Hind leg/back lameness? Any ideas please

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Checkmate12

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Hi

Wondering whether anyone has any ideas what the root of the problem could be?

4 weeks ago my young mare was lame in a lesson, right at the start of the trot work. She was doing 'hoppity' paces and wanting to grind to a halt.

I took her home, and apart from having hind shoes put on to match the front, have rested her for those 4 weeks, bar riding her a couple of times to see if there was any change in the way of going. No.

Since then, I have had 2 practitioners look at her.

The 2nd was a Chiropractor. She gave her a good going over, watched me walking and trotting my cob in hand and noticed various things in her way of going.

I'd stated that I thought my cob was very stiff through the body, and she agreed with me. Said also that the action of her hocks was variable, and as they also click, that could mean the start of osteo arthritis. :(

As far as the fit of my saddle, although she advised she was no expert in this area, she thought the general shape was correct, but that the saddle was a tad too long on my cobs back and although correctly placed initially, if it slipped back even an inch, it would be going past the last rib and into the soft tissue area.

She said my mare wasn't sore in her back at all, but then since she hadn't been ridden for a month, she may have been so beforehand.

I am due to have an SMS saddle fitter out tomorrow to look at my saddle and possibly fit a new one.....

As far as exercise goes, the Chiro said that I should continue to ride my mare, should warm up in walk, go straight into canter to 'open her up' and then do the trot work and preferably quite a bit of trotting pole work including those raised alternately either end.

I rode my cob yesterday and today and both times she was fairly awful.

Sound in walk and canter. Sound in fast trot. But at working trot on both reins she feels 'double disunited' behind and just grinds back to walk. Though happily trotted over the raised trotting poles and felt fine at that point.

Today, a friend came and rode her for me so I could see what it looked like from the ground.

Observations were that when my cob trotted down the slight slope in my field, and then along the bottom straight, she was fine, but up the slight slope, after about the 3rd stride, she started to look laboured and by the time she'd reached the top straight was looking very uncomfortable behind. Whereas the hinds had been bending and kicking out behind her/tracking up nicely, suddenly they were doing neither of those things. Hardly bending, just going up and down like pistons, and from the riders perspective, feeling very jarring, and no doubt for the cob too as she gets slower and slower.

My friend rode her round the same route bareback, and the same thing happened. But when we lunged her on the only vaguely flat circuit I have in the vicinity - approx 15m circle with no rider at all, she was sound in all speeds of trot. Albeit the action of the hinds was variable from good step to slightly less bend in the hock.

She's a 5yr old Welsh D. She trips quite a lot.....

Does this sound like Arthritis in the hock to you? Further up back problem? Any ideas??

Chiro said to give it 4 weeks and she'll come out again.... of course I can ring her for a chat in between

I'm not sure what to do now. Just call the vet?

Thanks
 
Vet.

In my opinion your Chiro does not have the training/experience to be diagnosing such things in your horse and i'm not sure what another 4 weeks is going to achieve? You've already given your horse 4 weeks off.
 
Call the vet out. The chiro should not be seeing the horse without the vet's permission and you could be doing quite a bit of further damage without getting a vet out to give you a proper diagnosis, treatment and recovery programme.
 
Booboos said:
Call the vet out. The chiro should not be seeing the horse without the vet's permission and you could be doing quite a bit of further damage without getting a vet out to give you a proper diagnosis, treatment and recovery programme.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's entirely correct is it?

Lots of people get Chiros out without getting a referral from a vet. The Chiros wouldn't come if they weren't allowed.

And how do people get their horses backs checked in the first place? Not usually from a vet, from a 'back person', like Chiro or Osteo I thought.

I see a Chiropractor myself a lot for various aches and pains. I never go and see the Dr first, so why is this any different?

Not getting at you... just always wondered that's all !
 
They do not necessarily need a referral from a vet, they do however need a vets permission to treat your horse. Any physio/chiro/’back person’ worth their salt will ask for this. All it takes is a phone call!

Having a 6 monthly check up is a totally different thing to getting a chiro out to treat your horse because he/she is lame. If it is an old injury/problem that you are already aware of then fair enough, but OP does not know why the horse is lame so a vet should have been called a long time ago.
 
madhossy said:
I don't think that's entirely correct is it?

Lots of people get Chiros out without getting a referral from a vet. The Chiros wouldn't come if they weren't allowed.

And how do people get their horses backs checked in the first place? Not usually from a vet, from a 'back person', like Chiro or Osteo I thought.

I see a Chiropractor myself a lot for various aches and pains. I never go and see the Dr first, so why is this any different?

Not getting at you... just always wondered that's all !
Click to expand...

Any back person treating a horse without a vets permission IS breaking the law. The vet doesn'ty necessarily have to have seen the horse, but they do at least need to have spoken on the phone.

In this case IMO the chiro is being quite irresponsible not having said the vet should look at the horse given the problems it is having.
 
Golly, I find that quite remarkable.

All my friends use either Bowen Therapists, Osteopaths or Chiropractors to check their horses backs. The therapist doesn't just come out and look, they do the treatment as well. And go back for further visits if they feel there is the need.

And this is for horses is bucking out of character, humping, not doing so well in competitions etc.

And I know for a fact that none of them do a pre-call to the vets and neither does the therapist.

They are all are properly trained and registered. I can't believe that any of them would break the law???
 
Often when they are tight or sore in the back, (but not always) I think and have been told that it is secondary (compensatory) for something going on lower down than the back itself, i.e hock/leg/foot issues.

Could well be changes in the hocks, my horse has Spavin and sore/tight back was one of the symptoms I first noticed. But could be something else so I'd get the Vets views on it.

I'd probably get the Vet to take a look and do a workup and go from there and see what they have to say. If there is tightness and soreness they could then refer to a physio or whoever they use.

Good luck- hope you get it sorted and get to know whats going on.
 
Firstly, I'm sorry to read about your horse :(

Physiotherapists' and chiropractor's are very good in their own fields; however they cannot see inside the horse and see all the fine details of problems - they can only assess what they see on the outside and feel.

From my own experiences I would definitely get the vet out, or better, take your horse to the veterinary practice if this is possible. That way they can assess the horse, trotting up, lunging on a surface and on the hard; they can also carry out ultra sound scans etc to further investigate.

Horses are amazing animals and will put up with a degree of pain until the underlying condition gets out of hand and they simply cannot cope anymore. From my own, very recent experience, I would urge you to call the vet as sometimes the underlying, diminishing primary problem can go untraced and the only the secondary affects are treated.

Best of luck to you.
 
Madhossy....

It is definitly true

this statement comes off the ACPAT website
"Note: Legislation stipulates that animals may only be treated by a Veterinary Surgeon or someone authorised by a Veterinary Surgeon. Members of ACPAT adhere to this requirement to safeguard the interest of the animal."
 
galaxy23 said:
Madhossy....

It is definitly true

this statement comes off the ACPAT website
"Note: Legislation stipulates that animals may only be treated by a Veterinary Surgeon or someone authorised by a Veterinary Surgeon. Members of ACPAT adhere to this requirement to safeguard the interest of the animal."
Click to expand...

Thanks Galaxy :)
 
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