Intermittent bounding pulse in 4 feet WWYD

[Wagtail]

I'm very confused right now as my girl has been acting up a lot ridden the last couple of times. No lameness or footiness, but didn't look quite right and the canter was just awful. She's a good weight and not fat, though a little fatter than her winter weight. But when I checked her pulses, I found them bounding in all four feet though her hooves were cool. I immediately restricted her to a bare paddock and after 3 days the pulses were gone. I gave her a small strip of sparse grass as she was getting very hungry and this morning the pulses were back. So I moved her into the sand turnout. Three hours later the farrier came and said her feet were great. No pulses, and everything looked nice and well connected. No bruising or sensitivity. I checked myself and the pulses had indeed gone. I intend to keep her on very limited grazing and in the sand for now. But she is getting very fresh so ideally needs working. However, I can't do that whilst there is an issue like this. Farrier thinks there's nothing wrong. Has anyone else had this? Could being off the sparse grass for just 3 hours be enough to calm the pulses (she had some timothy hay in the sand)? Just confused, to be honest.

 

[pippixox]

yes it could be- my new forest pony escaped onto lush pasture last week, not sure for exactly how long, and he had raised pulses in all 4 feet. sound though, and by the end of the day in the barn pulses were gone. podiatrist was out a few days later anyway and said there was a faint pulse that day (after another escape mission the night before, after I had spent the previous day trying to make the fencing pony proof!) not on nearly bare paddock with 3 strips of electric. although so bare now that I need to extend it a little bit without making him able to escape!

this year seems to be terrible for laminitis even in horses who have not had it before, and I think lots of horses are basically 'borderline'- so just a bit too much sugar and they get pulses from a bit of inflammation, but not enough thankfully to last long. as long as it doesn't keep happening.

 

[Wagtail]

Thanks. I sadly lost a horse a few years ago to recurrent laminitis so I am always very vigilant. But in past experience it has been accompanied by footiness. I had better wait until she's had no pulses for a couple of weeks before riding her again, I guess.

 

[JillA]

Bounding pulses = pain, but TBH there is really only one foot pain that affects all four at once. She may just be very good at hiding pain and getting on with the job. I wouldn't take any chances

 

[SEL]

Can you not freeschool or lunge in the sand school if she's sound and see how she goes?

 

[Wagtail]

Jilla, thanks. That would explain why after 3 hours in the soft sand the pulses died away. The ground is very hard in the field at the moment.

SEL, I'm going to give her time I think. Then will long rein her a couple of times before getting back on board.

 

[Nari]

Another who thinks that 3 hours on sparse grass could be enough if she's borderline anyway, and I'd wonder if the acting up while ridden is because she's uncomfortable. If it's possible Id have her in on box rest for a week and then start adding turnout on the sand paddock, give everything a chance to properly settle down rather than teeter on the edge.

 

[MyBoyChe]

We had this at the weekend with a welshie. Brought him in Sat am as he looked footy, by 5pm he was absolutely crippled in front with bounding pulses in both fronts. In for 24 hrs, soaked hay, epsom salts in water, buted and frog supports on the front and by Sun am he was 95% sound, pulses pretty much gone and back to being his normal, bolshy self. We are keeping him in for a few days as a precaution but we were amazed at how quickly he went from awful to almost normal. His paddock is pretty sparse and hes not overly fat although a bit cresty as from time to time he will jump out onto the strip next door which is a bit lusher. Honestly, on Saturday night we were really worried that he had gone too far but by Sunday it was as if nothing had happened. Never seen it like that before.

 

[SEL]

I had a vet chiro out to my mare last week and asked her if we were at a low enough weight to do steroids into her hock joints. She said this year she's seen even low risk horses get lami. If they are even borderline cushings or EMS then a little grass (or a steroid jab) has pushed them over.

Given my mare thinks a smack from the mains wired electric is worth it to get into grass I'm holding off until we've shifted a few more pounds. I've seen horses jump electric & roll under it but she walks along gently testing each pole to see if it wobbles and can be lifted out. She gets a whack about every 3rd post but keeps going!!

 

[Wagtail]

Lol, they can be determined! My mare just ducks under it like it isn't even on unless I have the lower strand very low.

Very interested to hear the comments about laminitis being so rife this year. Must be the wet June followed by hot weather.

 

[scats]

We are in a pulses battle with Diva. She’s grazing a bare pen and they are under control, but any extra grass, even a tiny amount, sets them off again. Her insulin is sky high and I’m struggling with her majorly.

I’m trying to get my vets to allow a prascend trial as she is borderline cushings, but so far they are quite reluctant to.

 

[HiPo'sHuman]

Sorry to hear this, they really are a worry. We had a lami scare about a month ago, he recovered well and was allowed back into work etc. Moved yards on Friday and turned him out for 20 mins whilst I put mats down and fixed bed...came down the next morning and his eyes were so puffy, he is on new bedding but isn't showing any other signs of an allergy to this, most likely that 20 mins without a muzzle has done it. It can happen so quickly He's been in 24/7 since then, no heat or pulses luckily but I'm not taking any chances.

This has just reminded me actually, I'm going to call the vet and discuss a cushings test despite him only being 6, no harm in testing.

 

[SEL]

We are in a pulses battle with Diva. She’s grazing a bare pen and they are under control, but any extra grass, even a tiny amount, sets them off again. Her insulin is sky high and I’m struggling with her majorly.

I’m trying to get my vets to allow a prascend trial as she is borderline cushings, but so far they are quite reluctant to.

Did they say why they were reluctant to? I got the impression that if mine came back borderline (she's only 8) then we'd go down the prascend route as a preventative measure. Given Diva's problems I would have thought they'd want to through everything possible at her to try and stabilise her. Do they think it will make something else worse?

 

[scats]

Did they say why they were reluctant to? I got the impression that if mine came back borderline (she's only 8) then we'd go down the prascend route as a preventative measure. Given Diva's problems I would have thought they'd want to through everything possible at her to try and stabilise her. Do they think it will make something else worse?

I’m not really sure. All I can think is that because her insulin levels are so high, they are wanting to get this under control as best as possible before we do anything else. I just feel that what we are doing at the moment is not working at all and we need to try something else. Maybe I’m clutching at straws, but I feel like we are missing something.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm very confused right now as my girl has been acting up a lot ridden the last couple of times. No lameness or footiness, but didn't look quite right and the canter was just awful. She's a good weight and not fat, though a little fatter than her winter weight. But when I checked her pulses, I found them bounding in all four feet though her hooves were cool. I immediately restricted her to a bare paddock and after 3 days the pulses were gone. I gave her a small strip of sparse grass as she was getting very hungry and this morning the pulses were back. So I moved her into the sand turnout. Three hours later the farrier came and said her feet were great. No pulses, and everything looked nice and well connected. No bruising or sensitivity. I checked myself and the pulses had indeed gone. I intend to keep her on very limited grazing and in the sand for now. But she is getting very fresh so ideally needs working. However, I can't do that whilst there is an issue like this. Farrier thinks there's nothing wrong. Has anyone else had this? Could being off the sparse grass for just 3 hours be enough to calm the pulses (she had some timothy hay in the sand)? Just confused, to be honest.

My boy comes in with intermittent pulses and as you know i lost my mare to laminitis. He is on limited turnout and I just treat when stronger with bute or cold hosing.