How can he be crippled lame one day and sound the next?

mightymammoth

mightymammoth

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Please has anyone got any suggestions or experiences as I'm reaching the end of my tether

I have had my 14yo happy hack IDxFriesian gelding since October 2011 and all was going well until December. Since then he has gone lame 4 times on a mixture of surfaces. I am just a novice so I dont do anything intense with him ie fast work/jumping. It is always the right fore, no heat swelling or anything obvious.

He goes extremely lame to the point of struggling to walk, the problem is the next day he is sound again.

The last time he went lame was monday on a light hack however yesterday he was walking sound again. Today when the vet visitied he was sound again (vet saw him trotted up with flexion/lunged on soft and hard surface). Vet had a good feel of his front legs and the only thing he can say is that the suspensory ligamont on his front right feels thicker than the left, but again no heat or swelling.

The vet is coming back next thursday to scan the tendons to see if that reveals anything and has advised me to hack him before he visits to see if that brings on the lameness so there is something for him to actually examine.

During this time he has had teeth, saddle, physio all without major issue. He is on 24hr turnout. I am in touch with his last 3 owners (2 of which have nothing to lose by telling me the truth as they didnt sell him to me) and they are baffled as he had no problems with them.

I'm just so worried and upset, hes my first horse and I didnt think this is how it would be.

Thank you
 
Could it have been a bruised sole? My mare has gone hopping lame twice - the only lameness she has ever had - after bruising her sole on a stone out hacking (cantering once). In both cases she has been sound the next day. Obviously if this has happened in an arena it won't be that..
 
Honey08 said:
Could it have been a bruised sole? My mare has gone hopping lame twice - the only lameness she has ever had - after bruising her sole on a stone out hacking (cantering once). In both cases she has been sound the next day. Obviously if this has happened in an arena it won't be that..
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Thanks for the reply, I have considered this but with him going lame in the school I know its not this.
 
My old mare stumbled on a ride and was extremely lame, though it wore off over the (Sunday) evening. Next day completely sound. 2 wks later took her cross-country schooling, jumped brilliantly - walked her back to the lorry: hopping lame. Next day vet came: sound again. 2 weeks later it happened again but the vet happened to be at the yard so saw her when she was lame, nerve blocked and confirmed it was in her foot. Xray showed she had fractured her pedal bone, almost certainly when she stumbled. Box rest did the trick and she was fine in time. The key was for the vet to be able to see her lame and then nerve block, which took 4 weeks! Very worrying - there was never any heat even in the foot so particularly tricky to diagnose.
 
This can be indication of niggling suspensory problem. Get vet to scan leg which sounds like you have already arranged this will give best indication. Good luck
 
What about an abscess? Pressure might be building up causing the lameness and then it drains again therefore releasing the pressure so he comes sound?!

Does that make any sense :o I don't know what I'm on about really lol!
 
Did the vet test the hoof itself ? could it be an absess ? they test with a pair of tong like pliers (I think they are just called hoof testers)
 
Could well be an abscess - has the vet checked for this? Yesterday my horse couldn't weight bear on his near hind - farrier out, drainage hole dug, today I hacked out. Deep seated abscess' often do the 'lame-sound' thing until they find an exit hole.
 
SpottedCat said:
Could well be an abscess - has the vet checked for this? Yesterday my horse couldn't weight bear on his near hind - farrier out, drainage hole dug, today I hacked out. Deep seated abscess' often do the 'lame-sound' thing until they find an exit hole.
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I hope it is an abscess but I've got a bad feeling it will be worse. I will however ask the vet to hard a look thursday. I have tapped all over his hoof and sole with a hoof pick and he doesnt pull away to indicate any pain.
 
Not necessarily, no. They are the worst thing for really intermittent lameness. If the scans show nothing, ask the vet what he thinks about an abscess. Be warned, vets aren't always the best at finding them - I always use the farrier for a suspected abscess.
 
Not always, and the degree of lamness with absess's can vary a lot, it is said that 80% of lameness is in the hoof, and it can be cured so if it is don't panic.
 
Thanks for the feedback regarding an abscess, the vet hasnt checked for this. He was shod Friday but I wasnt there to ask the farrier anything, would my horse not have flinched and messed about when he tried to shoe the potentially bad foot if he had an abscess? The vets coming thurs and the farrier comes to the yard fridays so its definately worth asking.
 
Hey, don't have any advice I'm afraid just wanted to offer some moral support:)

My horse is currently lame / not lame / lame so i understand what you are going through!

He is my first horse too.....will keep my fingers crossed for you :)
 
My mare has had some stonking abscesses recently. Here's a photo of her hoof once it had all been exposed by the farrier. She was hopping lame, then sound, then lame repeat...

100_1981-1.jpg


This was an abscess that finally popped out of the coronet. You can see how the exit hole is growing down with the hoof.

100_2112.jpg


These abscesses took ages (weeks) to 'pop' because they were just spreading around the white line. She was lame as the pressure built up and then would come sound as it opened up more space in the white line.
 
Faracat said:
My mare has had some stonking abscesses recently. Here's a photo of her hoof once it had all been exposed by the farrier. She was hopping lame, then sound, then lame repeat...

100_1981-1.jpg


This was an abscess that finally popped out of the coronet. You can see how the exit hole is growing down with the hoof.

100_2112.jpg


These abscesses took ages (weeks) to 'pop' because they were just spreading around the white line. She was lame as the pressure built up and then would come sound as it opened up more space in the white line.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing this I will research more into hoof abscess, I hope it is that but something is niggling away that its not as his hoof doesnt appear to be sensitive. Ive tapped it with the hoof pick and would expect him to flinch
 
I've had quite a few instances where the farrier has come up with a diagnosis and solution faster than the vet with quirky kinds of lameness like this. It's fair to say I have a fab vet and an excellent farrier, but I think the two professions approach problems from a different perspective, which can be hugely helpful. It might, as others suggest, be worth having your farrier check.

Hope you find the cause and solution asap. Best of luck, and do let us know how it goes.
 
These symptoms shout navicular to me- sorry. My navicular horse was like this. When he first stated going lame getting the vet was a nightmare as he was usually sound by the time the vet arrived the next day. As it progressed he got increasingly lamer on the bad days until he would be lame on walk, however some times he would be sound. It was most frustrating. What's his foot conformation like? There would be no heat or swelling. Mine would also suddenly go lame in the school. I would get front foot x rays.
 
Hi charlie76 - can you tell me more about having horse with navicular? My horse is lame at the moment (on boxrest) but navicular is something the vet raised as a possibility.
 
My first horse had navicular. He never had a days lameness in the first two years that I owned him , however he had small upright feet for his size and one was bigger than the other. One day, we had a show on and he was a bit fresh so I took him into the field to lunge before I got on and I could see he was just a little bit unlevel but he worked through it and actually won the class. Next day, got him out of the stable and was def not sound. Called the vet, vet came next day and trotted him up, he trotted up sound. This sequence of events carried on for about 3 or 4 months, he would not be sound, call the vet, vet comes next day- horse is sound!
He did however get progressively worse although he had good days and bad days. X rays showed changes on the navicular. We treated him with navilox, bute and remedial shoes. He would go for weeks where he was good- competing ect then all of a sudden he would go very lame for three or four days. Some times you could work through it, other times not.
When he had a really bad day he would weight shift all the time.
He was worse when he came out of the stable in the morning.
We tried all manner of treatments- none of which worked.
It was the most frustrating lameness as you never knew from one day to the next if he would be lame or sound.
In the end he was lame all of the time on bute so I turned him away barefoot for 1 year to see if he would come right. He didn't so I had him PTS.
The thing is, you don't notice it coming on as its bi lateral so they are just short or maybe unhappy to work to start with until it gets bad.
 
Hi, how long does he stay lame for? stupid but could he just have overreached and booted himself...? My mare used to do this and would be hopping for a few mins, i'd leap off thinking she'd trodden on something but it would then gradually wear off. Happened in a lesson and trainer noticed she'd just overreached
 
G&T said:
Hi, how long does he stay lame for? stupid but could he just have overreached and booted himself...? My mare used to do this and would be hopping for a few mins, i'd leap off thinking she'd trodden on something but it would then gradually wear off. Happened in a lesson and trainer noticed she'd just overreached
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thankyou for the suggestion but dont think its over reaching, I think he goes lame for a good few hours as hes fine the next day
 
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