Intermittent lameness at trot on a circle

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Rachel_Roxy

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Sorry if this isn't the right place to post I'm new. Basically I am new to the horse world. I own a 7yr old welsh cross cob mare. She is usually 100% sound. However, sometimes on a circle only at trot she can become lame, one day this lameness can be barely noticeable whereas other days she can be dog lame. Started on both reins however now only on the right I believe. She is always sound on a hack and in walk/canter/gallop. She will never be lame if there's a jump up in the field. She's been like this for months however never lame long enough to be investigated further. Recently a lump has shown up on her left foreleg which looks like a splint. This wasn't present before so I'm not sure the intermittent lameness is related to this?

Has anyone had a similar problem and can suggest advice on what to do? Really making my brain work as some days she is fine and others I feel as though she will fall if I kept going so get off her. If she's lame she is lame under saddle aswell as on the lunge.

Any ideas would be great, she is insured!
 
some horses can often look sound on a straight line or when there adrenalin is up for example when seeing a jump or out hacking, but if she is taking short steps on a circle she is lame, no disrespect to you but it takes a very trained eye to detect very slight lameness so it could be something you are missing hence why I would get a vet out since its been going on for some months.
 
Yes vet is coming. I'm more wanting to hear if anyone has had similar cases of lameness and their story of what it was and diagnosis prognosis etc. Thanks
 
Also be aware that the insurance company will deem any claim (assuming they accept it and do not consider the condition to be pre existing) to start at the first day of lameness, not the day you first got the vet out. You may find you have much less than the usual 12 months to complete treatment that the insurance will pay for as you say that the lameness has been going on for months.
 
Rachel_Roxy said:
Sorry if this isn't the right place to post I'm new. Basically I am new to the horse world. I own a 7yr old welsh cross cob mare. She is usually 100% sound. However, sometimes on a circle only at trot she can become lame, one day this lameness can be barely noticeable whereas other days she can be dog lame. Started on both reins however now only on the right I believe. She is always sound on a hack and in walk/canter/gallop. She will never be lame if there's a jump up in the field. She's been like this for months however never lame long enough to be investigated further. Recently a lump has shown up on her left foreleg which looks like a splint. This wasn't present before so I'm not sure the intermittent lameness is related to this?

Has anyone had a similar problem and can suggest advice on what to do? Really making my brain work as some days she is fine and others I feel as though she will fall if I kept going so get off her. If she's lame she is lame under saddle aswell as on the lunge.

Any ideas would be great, she is insured!
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Your post is very interesting to me because my horse can nod intermittently on a circle (or straight) when ridden but not on the lunge, some days he doesn't do it hardly at all, in a dressage competition for instance he won't do it. I read up on this and heard everything from mechanical lameness to bridle lameness to contact issues with hands that move. I went for a lesson the other day and the instructor said words to the effect " push him on, he is nodding because he's behind the contact, and keep your hands still". And when I did he stopped the nodding.

The reason he doesn't do it on the lunge because there is no inconsistent contact. The reason he doesn't do it during a dressage competition - because I am trying to keep my hands still for the judge. The reason he doesn't do it when you drop the reins because there is no contact.

With your horse this doesn't appear to be the case so I think you need the vet out to establish a diagnosis and a treatment plan. If she's lame under saddle as well as on the lunge there is an obvious reason, like a ligament or tendon problem for example. If there is a jump in the field you are not circling over the jump presumably but are heading directly to it on a straight line.

I don't buy that adrenalin will stop a horse looking lame if it is lame, however I do believe horses will jump when the adrenalin is flowing through them more than they would if it were not and I do believe it can stop pain for a short time, but this is usually (I think) when the horse is super excited (a racehorse running on a broken leg not realizing its broken - my horse seemingly not in pain with a compound fracture of the tibia (due to excitement playing with other horses in the field at the time of the accident).
 
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How strange! I've had this very conversation today! Has the vet been and was it a splint developing?
 
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