Horse lame on at least 2 legs, any ideas?

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Flight

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Hi, Sorry this may be a bit of a random question but I am running out of ideas. I have a 7yr old appy x who i have owned for nearly 3 years. About this time last year he started going lame, had an abcess and then was fine for a few months. He then went running round in the mud and went lame again. Since then he has been on and off lame on right hind and right fore. Vet has done nerve blocks on hind leg, hock and below and didn't find anything. Vet wants me to take him back for nerve blocks to stifle and front leg.
He is not insured and next step if these nerve blocks don't show anything would be to do a bone scan costing £1k ish.
Has anyone had any similar problems which have turned out to be something else such as a tumour or some other unusual problem I could ask vets to check for?
 
Not had a physio yet as vet said that he had plenty of movement through his back and that as he was so clearly lame that she wanted to rule out hock etc first. I will get him checked but was just following vets advice first.
 
I would start in the foot - no foot, no horse and all that!
Does your farrier trim and balance your horse's feet well, so that the foot can function correctly? Are the toes long and heels collapsed, putting additional stress on the tendons and structures in the foot all the time your horse is moving about? Try foot X-rays to show where the pedal bone is in relation to the breakover point, and show the x-rays to your farrier so that he can adjust the trim to suit the horse's feet.
This website is good for learning about the correct function of the horse's foot, and the same principles apply to a shod foot.
http://www.barefoothorse.com/index.html

If the horse's feet are functioning correctly, then you have a much better base from which to start to correct any other problems that may remain.

My horse started to become lame in both front legs from the age of 9, and foot x-rays were the key to resolving his problems even though his feet looked fine externally. He has been shod with great care ever since then and is now 26 and still hacking about:-)
 
Agree with start with the foot!

Sounds like the lameness is there. Have a look at collateral ligaments only a tiny amount of the ligament is seen above the coronet band. My vet was very clever and ultrasounded the ligament above the hoof and could see that the ligament was torn-medial and lateral ligaments. Otherwise an MRI is required.

I hope you can get to the bottom of the lameness soon
 
foraday said:
Agree with start with the foot!
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Me too, or at least include it along with other investigations. A change in diet, reducing grazing and hard feed along with soaking hay for a couple of weeks at least is a good tester to see how much sugars in the diet may be a factor to causing soreness. Some form of bowel support eg. yea-sac might help if not already given.
 
Could be anything! If you want to rule out the feet - get more nerve blocks or confirm with your vet whether the previous blocks would have numbed the feet or foot.

Think I would go with the bone scan myself (or thermal scan if its cheaper) as it will highlight all the problems rather than just rule out one joint etc. However, it's a much tougher decision if you're not insured.

Good luck.
 
Thermal imageing cost me £60 and for that I found out my horse had changes within his hocks but knew the area stright away to give the vets instead off wasting money on nerve blocks etc etc. Very cheap and very effective
 
thatsmygirl said:
Thermal imageing cost me £60 and for that I found out my horse had changes within his hocks but knew the area stright away to give the vets instead off wasting money on nerve blocks etc etc. Very cheap and very effective
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I'd try that too. My friend did exactly the same after several vets visits and no progress. She reasoned that the thermal imaging cost the same as a call out, so she had nothing to lose.. It showed the issue up, which the vets they x rayed/scanned to investigate further, and the problem was found.
 
Honey08 thermal imageing is really good and always my first port off call now. And you will get print outs to take to show your vets. Cheapest way off going about it.
 
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