horse won't pick upback leg

[ceristan]

Please help! Tonight my horse refused to pick up his hind leg for me to pick his hoof. He did allow me to lift it once but it seemed he had no 'flexion' or 'no give'. He then totally refused. There appears to be a slight swelling on the muscle above the hock but no heat that I or a friend could feel. Has anyone experience of a horse (who is usually excellent to pick up his feet) refusing to pick up leg
what injuries could be the cause. Right now i am feeling very scared for my horse. I have left him in his stable I gave him some bute..please help with your experience.

 

[Madam_max]

My mare went through a stage of doing this and locking her stifle so you couldn't pick it up. She has had back problems in the past. My physio checked her and couldn't find a thing wrong and she just stopped doing it.

 

[ceristan]

Thanks for replying madam max but I have a horrible feeling theres something wrong. He lets me pick up his other hind leg fine. I just hope he's a bit better in the morning.

 

[Madam_max]

So did my mare. Is he ridden?

 

[JanetGeorge]

[ QUOTE ]
Please help! Tonight my horse refused to pick up his hind leg for me to pick his hoof. He did allow me to lift it once but it seemed he had no 'flexion' or 'no give'. He then totally refused. There appears to be a slight swelling on the muscle above the hock but no heat that I or a friend could feel. (

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like a kick or knock to the hock that's starting to swell - you won't get a lot of heat initially - that comes when the swelling becomes more severe. Rest is indicated - at least until the vet has seen him - and cold water hosing (20 minutes at a time at LEAST 4 times a day) will help with bruising/swelling. The only problem is stabling will make him stiffen up more so although I WOULD keep him in - with a good deep bed - i'd also walk him out for 5 minutes each time you hose him (assuming he's not hopping lame.)

How urgent the vet is depends on whether he's lame. If he's not, I would go with bute, rest, cold hosing for a couple of days and see if it improves. But if he's lame - or the stiffness gets worse - then get vet sooner rather than later.

 

[henryhorn]

I think probably you should have got the vet today rather than giving him bute, because it may now mask the symptoms and make it difficult to diagnose.
The general rule is as JG says, hose or ice and if you really aren't sure what the problem is, get expert advice rather than try and treat it yourself.
Bute's a wonderful thing but it isn't something you should use just incase, you need to know why you're giving it....

 

[ceristan]

thanks for replies everyone

 

[Rana]

Is your horse lame? To be honest, I would say if something is serious enough to make him unable to flex his hock at all, it would probably be causing significant heat and swelling.

Have you looked at his other leg? My gut instinct (and past experience!) is that it may well be a foot problem in the opposite hind leg - ie, it hurts to put more weight on that hoof, so he won't pick up the opposite leg. This could be down to bruising of the sole, or an abcess.

I would stop the bute, as you're only masking what's already there, and call either the vet or farrier. Farrier is cheaper, so I tend to call my farrier to check the foot first, then if the foot is fine, call the vet to look at the hock.

 

[fatpiggy]

How old is he? My mare started snatching her left fore out of my hand, then refusing to pick it up at all - she offered the right fore instead! - it turned out to be the first signs of arthritis in the knee. Now, 4 years later she has a pair of knees which bear no resemblance to each other, or knees at all for that matter. Her right one has more lumps than a potato

 

[ceristan]

Rana I think you are right. Having had another friend look at him with me today things seem much better. My horse allowed her to pick up his leg (shes significantly stronger than me!). This was a huge relief to me. His hind hooves are very very short. He has shoes on his fronts but barefoot back. I think the hind hooves were trimmed/filed too short and general wear has made them sore. My new farrier is coming to see him on the weekend so i'll see whether he thinks we need to shoe his hinds. I'm just relieved he allowed his leg to be picked up. Sorry to hear about your mare fatpiggy it's frightening when things go wrong