Horse with pelvic injury, not improving-need advice!

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kgj66

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Hi, my horse went lame three months ago. She is a 4 year old Sports Horse, and had not done any hard work, just general schooling.
Up to the point that she went really lame i had thought there wasn't something quite right with her but she wasn't lame. Anyway, in march she suddenly went very lame in her hindquarters, the vet said it was definately her pelvic area that was sore, but a scintigraphy was not possible to diagnose it exactly as i could not afford it. She was not completely crippled, just quite sore on a circle and rested the leg quite often so i do not think it was a fracture/break(have seen another horse with this and he could barely walk). The vet recommended rest for 3 months in a small paddock or barn.

I have since brought her back to the vet and she has not improved at all. He has said that because she hasnt made any improvement it is unlikely that she will come sound any time soon, and even if she does is say 12/18 months he couldn;t say if she would ever be 100%.

My predicament is i have neither the inclination nor the money to breed from her, i want a horse to event on and cannot afford to keep a horse to just feed and watch and hope that it comes sounds. I also do not want to sell her to someone to breed from as i would not know where she would end up and she is only 4 so has a long life to live!

So-to the point- has anyone had this problem with their horse and have they come right? I know its very vague, but it's all i have. I think it is a joint injury, or a possible stress fracture as she Wasnt right for a while before it happened. i could put her out for 6 months and see-but she is more TB than sport horse so i dont know if she would winter well.

I do intend to get a 2nd opinion after she has been out for 6 months but believe my own vet when he says there is no point in throwing money at the situation and using joint drugs etc as would not heal the problem only cover it for a while.

Any advice would be welcome, apologies for the rambling!
 
I don't think you can make any decision until you actually know what the problem is. I know it is probably expensive to find out, but if you explain the situation to the vet, i.e. you cannot afford expensive diagnostics, I am sure you can come to some arrangement. Only then will you be able to decide whether she is worth keeping or, sadly, probably being pts given her age etc.
 
huntley said:
I don't think you can make any decision until you actually know what the problem is. I know it is probably expensive to find out, but if you explain the situation to the vet, i.e. you cannot afford expensive diagnostics, I am sure you can come to some arrangement. Only then will you be able to decide whether she is worth keeping or, sadly, probably being pts given her age etc.
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Unfortunately the cost of the scintigraphy alone is £3500, and it is at the other end of ireland so would have a huge travel cost as well. Unfortunately i just do not have that kind of money, nor did i have her insured for vets fees otherwise i would have it done in a heartbeat! this is really the issue! i am not sure what the best thing is to do for her
 
Went to a very interesting talk put on by my veterinary practice and Physio about back and pelvic problems. The general opinion is that a horse with a pelvic injury be it bone or soft tissue, needs at least 6 months rest if not more depending on the problem, and that only a very small percentage of them actually come sound enough to do some sort of work.

My last horse was pts due to a pelvic fracture that was diagnosed by a bone scan. The scan also revealed several other major problems which didn't bode well for any sort of usefull life again. :-(

If you really want to know what is going on with your horse your best option would be to try and have a bone scan at least.
 
Why get a second opinion? Your vet is pretty much in the dark, so I'm not sure what you expect another vet to be able to tell you without the appropriate tests being done.

I guess it's why we have insurance....
 
Hi , I got ,2 1/2 years ago, a gelding thats had a pelvic fracture ( I wasn't told this when I got him ! ) it then re-fractured 4mths after I got him .... this year I hope to ride him for the first time!!! Vet , chiropractor etc etc have all looked at him and cannot see why he shouldnt be ok to ride and see how we go . Now he doesnt walk sound but in the field but when trotting/cantering over for carrots .....sound as a pound ! Spooking at deer/rabbits sound , chasing Shetlands.....sound ! We think its prob muscle memory so Im taking him to our local pool ( horse one .... he'll never manage the steps into the public pool !) where he should remind himself that his legs do work properly .....use it or drown !
We looked at the Xray etc etc route and the stinography ( or whatever its called ) also the thermo thing but it was decided that it was better if we knew what he was like before/normal so we could compare . But I know not all turn out well . Everyone I spoke to at the start of this said 1 1/2 - 2years to get over a fracture , some get back to hunting/eventing etc some like me are happy to do slightly less energetic events !
I hope all goes well with you .
 
Oh yes ... if she had a pelvic injury .....putting her in foal ? I dont think that would be a good idea .... carrying a foal , giving birth ... and all that with a dodgy pelvis . Unknown future if you sell , she's young and someone could just fill her with painkillers and work her . PTS ?
 
Thanks guys, just really want to get a few different perspectives on the situation. I am aware that i am in the dark as to what the real problem is but i simply cannot afford to get a scintigraphy.
I thought the same about putting her in foal bj666-but the vet seemed to think it would be fine-but no intentions of breeding-wouldn't have anywhere to keep a foal! it's good to know that your horse is now coming along well-i think i shall give her the benefit of the doubt and see if she comes right, or even any better in the next 6 months as i have a field i can put her in, and when it starts to get wintry make a decision what to do then as i def don't think she is the type of horse who would winter out well at all.
also bj666-was ur horse given box rest, or allowed to walk around a paddock when recovering?
 
Hi i just wanted to give you some hope as my horse fractured his pelvis 6 years ago at the age of 15 he was unbelivably crippled and every thing i heard was awfull and i sobbed over it he was x rayd and vet diagnosed fractured pelvis and thought that would be the end of anything. it was a long haul but he was kept on box rest and painkillers for about 4-5 months which he spent most of lying down and towards the end of this he started getting very adjitated (spelling) at this point the vet revisited and was really happy with improvement she then advised 12 weeks of hand walking increasing ever so slightly each week this was a great battle and very frustrating. after this she revisited and said i could allow him in a small padock if he didnt explode but he did so i had to keep him on a lunge and then started to walk under saddle to control him it was an awfull while before he could be turned out though am supprised at vet for suggesting turning away. He is now 22 and has competed all the way to elementry dressage with the odd stiffness on really cold days i think the key is to take everything realy slow. I would be optimistic as your horse is only 4 and sounds like she has had an easy life so far if it is a fracture bones tend to heal alot quicker at a younger age she may be abit weaker on that hip in older age but i have had my boy on joint supp ever since and i think they have really helped the process.
 
Hi , mine was on box rest for 6 days ... he did more mileage walking round and round the box than being turnout so I talked to the Vet and turned him out ... he's so laid back I wasnt worried about him ... but just to be safe I put a pile of hay ( it was Winter ) and a load of carrots scattered around and he did 3-4 strides of trot then.... oh carrots .... munch munch munch !
 
My horse, Dizzy, has bony irregularities on her pelvis. Here's her history as I know it:

Bought at six months or so by the owner prior to me;
I got her 20/12. Rode lightly four times (20 mins down a straight, flat road);
Came in lame 01/01 (10 days later).

That was two and a half years ago.

She's been to Rossdales and to the Animal Health Trust. The first to diagnose, the second when she went lame again x months later and we thought that was it.

Rossdales found the bony irregularities, also that she had secondary damage to both rear suspensories, from compensating for the pelvis damage.

She's had all the investigations and work-ups possible.

I bought her to BSJA to a very decent level. Now, maybe, if I can get her fit enough and build the right muscle, then maybe she will jump up to a metre, but at the moment its not looking likely. She trips. Her bum is a bit wonky, though she isn't in pain, that's now mechanical. Her suspensories aren't happy (hind legs shake/tremble when she's lying down), and I can't take her in deep mud.

The insurance company has paid out Loss of Use on her.

She's in a field at the moment. For various reasons she hasn't been worked for two months, so now will need Pessoa work, etc. to build up the right muscle to carry me.

Sorry if that is rabbiting on. I'm not sure it makes much sense, other than to say it's a suck it and see scenario.
 
Hi there, you don't say if you have had a chiro or anyone like that out to your horse? If its completely inconclusive with the vet, maybe a physical therapist type person could have a look, this would save you masses of money, even if they want to do a treatment plan, and might from their assessment be able to work out a bit more whats going on? If its not a pelvic fracture (after 3 mths this should have been healing so there should have been some improvement), there is lots that a chiropractor can do.
I hope this helps, best of luck x
 
there is thermal imaging available in Ireland! But as you already know its in her pelvic area I'm not quite sure how much that would help... Definitely throw her out and see how she gos and when you start thinking about taking her in again I'd get the physio down and see if they can't pin point something the vet can't.. stranger things have happened!

Recently saw quite a lucrative racehorse with this problem he however had done his time in all the major vet hospitals in Ireland I'm sure you know them.. and they came up with nothing and the physio came down to assess him as he just wasnt quite right and was lunging him just in trot, took some masking tape and put it across what ever muscles were affected and the horse was crippled again.. there was no weight or pressure from the tape it just pin pointed the pain! Anyway..sorry thats so long! Rest is Best! Let us know how you get on :)
 
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