Go with your gut or go with the vet?

Honey08

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He's only lame for a couple of strides when he walks out of his box, then he is fine. Hardly suffering. If he was I'd obviously do more. I'm pretty confident of what he has done, there is no heat, no cuts, no swelling. He doesn't need bute. I know the vet would say rest him or do more tests then rest him. He is no different to a retired horse really. I'm an instructor, my own instructor has seen him and my also my farrier, we all agree that just leaving him won't do any harm.
 

EmmasMummy

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Well, I go with gut, every sharer goes with vet - my gut, or someone elses has always been right and the vet has NEVER made an accurate diagnosis.
 

Goldenstar

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He's only lame for a couple of strides when he walks out of his box, then he is fine. Hardly suffering. If he was I'd obviously do more. I'm pretty confident of what he has done, there is no heat, no cuts, no swelling. He doesn't need bute. I know the vet would say rest him or do more tests then rest him. He is no different to a retired horse really. I'm an instructor, my own instructor has seen him and my also my farrier, we all agree that just leaving him won't do any harm.

That can be a Classic symptom of a soft tissue injury in the foot .
 

thatsmygirl

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Me too- I've just maxed out my insurance over another non- related issue! Thought cobs were meant to be cheap to keep lol

This just made me smile,
Was going to ask if you were insured! In my experience it makes a big difference to what treatment etc is offered.
Personally if he was mine I would wait longer and give him time ( but that's knowing my horses well and being experienced so if your happy to trust your judgement, go for it)
 

Goldenstar

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It's a huge risk to wait if something's going wrong in the foot the sooner it's addressed the better chance the horse to survive as a sound individual .
 

MrsElle

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Go with your gut.

I have a TB who is a bit of a drama queen, and twice in the last year has been hobbling, as if she had an abscess. Got the farrier out who said no abscess. People were telling me to get the vet out asap, but I knew she had just tweaked something being an idiot in the field, and her lameness did indeed resolve itself within a week or two with no lasting effects.
 

exracehorse

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My case was the opposite. Horse short striding on left rein. Two vets visit said rest probably just pulled something. Nothing to worry about My gut felt it was something worse. Insisted in ultra scan. Showed bad annular ligament tear.
 

Crugeran Celt

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My welsh d was lame before Christmas, not much and not obvious to anyone who doesn't know him but as farrier was due wasn't to worried. Farrier trimmed, he is barefoot, but found nothing and suggested he had pulled something as it's so wet. He is fine now. How long has yours been lame?
 

saddlesore

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About 8 days- he's sound as a pound for the most part with the odd dodgy stride behind. I'll see what farrier says but I don't think it's a big deal. I might be out of line but I feel that vets are more and more motivated to rush to detailed diagnostics when they know you're well insured...
 

Crugeran Celt

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I think many vets are as they know you are not paying personally but all these claims mean policies get very expensive. I think they are also too quick to start treatment for somethings that inevitability improve with rest and time. If I called a vet everytime my cob was lame he would move in!!
 

EmmasMummy

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Simple you need a better vet .

I know...Now have one. Worrying thing is that 1 was a horsey vet and the other was supposedly a senior experienced vet. What is more worrying is that 3 of the things were caused by the yard he was ats behaviour - they make out they were a high end yard...yet there were building nails about (supposed nail in frog - nail was 5mm long if that) , they put a horse that had been in a near bare paddock into one full of dockins and long grass (suspected colic which required no medication and he was fine after 24 hours off grass) , then moved horse to a field full of buttercups - and low and behold he started coughing like mad - (given the ventopulmin stuff that did sod all) we eventually moved yards and the coughing stopped.
Then headshaking that was just ear mites - nothing there.
Mood swings and severe change in behaviour - was just stress of moving
Disorientated horse, sweating and swaying. walking like drunk and tucked up was apparently colic - Turns out it wasn't, a second LESS experienced vet figured out it was a neuro issue, and a few days later he was down in the field as they refused to let me have him PTS the next day, I HAD to try these £85 a month steroid tablets, so he died distressed.

I am still raging.
 
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