this mare, I'd finally in the last couple of weeks been able to say with confidence we've turned a corner, and was in fact discussing plans to maybe do a PN this year with a friend (coincidentally the vet in question) barely half an hour before this happened. I've literally been to hell and back with her but the last two months have been super, she's come on so much, then this happens - horses eh!

Thanks for the vibes. Have everything tightly crossed for tomorrow
 
Aaargh!! Just posted long reply and it lost it :(

If it is foot related farrier is far better than vet ime.

Try not to cross too many bridges before you come to them. Hopefully it will turn out to be minor and sometimes with horses you just don't get a conclusive answer as to what it was

Fingers crossed!
 
You are definitely right in saying that ignorance is bliss; the more you know the harder it is to know what to do and you do become paranoid! Fingers crossed that it is nothing significant and that she is back in action very soon. Was so pleased to hear about W.Buckland, that's a real achievement
 
I was at WB too (and jumped a DC on my 6 year old!) just to say - the ground was quite hard and did you notice the massive hole after fence 11? Maybe she is a bit jarred up? I took the xc slowly as it was hard and also the crossings over the lane were hard? Hope all is ok though :)
 
:( oh no. if foot is damaged/cracked and due for shoeing then it really could be that,mares are such princess's. maybe shorten her shoeing cycle by a week and/or add gel pads to protect the sole?

all limbs crossed xxx
 
i would put money on it being foot related especially as you are saying one hoof is damaged.

Friends horse came back bruised (mainly because he lost a shoe!) afterwards as well on Sunday. A couple of poultices to bring out the bruising sorted him though.

Don't panic yet, I would say the hard ground combined with TB feet (of which one damaged) in addition to the road crossings has probably left him with some bruising, which could well be in the heel rather than sole, especially as you say they are tender.

Hopefully nerve blocks will identify the feet and a bit of time will soon put it right.
 
Hi MB

How is she today?

Try not to panic, our mare was off as got jarred up four weeks ago despite a slow run over well covered ground, she was 5 weeks into her shoeing and has flat (though strong) soles. She has switched to a 4 weekly shoeing as she had got a little long in the toe, has some Eggbars on for this time only and is now sound although as we are still without any noticeable rain here is coming back into fitness work slowly to be on the safe side.

Fingers crossed that yours is nothing major :)
 
Thanks for all the well wishes.

Still waiting to hear from vet, said he'd do the blocks some time today and text me when they're done so I can call him as I'm on a training course that has just finished. I'd imagine he'll do them end of day when he goes to the yard to ride his own horses so still waiting anxiously.

Hoping desperately it's her foot, but coupled with the stiffness on left rein I'm rather anxious.

She has had a fair few runs on hard ground recently, albeit steadily and she's not a "footy" kind of horse. When she twisted a shoe last summer and punctured her sole she didn't go lame but her front feet are cracked and the off fore (lame one) does have flakes coming off the side of it.
 
Firstly well done on the DC.

Secondly hope you get some good news re lameness. One of D_K's boys can be a bit like this if his fronts are very slightly out of balance, but other injuries dont seem to bother him. Hope it is resolved soon.
 
Oh no. :( That's real rotten luck, especially after such a great run at WB- well done for that. :)

Fingers crossed it is something small and easy fixed and she's just being a drama queen/diva about it all. I am like you and instantly jump to worse case scenario and panic, but most of the time it's uncalled for! ;)
 
fingers massively crossed for you, so sorry its happened after such a good bloomin run (well done on that by the way!)

I really hope its something footy, this ground has even caused my parents dog to get cracked feet!! My horse had slight tendon damage in February, he was bearly lame and that only lasted a week, hardly any swelling etc. However the good news (after me winding myself up about check ligs etc) was that although he had to be box rested etc, he took to it like a duck to water (and i really thought he'd be a nightmare!)

So don't panic too early, even if it is something, as soon as you know, you will feel much better and put a plan of action into place to deal with it.

Keeping everything x'd for you ;-)
 
Bad news unfortunately... nerve blocks got gradually higher up her leg until got to the point of blocking her suspensory ligament where it joins the bones... and got a 90% improvement in soundness.

So both front legs scanned and there's damage there, not possible to tell whether it's fresh or something old that's been aggravated. Have been instructed to ice twice daily, bute for four days, field rest and then trot her up and see how she is. Short term prognosis is bad, long term hopeful, but depends on how recent the damage is.

Goes without saying that I'll now have to pull out of West Wilts next week.

Can't remember what he called it now, think proximal sesamoid desmitis? Vibes please, am totally devastated by this. The word suspensory has got me seriously worried, tendon/ligament strains are my biggest worry with an eventer.
 
Sorry, I don't have any wise words on the injury but I will keep my fingers crossed that you have caught it early on so she should make a quick recovery. Keep us updated and try to stay positive.....
 
Everything crossed for a speedy recovery, my 4 yo not long ago injured his suspensory but hes being ridden again now after a month off, there is hope xx
 
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