How many have horses with lameness vets can't diagnose?

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ChristineCorp

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I went to buy some herbs for our mare with a peculiar lameness yesterday. The lady who sells then told me she receives calls on a daily basis from people whose horses are lame and the vets are bewildered. Many of the horses are brought back to a reasonable degree of soundness with alternative remedies.
We all read the books and find out about common forms of lameness but I for one am fast learning that there are conditions horses can suffer from that are not in the book.

This lady is selling an American herb called horsetails for use as an anti-inflammatory and mustard powder as an alternative to MSM.

I'm trying them both.
 
Until MRI came about, many lamenesses of the "foot region" were simply classed as "navicular syndrome". My horse has navicular syndrome - which has been diagnosed as a DDFT tear by MRI. I imagine there will be new diagnostic tools in the future, and a million more causes of lameness will come to light.
Another common reason for lamenesses remaining undiagnosed is a lack of funds on the owner's part - not everyone is insured, and not everyone can afford MRI or even simple X-rays.
 
Hi,

I think undiagnosed lameness was alot more common years ago than now. With ultrasound and also MRI being more widely available, lameness can now be more easily diagnosed.

My horse has a serious injury to a tendon, it is all in the hoof capsule. He has clean legs and absolutely nothing has ever been visible and no heat. Years ago this would have had no chance of having been diagnosed but was now found on mri.

Would be interested to know how you get on with the herbs though

Good luck
 
I've also had two horses with complex injuries inside the hooves, diagnosable only with MRI. I think the herbs thing is rubbish, sorry. Generally, the most important treatment for lameness, diagnosed or not, is rest. If you are insured, don't waste time messing about with alternative remedies, you only get a year from the date the problem started to get it investigated on the insurance. If the vets can't diagnose the problem and fix the horse, get a referral ASAP. Good Luck!!!
 
We have one horse who is lame behind & after x rays, gamma scan and a couple of thousand pounds spent on investigations, vets are still not sure why he is so lame. They think it might be arthritis in the stifle but not sure. He is not really safe to clip so has not had extensive nerve blocking which could perhaps have helped.
So we have decided only option left to try is rest and turn out.
 
Our horse has had the works, rest turn out, investigation, diagnosis of spavin but no failure of lameness tests. Magnificent walk & trot , sound in canter on one rein but hopping on the other. Vets all contradicting themselves and us frantic. Basically it's a mystery though everyone's trying desperately hard to get to the bottom of it.

I'm willing to try herbs and homeopathy when conventional treatment doesn't work. Anything's worth a try.
 
Has you're horse been admitted to an equine hospital that specialises in lameness investigations? My last horse had investigations by my vets, then investigations at Leahurst and then investigations at Newmarket before the problem was found. Just because your vets can't find the problem doesn't mean someone else can't either.
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Yep! Tried that. That's what resulted in the spavin diagnosis but all vets now thinking that the hock fusion on xrays has diverted attention from the real problem. She's only hopping in canter on one rein. We don't know if the specialist cantered her because he found the hock fusion. Have to wait for all vets to get their heads together.

It could be that she's an individual and is showing the spavin pain differently from the norm. I hope it is just that for her sake because I'm rapidly learning how awful it feels to be unable to help your horse. It could be that there are two things going on. Back's been checked several times.

Going to try to canter her with a rider on board this afternoon and praying for an improvement, hopefully one which will prove it's just good old fashioned spavin which is now starting to be less painful for her. There's no problem when she's loose in the field, little minx, so it's obvious weight carrying makes it worse.

After 44 years of horse ownership I've never seen this before.
 
Tried that too for over a year, that's what's making vets worry it may be too late to do anything because it might have been a wrong diagnosis in the first place and rest may have been the wrong thing. It may be something that needed immediate intervention.

With no heat, no swelling and no obvious pain except in canter on one rein it's a very tough one to call.
 
There is a poisonous plant in the UK called mare's tails. I hope its not the same plant as the one recommended to you.

If I were you, I would ask to be referred to a veterinary hospital for a bone scan or MRI. Most horses over the age of 10 will be lame with a flexion test so I am told.

Hope you get it sorted soon.
 
I had a mare mis-diagnosed a few years ago. They were sure it was bone spavins in the hocks, so did loads of raised trot poles, fast work, competing on bute etc. Then found out when she just got worse and worse that it was a torn ligament in stifle. Finished her career, managed to have one foal out of her then it all went pear shaped. Had her pts this year.
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Horse tails is not poisonous. It's an imported herb, certainly the one that grows here(mare's tail) is poisonous.
My mare's showing an improvement. She's completely sound in flexion tests. The vet is taking the new xrays to discuss with the lameness specialist. He's saying he can't see anything much on the xrays.

I'm beginning to think she did pull the adductor muscle as thought 2 yrs ago but that the underlying spavin may have been the cause of it happening. P'raps she was holding herself awkwardly to avoid pain or something.

There's no sign of any soft tissue problems now. She's been worked for 10 months in walk and trot to stress the hock joints and we took the risk of cantering her on Monday. She's still not sound on the left rein but it's vastly improved so we're all keeping our fingers crossed. It's back to being patient again and no more canter for a while and wait to see what the vets say. She's certainly happy and pain free 90% of the time, just the bit in ridden canter now, nothing when she's loose in the field.
 
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