Grace booked in for hind lameness work up on Thursday :-(

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Ok, so I went for a lesson with Spencer this afternoon and Grace felt as though she was going really well. But Spencer was not happy with her left hind leg
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I got off and he got on for me so I could see what he was talking about! He told me to watch the speed that the foot left the floor compared to the right hind on both reins, and the speed of the hock coming up. On the left rein the left hind looked really laboured and did not move as fluently as the right. Then he put her on the right rein and God, she looked absolutely gorgeous

I have not seen anyone one her for just under 12 months and could not believe how amazing she looked.

However, he put her back on the left, and again the left hind was laboured But like me, he could not feel anything other than he being a little heavier in the left hand.

The left side is a little weaker visibly than the right, but he does not think this is something that has been going on for long because there is some muscle there. However, he said if it was one of his horses he would book her in for a lameness workup asap including nerve blocks and scans and get to the bottom of it because he thinks it is the actual leg itself rather than muscular.

I am absolutely gutted, because she looked amazing on the right rein and there were a few people watching her and admiring her
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So, I have followed Spencer's advice and booked her in for a full lameness work up on Thursday morning. If my vet cannot find anything, I will then book her in with a specialist called Peter Scholefield based in Halifax who has also been recommended to me. But my vet can fit me in this week, and is less distance to travel etc and could find something.

Does anyone have experience with this kind of lameness in the hind leg?
 
Oh dear, sorry to hear that. I think very few horses move absolutely symetrically (sp), but if this is something that has appeared quite quickly I would be hopeful it's something that can be treated. Best of luck.
 
Thanks tigers_eye... I cannot see how she would have worked like this and got the marks at Novice that she has been achieving recently (68%, 67%). Surely a BD judge should have picked up on it when I have seen it after looking carefully.

It is not massively obvious, but it is there non the less.

The problem is I do not know how long this has been going on because I have not seen anyone riding her for quite some time now. But Spencer did not point it out two weeks ago and did straight away this week.
 
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Oh dear, I'm sorry
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Is this the same leg she had problems on before?

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No, the two times she has been lame before, one was an abscess and the other was caused by her shoe moving and the vet over reacted! Hey, three out of four
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If she has a decent amount of muscle on that quarter and leg, I'm sure that it hasn't been going on for very long. Perhaps she has just tweaked something. Has she been galloping round in the field recently or been upset because of the fireworks?

Fingers crossed that it's only something minor.
 
There is no heat or anything on the leg, which I would expect to see if she had tweaked something... Spencer thought it was hock down, but if it is hock it's not really a good outlook for a six year old is it?
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Oh no! I am sorry I dont have any experience on this and am sure you must be gutted. I notice this fairly often, tbh. Hope it is nothing too serious, and that you are out and about again soon. x
 
ok, so shoot me down in flames here, but personally it sounds to me that shes just slightly weaker in that leg which is making her lean on the rein. Personally i wouldnt bother getting the vet and forking out all that money - it might be ok for Spencer to suggest it and to do it for his horses that are worth 6 figures, but for us mere mortals i really dont think its worth it.

Now the work load is getting harder for her and you are asking more questions of her shes bound to struggle a bit.

Look at Archie, hes finding his new work quite hard to get to grips with and gets really ratty on the left to right halfpass - it doesnt mean theres anything wrong with him, just that hes finding it harder work.

Il probably getting shouted down for saying all this tho, but its just my opinion xx
 
Ah, now had I not seen it I would have agreed with you on this one.

However, when he got on I could see that the left hind was stepping shorter than the right, the hock was not coming up as quickly as the right and it just looked a much stiffer movement. I wouldn't say she was lame as such as she is sound on a straight trot up (did this tonight when I got her home) but then on the left circle it is pretty obvious once you know it is there
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Personally then i would give her a few days off out in the field and see what shes like after that. I certainly wouldnt be panicing and getting her nerve blocked. It sounds like she mightve just tweaked something to me and a few days rest should sort it out.

xx
 
I don't know... it didn't look like a 'tweak' kind of lameness, does that sound stupid.

I'm not sure whether you remember but when I put her on the lunge before she went lame on the front one (due to the shoe) I thought she looked to be coming up short on that same leg, but because of the front lameness completely forgot about it
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Only remembered when I saw Spencer on her...

I am just gutted because she looked absolutely fab on the right rein, really fluid and moving so lovely
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At least I can say a National Champion has ridden my horse!
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If the worst comes to the worst she'll just have to become a brood mare
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One of the ladies today was saying how much she would like to breed from her because she was so nice. She might get the chance
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I think you are getting just a little bit melodramatic here!

I'm tending to agree with Tempi here, and I would give a few days off and if still not right then have the vet look. The liklihood is it's something minor especially if dressage judges aren't picking it up.
 
dont be silly, of course she wont need to be a brood mare - think positive hun!! Im sure its just something and nothing, dont start planning her retirement yet!!! Have you thought about getting the physio out to look at her, as it might be coming from her back if shes rolled awkwardly in the field or something?
 
Sorry for doom and gloom folks... having a crap week in total, this has just finished it off!!!

I think it is the impending biopsy on Friday too not helping
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Has anyone had a horse with this type of lameness though that has amounted to something and nothing?
 
Becki - I know its hard but don't worry so much! Horses are athletes, remember. You will have been asking Grace to take much more weight onto her hind legs than perhaps she has ever done before (your good scores at Novice are testament to this). It is very possible that she has some soreness in an already weaker hind leg.

Beware for the lameness exam to be relatively fruitless. Unless she is obviously positive on a flexion test, I doubt that they will be able to nerve block her unless the change in movement is very obvious. At that point, perhaps give her a week or so off, and then try her again before pushing ahead with any more intensive investigations.

The vets will probably suggest having her hocks, stifles or sacroiliacs x-rayed, but if you are going to make a claim on your insurance anyway it might be worth asking about having bone scans instead (scintigraphy) as this will pick up changes that are not visible on x-rays.

I'm sure she will be fine and will be keeping fingers crossed for you.
 
Tempi... I wouldn't have thought it was her back, it was coming from much lower than that as looked to be working its way up her leg. I probably have not described the movement very well, but it was obvious looking at the left compared to the right.

When someone says to you they would get a vets opinion, it does make me lean that way to be honest. I am lucky because I can take her to them and therefore avoid the call out fee
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The problem is, when she has time off it seems to get better. But now she is back in work and back in what I would class as medium work, it has appeared again. The lady who runs the clinics came in and watched with me, and the difference between the two reins was pretty big to be honest.
 
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Becki - I know its hard but don't worry so much! Horses are athletes, remember. You will have been asking Grace to take much more weight onto her hind legs than perhaps she has ever done before (your good scores at Novice are testament to this). It is very possible that she has some soreness in an already weaker hind leg.

Beware for the lameness exam to be relatively fruitless. Unless she is obviously positive on a flexion test, I doubt that they will be able to nerve block her unless the change in movement is very obvious. At that point, perhaps give her a week or so off, and then try her again before pushing ahead with any more intensive investigations.

The vets will probably suggest having her hocks, stifles or sacroiliacs x-rayed, but if you are going to make a claim on your insurance anyway it might be worth asking about having bone scans instead (scintigraphy) as this will pick up changes that are not visible on x-rays.

I'm sure she will be fine and will be keeping fingers crossed for you.

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The step was obvious enough on a circle for a nerve block to show it up according to the people there today...

Thanks for those comments though, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a bone scan
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Tempi, just feel as though I get to a certain point with her where we are really progressing, and then something happens and then we take some huge steps back again. If you look at my BD record you can see how inconsistent out competitions have been because of lameness issues (I know the other two were things that are one offs) and it drives me mad!
 
Forgot to add (and won't let me edit) all that keeps going through my mind is DJD... I have seen horses who suffer from this and it just looked like that kind of movement.
 
Bloss was quite often a bit short on her right hind, not lame but sometimes just got stiff. I know shes 14 now, but it was her weaker leg and when i asked for more from her the next day she would need a lot of wrking in to get her coming through equally if you see what i mean. There wasnt anything wrong with her, just that she was weaker one side than the other.

Lets hope it goes well at the vets on Thursday tho hun, got my fingers crossed xx
 
My daughters horse had a similar problem and it turned out to be a sacrilicac stain. Both our physio and chiropracter picked it up and vet confirmed it. With box rest and then controlled exercise he has come back fine. It did however take a while to really show up we just knew he wasnt quite right.
If you have a good equine vet he should be able to pick it up with out too much trouble.
 
I'm sure it will be absolutely nothing. I can see why you are worrying though, especially with whats happening at the moment. I know the feeling, everything just seems to go wrong!

But it will be fine, so chin up hun!
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So sorry to hear this
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Am not a dressagey person, but at times like this I tend to bute for a couple of days and see if there is any marked improvement. If there is then I go to the vet, if not then it becomes obvious that it is mechanical and so consider alternative therapies as well as vet, and work through for a couple of weeks to attempt to strengthen the weaker side.

Whatever it is, I do hope you get to the bottom of it and all of your fears are swept away quickly x
 
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Forgot to add (and won't let me edit) all that keeps going through my mind is DJD... I have seen horses who suffer from this and it just looked like that kind of movement.

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Hi Rebecca

Sorry to hear about this but as the others have said try not to worry (impossible I know!).

DJD in such a young horse with such a low mileage is highly unlikely. There are a hundred other things it could be, or it could be nothing. And some horses just don't move totally symmetrically, or are always weaker on one side over the other.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you both - hopefully the vets will be able to set your mind at rest on Thursday.
 
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