Patches
Well-Known Member
Decided I just had to satisfy my curiosity and see if I could find some answers on why Patches drags her back toes.
Got to the vet's yard and she was walked up and trotted up. He said she was moving nicely from being shod yesterday and he could see that she has more of an anomaly on the right hind than the left. Didn't surprise me as it has always been harder to pick the right foot up compared to the left.
Flexion tested her....no difference. Lunged her on a hard surface, which I expected to make her very lame in front on the left rein and she was SOUND!!!!!!
He decided that whatever makes her do this is a bilateral problem, so he picked the right leg to block as it's slightly worse, expecting to see more of an improvement. So, right hind foot blocked.....no change.
Right hind hock blocked and she showed a slight improvement in her hock flexion which helped to lift toes clear of the ground. He said he didn't think she was lame, just stiff.
X-rays of the hocks of both legs followed, plus x-rays of all four feet to compare front to hind and the fronts to the x-rays I had last year with the old vet (which I've still got and took with me).
Soooooo the results....
He said her x-rays were largely fine. Nothing alarming at all. If he was being very picky there is a slight furring around one of the joints in her right hock. He said it's not the reason she drags the toe at all, but is an early sign of some arthritis in that hock. He then reasoned that most rising 9 cobs will have similar x-rays as cobs are very hard wearing on their hocks.
He also said if he was picky again there is some slight signs of ringbone in both front feet as the bone isn't as smooth as it is in the hinds. However, on comparing the new x-rays to this one taken last year, the bone is still showing the same changes now. Not gotten worse at all. The vet doesn't want to do anything with it as he says he new farriery (she's shod according to the pink lines on this one now) is clearly working well for her as she's sound in front.
He strongly suspects that the toe dragging and gait is a result of a difficult foaling. He thinks she was probably born with this problem and will of course die with it, but not from it! He told me that in his veterinary opinion after working her up today that she's not lame, not at all. She's just stiff through the hocks. Also said alot of horses are.
He does however want to inject into both hocks with steroids. He thinks this would hopefully help to free up the joint that little bit which would enable her to clear the ground easier with the toe. He suspects the slight arthritic changes may be (but not necessarily) caused by jarring of the joint during toe tapping. It's only a possibility, but he'd like to help prevent further degeneration.
Soo, she's going to have the hocks injected towards the end of next week. He couldn't do it today obviously as she's had the local in their for blocking. She will then need three days off, lightly ridden for four days following that.
From then on I have to get on and get her doing as much as I can. More work, not less is going to be the key!!!
I'm very relieved I went and I feel that whilst I didn't get complete answers, my mind has infact been put at rest to some degree. Not sure if I should be worrying about the front feet much from looking at x-rays, but she's sound and that's all that matters.
Got to the vet's yard and she was walked up and trotted up. He said she was moving nicely from being shod yesterday and he could see that she has more of an anomaly on the right hind than the left. Didn't surprise me as it has always been harder to pick the right foot up compared to the left.
Flexion tested her....no difference. Lunged her on a hard surface, which I expected to make her very lame in front on the left rein and she was SOUND!!!!!!
He decided that whatever makes her do this is a bilateral problem, so he picked the right leg to block as it's slightly worse, expecting to see more of an improvement. So, right hind foot blocked.....no change.
Right hind hock blocked and she showed a slight improvement in her hock flexion which helped to lift toes clear of the ground. He said he didn't think she was lame, just stiff.
X-rays of the hocks of both legs followed, plus x-rays of all four feet to compare front to hind and the fronts to the x-rays I had last year with the old vet (which I've still got and took with me).
Soooooo the results....
He said her x-rays were largely fine. Nothing alarming at all. If he was being very picky there is a slight furring around one of the joints in her right hock. He said it's not the reason she drags the toe at all, but is an early sign of some arthritis in that hock. He then reasoned that most rising 9 cobs will have similar x-rays as cobs are very hard wearing on their hocks.
He also said if he was picky again there is some slight signs of ringbone in both front feet as the bone isn't as smooth as it is in the hinds. However, on comparing the new x-rays to this one taken last year, the bone is still showing the same changes now. Not gotten worse at all. The vet doesn't want to do anything with it as he says he new farriery (she's shod according to the pink lines on this one now) is clearly working well for her as she's sound in front.
He strongly suspects that the toe dragging and gait is a result of a difficult foaling. He thinks she was probably born with this problem and will of course die with it, but not from it! He told me that in his veterinary opinion after working her up today that she's not lame, not at all. She's just stiff through the hocks. Also said alot of horses are.
He does however want to inject into both hocks with steroids. He thinks this would hopefully help to free up the joint that little bit which would enable her to clear the ground easier with the toe. He suspects the slight arthritic changes may be (but not necessarily) caused by jarring of the joint during toe tapping. It's only a possibility, but he'd like to help prevent further degeneration.
Soo, she's going to have the hocks injected towards the end of next week. He couldn't do it today obviously as she's had the local in their for blocking. She will then need three days off, lightly ridden for four days following that.
From then on I have to get on and get her doing as much as I can. More work, not less is going to be the key!!!
I'm very relieved I went and I feel that whilst I didn't get complete answers, my mind has infact been put at rest to some degree. Not sure if I should be worrying about the front feet much from looking at x-rays, but she's sound and that's all that matters.
