Hopping lame

0

:0)

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 September 2020
Messages
118
Visit site
Hi wondered if any one had any positive experiences or any advice please :(
I went to sort the horses last a week last Thurs night so just over a week ago and my new horse I got last April was hopping lame !
I called the farrier who came 2 days later. Horse had slightly improved. He couldn't find any signs of absess no heat or sore areas with hoof tester. So politiced just incase and gave it a couple of days. Horse was not improving. So called vet who gave bute and antibiotics. No swelling, heat or soreness anywhere. Did foot xrays and nothing showed up.
So restricting where he can go ( he lives out with a shelter with my pony) and he's on bute and antibiotics. I am ringing the vet next week if no better. And possible hospital for further tests. He is happier in himself. Just really lame still.
I have physio coming out in 2 days and farrier again the day after.
I lost my Amazing heart horse last year and I am afraid something really bad is going to happen again. X
 
bonny said:
I think if he’s really been hopping lame for a week you need to get to the bottom of the problem now and stop waiting to see what happens. None of us can diagnose what’s wrong.
Click to expand...
I am trying to get to the bottom of it. That's why I have had vet, xrays , farrier and booked physio. Just wanted to know if anyone had gone through similer thats all.
 
One of the ponies here was hopping lame. The farrier couldn't find anything. Then he was sound, then lame, then sound. It was a nightmare. It turned out it was an abscess, but very deep in the hoof. It took some sorting out and he had some damage to the hoof wall from it as it burst out of the coronet band and caused a scar in the hoof wall. That has all grown out now and his feet are good. He is a very old pony and I honestly thought at one point he would be pts but no, he is still here.
 
Fingers crossed for an abscess.

No physio should attempt to treat a horse with an as yet undiagnosed lameness without the express prior permission of your vet - it would be against their professional guidelines to do so.

Vet again next step, though your farrier could have a look if they come out.
 
KikiDee said:
Sorry to hear about your horse. I’ve seen similar that eventually produced an abscess, but also seen a similar ‘mystery’ severe lameness that came & went and vet couldn’t get to the bottom of….eventually turned out to be a hoof keratoma.
Click to expand...

Just to add as I think this unwittingly sounded a bit doom and gloom sorry…. Horse 2 had surgery and made a full recovery back to full work :)
 
Hoping it’s an abscess. I love a good long hot tubbing with epsom salts to really draw them out. The longer they go though I more worried I get as had one so bad it impacted pedal bone and then it was surgery time, so I get a bit panicked if I can’t draw them out in 48hrs.

I also had one that ran back toward the heel and we had it draining but horse wasn’t recovering…………it was tracking in a manner I’ve never seen before nor had the vet. He followed the track carefully and solved it but it was a month (!) of lameness and a gazillion dollars in vet wrap, animal lintex and gorilla tape plus vet visits.

Hot tub twice daily and poultice?
 
KikiDee said:
Just to add as I think this unwittingly sounded a bit doom and gloom sorry…. Horse 2 had surgery and made a full recovery back to full work :)
Click to expand...

My old mare used to have a keratoma - at the beginning she had a few abscesses when it was forming but after that was sound and it never bothered her again. She was about 23 when it was found and lived to 29 and was pts for something completely unrelated. I didn’t operate as at her age (and she was funny with the farrier/her feet anyway) I didn’t think it was fair on her and once it had settled and formed she was fine.
 
my gelding has been a git for this. he will go hopping lame for a couple of days then sound again! vets and farriers can never find anything! then a week, or two, or sometimes three later, he will blow an abscess out of his heel. the vet even said I discovered the abscess too early last time, he dug a hole and nothing came out! next week it burst out of the heel!

I would say continue with the poultcing and warm tub if you can, while the vet advises on next steps.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
my gelding has been a git for this. he will go hopping lame for a couple of days then sound again! vets and farriers can never find anything! then a week, or two, or sometimes three later, he will blow an abscess out of his heel. the vet even said I discovered the abscess too early last time, he dug a hole and nothing came out! next week it burst out of the heel!

I would say continue with the poultcing and warm tub if you can, while the vet advises on next steps.
Click to expand...

My oldie did this last winter. Hopping lame for a few days, then sound, then lame again. Farrier couldn't find anything, he's retired and 30 years old so if he had done a tendon it was basically going to be a tough call but there was no evidence of heat or swelling. We continued to treat as an abscess and it did eventually blow out of the coronet band so had tracked up rather than down so dragged on for ages!
 
KikiDee said:
My oldie did this last winter. Hopping lame for a few days, then sound, then lame again. Farrier couldn't find anything, he's retired and 30 years old so if he had done a tendon it was basically going to be a tough call but there was no evidence of heat or swelling. We continued to treat as an abscess and it did eventually blow out of the coronet band so had tracked up rather than down so dragged on for ages!
Click to expand...
they love to stress us out, don't they! I've honestly had so many come out of my geldings heel its unreal! that last one he had came out and he'd not even gone lame, so that means nature did what it was supposed to do!

I have however, had the mother of all issues with my mare last year! ended up with an £1150 vet bill and an abscess that tracked up, came out of the coronet band, like yours, but not all of it came out! she she ended up going in and having a huge hole drug up as high as the vet could go before hitting blood! but thankfully that was 2 months ago now, and seems to be sound still! but I'm having to try and keep that thing clean this winter! which has been less than fun!
 
kerrieberry2 said:
they love to stress us out, don't they! I've honestly had so many come out of my geldings heel its unreal! that last one he had came out and he'd not even gone lame, so that means nature did what it was supposed to do!

I have however, had the mother of all issues with my mare last year! ended up with an £1150 vet bill and an abscess that tracked up, came out of the coronet band, like yours, but not all of it came out! she she ended up going in and having a huge hole drug up as high as the vet could go before hitting blood! but thankfully that was 2 months ago now, and seems to be sound still! but I'm having to try and keep that thing clean this winter! which has been less than fun!
Click to expand...

They really do! I have been watching hime eagle eyed all this winter and stressing about the wet ground and keeping everything crossed and praying! He also won't stable and will work himself up into a panic (probably my fault as I've let him get a bit feral in his retirement and do what he wants really :oops: ), so managing an abscess is an absolute headache with him. Counting down the days to spring and one less thing to worry about....
 
KikiDee said:
They really do! I have been watching hime eagle eyed all this winter and stressing about the wet ground and keeping everything crossed and praying! He also won't stable and will work himself up into a panic (probably my fault as I've let him get a bit feral in his retirement and do what he wants really :oops: ), so managing an abscess is an absolute headache with him. Counting down the days to spring and one less thing to worry about....
Click to expand...
oh bless him! I feel your pain as mine live out too! Spring cannot come soon enough! and I've been lucky this year as the mud has only really just arrived, everything was dry until about 2 weeks ago!
 
kerrieberry2 said:
oh bless him! I feel your pain as mine live out too! Spring cannot come soon enough! and I've been lucky this year as the mud has only really just arrived, everything was dry until about 2 weeks ago!
Click to expand...

Ours are on a hill so top half is dry but bottom half is a bog - every time I see them merrily languishing in the mud I say a few swear words 🤬😅
 
Hi thanks all for your replies. He showed improvement over the weekend. Then seems a bit sore again now. He finishes his antibiotics on wed and I am scared to death he's going to go down hill after.
Had veterinary physio out today and she thinks absess thats struggling to burst as sole of hoofs are so hard so suggested polticing around the coronet band aswell as foot. Farrier here tomorrow. And in regular contact with vet. Going to reduce Bute so doesn't delay the absess.
The reason he was put on antibiotics is because he had a temp when vet first came out x
 
I had one with lame/sound/lame/sound. As this was going on and on the senior vet came out with her X ray machine as she thought there might be a fracture. Turned out that is was a very deep abscess that was moving around the hoof rather than popping out. She had a deeper dig, but there was very little to come out after that much treatment with poulticing (I don't recall antibiotics for that episode). After that he recovered, but a few weeks later I was cleaning out his hoofs and the bottom of his hoof came away. I leapt back thinking his foot had fallen off! The sole detached where the infection had been tracking round.
 
:0) said:
Hi thanks all for your replies. He showed improvement over the weekend. Then seems a bit sore again now. He finishes his antibiotics on wed and I am scared to death he's going to go down hill after.
Had veterinary physio out today and she thinks absess thats struggling to burst as sole of hoofs are so hard so suggested polticing around the coronet band aswell as foot. Farrier here tomorrow. And in regular contact with vet. Going to reduce Bute so doesn't delay the absess.
The reason he was put on antibiotics is because he had a temp when vet first came out x
Click to expand...
you you can get him to tub in warm water that will help soften up the hoof so the abscess can find its way out!! get him to stand in the bucket as long as you can!
 
Soak the foot? Will get it nice and clean at least any tiny injuries might become clearer? I would also be noting any weight gain crestiness blood tests for inflammatory markers PPID Guessing game as always with them. Treat all four feet with clay for thrush just as a precaution. Maybe also use some leucillin?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top