swellhillcottage
Well-Known Member
Sadly we are running out of answers for my wee fella -not so quick recap.
Gorgeous 6yr old Dun Connie, owned for over 2 yrs. with me he has been in minimal work and not done much before I bought him- bought him in May 2014 and gave him the rest of the year off pretty much, then brought him back in to work February 2015.
Barefoot for a while then stepping up work decided to shoe - VERY naughty to shoe in front, then felt pottery in shoes on hard ground, after fiddling around with pads etc a vet workup diagnosed Navicular Syndrome in front and 2/10 RH, Hock x Rays showed " Normal Abnormalities" in both hock. Bar shoes and bute and cut toes back recommended - mechanical lami followed a day after bar shoes applied - box rest and soaked hay and bute regime for next 2 weeks.
I now wondered whether it wasn't LGL all along - even though I had been very careful with turnout - Cushings test negative and bloods all normal.
Fast forward 2 months moving reasonably well not 100 % but not far off - hind end flexion test fine lameness is so subtle vet didn't know where to start - seems a happy pony , minimal turnout, diet consists of soaked hay - Sugar free Hi - Fi, pro- balance minerals, Vitamin E, equisure and Succeed as previous vet recommended due to seeing him with loose droppings on a vet visit.
Work consisting of hacking or light school work most days.
Removal of bar shoes after 2 shoeing's, pony still happy but still naughty to apply shoes and still felt pottery on roads in more than walk - decided as he has great feet remove shoes - go Barefoot.
approx. 3.5 months after - he lost a shoe early in the final shoeing cycle so I decided to pull off other 3, farrier trimmed him - 1 crippled pony had been living on a track system with meadow hay. Never really improved, feet were sore and wore down any growth and legs always are slightly filled.
Another vet work up as hind end seemed to deteriorate , blocks stifles, block 1 hock nothing found- didn't look at previous vets X- rays but vet thought pony was bilaterally lame behind and advice was send him to a pro to ride for a while and get him going forward. I couldn't afford that and worked him daily under the eye of another pro who couldn't really see a problem with him.
October comes along and I was so fed up with riding a pony that didn't feel happy being ridden for no apparent reason - I decided I wanted to go to the Connie sales at Clifden and to save friend who was looking after him work I opened up the track for pony, he obviously stuffed himself silly and upon return he was probably 5/10 behind on that Right Hind and the only thing that had changed was him eating more grass and no hay and not being ridden - I decided it seemed grass was affecting him I would remove him from grass on a trial.
He spent the Winter on a dry lot, eating soaked hay, with all the minerals etc. he needed, his feet improved, he improved and lost lots of weight - looked fabulous , but I could still only really work him in boots and he still could not cope with any hard ground.
His legs did look tighter over the cold days of Winter.
I have now reintroduced grass slowly - he gets a grazing muzzle and we went from 20 mins 2 months ago up-to 2/3 hours a day now , immediately his eyes started weeping and it seems now his legs are filling slightly again and I think his body is slightly filling - sounds bonkers but some days he looks rounder and softer than others.
His shoes came off in August of last year and his feet look incredible - he does have thin soles admittedly but his feet look like they should do better than they are.
His attitude to work has really deteriorated, lazy not going forward - ear going back - saddle check teeth etc. done.
I stopped feeding succeed in January and to be fair his deterioration coincides with that so yesterday I did a Succeed faecal test which has come back positive for Proteins in his poop.
Vet advised worming and a bute trial to rule out pain - I am sure he is in pain but not sure where!
Could a worm problem be present - I have done the usual worming and Worm egg counts and poo pick regularly.
I did worm him today with Equest Pramox and will start the bute shortly but not inspired by the vets advice as last time he felt he was being lazy and the blocks helped nothing
Has anyone had any experience of the Succeed result like this?
has anyone had any symptoms like this?
I have a very unhappy pony that I have no idea where to go from here
Wine and cake if you got this far.
Gorgeous 6yr old Dun Connie, owned for over 2 yrs. with me he has been in minimal work and not done much before I bought him- bought him in May 2014 and gave him the rest of the year off pretty much, then brought him back in to work February 2015.
Barefoot for a while then stepping up work decided to shoe - VERY naughty to shoe in front, then felt pottery in shoes on hard ground, after fiddling around with pads etc a vet workup diagnosed Navicular Syndrome in front and 2/10 RH, Hock x Rays showed " Normal Abnormalities" in both hock. Bar shoes and bute and cut toes back recommended - mechanical lami followed a day after bar shoes applied - box rest and soaked hay and bute regime for next 2 weeks.
I now wondered whether it wasn't LGL all along - even though I had been very careful with turnout - Cushings test negative and bloods all normal.
Fast forward 2 months moving reasonably well not 100 % but not far off - hind end flexion test fine lameness is so subtle vet didn't know where to start - seems a happy pony , minimal turnout, diet consists of soaked hay - Sugar free Hi - Fi, pro- balance minerals, Vitamin E, equisure and Succeed as previous vet recommended due to seeing him with loose droppings on a vet visit.
Work consisting of hacking or light school work most days.
Removal of bar shoes after 2 shoeing's, pony still happy but still naughty to apply shoes and still felt pottery on roads in more than walk - decided as he has great feet remove shoes - go Barefoot.
approx. 3.5 months after - he lost a shoe early in the final shoeing cycle so I decided to pull off other 3, farrier trimmed him - 1 crippled pony had been living on a track system with meadow hay. Never really improved, feet were sore and wore down any growth and legs always are slightly filled.
Another vet work up as hind end seemed to deteriorate , blocks stifles, block 1 hock nothing found- didn't look at previous vets X- rays but vet thought pony was bilaterally lame behind and advice was send him to a pro to ride for a while and get him going forward. I couldn't afford that and worked him daily under the eye of another pro who couldn't really see a problem with him.
October comes along and I was so fed up with riding a pony that didn't feel happy being ridden for no apparent reason - I decided I wanted to go to the Connie sales at Clifden and to save friend who was looking after him work I opened up the track for pony, he obviously stuffed himself silly and upon return he was probably 5/10 behind on that Right Hind and the only thing that had changed was him eating more grass and no hay and not being ridden - I decided it seemed grass was affecting him I would remove him from grass on a trial.
He spent the Winter on a dry lot, eating soaked hay, with all the minerals etc. he needed, his feet improved, he improved and lost lots of weight - looked fabulous , but I could still only really work him in boots and he still could not cope with any hard ground.
His legs did look tighter over the cold days of Winter.
I have now reintroduced grass slowly - he gets a grazing muzzle and we went from 20 mins 2 months ago up-to 2/3 hours a day now , immediately his eyes started weeping and it seems now his legs are filling slightly again and I think his body is slightly filling - sounds bonkers but some days he looks rounder and softer than others.
His shoes came off in August of last year and his feet look incredible - he does have thin soles admittedly but his feet look like they should do better than they are.
His attitude to work has really deteriorated, lazy not going forward - ear going back - saddle check teeth etc. done.
I stopped feeding succeed in January and to be fair his deterioration coincides with that so yesterday I did a Succeed faecal test which has come back positive for Proteins in his poop.
Vet advised worming and a bute trial to rule out pain - I am sure he is in pain but not sure where!
Could a worm problem be present - I have done the usual worming and Worm egg counts and poo pick regularly.
I did worm him today with Equest Pramox and will start the bute shortly but not inspired by the vets advice as last time he felt he was being lazy and the blocks helped nothing
Has anyone had any experience of the Succeed result like this?
has anyone had any symptoms like this?
I have a very unhappy pony that I have no idea where to go from here
Wine and cake if you got this far.
