Intermittent lameness please help!!!

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LauraJay

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I have a 9yo TBxID that I've owned for just over a year. He has been intermittently lame for about three months now. I have tried everything I can possibly think of. There is never any heat/swelling and no cuts, bruising, abscesses etc. The vet has been out and cannot find anything said it would require nerve blocking etc. but I know this is incredibly expensive. I've had his teeth done, a cranial osteopath out to him - she found nothing. Had his saddle checked - it's not the best fit I do ride with a riser but the saddle itself is fine. Had his shoes changed - this seemed to help briefly. The lameness is intermittent but comes from his front left leg. It's only really noticeable when schooling on the left rein. For example, if I put him on a 20m circle on the right there's nothing. If I do it on the left he gets sluggish, he moves out fine but as soon as we come back in the head bob appears like hes avoiding putting all of his weight on that leg. Absolutely everybody has something different to say: bridle lame, he's just clever, arthritis, navicular. Any advice would be much appreciated before I wipe out my savings sending him to the vets. I've considered turning him away for the winter?
 
Could you take some really good photos of his hooves. Front, side and rear (showing the heel bulbs) shots taken with the camera practically on the ground. Plus sole shots.

As the change of shoeing temporarily helped him, I do wonder if it's a hoof issue. I have seen some shocking hooves (long toes, under-run heels and contracted heels) that were missed by Vets and Farriers. :(
 
my horse was intermittently lame we were convinced it was shoulder but it was his hooves. Long toes under run contracted heels unfortunately I couldn't see what was in front of me!

We had the vet to nerve block him and he blocked to his foot, we had x rays as well with him coming to the yard. The x rays showed nothing significant so we knew it was his feet that were the problem. He is now barefoot and we are a year lameness free.

You could post photos of his hooves to see if anyone can suggest anything but unless you know where the pain is coming from it could be so many things unfortuunately.
 
Forgot to say I was in exactly the same position as you it was awful and totally soul destroying people also thought my horse may be putting a limp on to get out of doing anything! He would be 3 legged lame and by the time a vet came there was nothing to see. I was on eggshell all the time as to when he would break again.

Is it definitely not a brewing abscess? has a farrier used hoof testers on his bad hoof? is there any thrush in his central sulcas?
 
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I really rate my farrier (Paul Finch if you wanted to look) so I don't feel like hed miss anything. He changed his shoes took the toe clips off and rolled the fronts. He also said his feet were growing quickly and toes were a bit long so*I have him every six months now. He was barefoot when I bought him last July. I will try and get some photos together. Lots of people are saying shoulder?
 
that's exactly what everyone thought about my horse, that it was his shoulder including the vet/farrier. It was only until he blocked to the foot that the vet changed his mind.

It may be nothing to do with his hoof but I *think* about 80% of lameness (may even be more) is due problems with hooves.
 
please investigate - my hors showed all thes signs and it blocked to the hoof - h had some pretty serious stuff going - thankfully h is being sorted by some fabulous people and I hope to have him home soon
 
My lad (9yo tb) has been fine charging round the field but wasn't quite right in trot ridden or trotting in a circle on hard ground, on one rein worse than other.

Vet nerveblocked and said it could be navicular but it's now been nnarrowed down to arthritis in his coffin joint. She said it's only mild as he responded quickly to the nerve block and there's hardly anything to be seen on the xrays. He's had an HA jab and has got wedges now (the sole of his hoof on the leg in concern is slightly thinner than his other leg) and the vet is coming back on Tuesday to see how he's getting on.

I was sceptical of the arthritis diagnosis at first, he passed a 5* vetting 6 months ago and he's only young. Sadly she seems to be right though. The vet did have slight queries on that leg but passed him as suitable for what I wanted to do with him...
 
It's so frustrating! He's exactly the same, charges round the field like an idiot. He's fine to hack out etc. It's only when schooling it's noticeable. Haven't seen him lame while lunging either.
 
LauraJay said:
It's so frustrating! He's exactly the same, charges round the field like an idiot. He's fine to hack out etc. It's only when schooling it's noticeable. Haven't seen him lame while lunging either.
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are you insured? I had nerve blocks, x rays and injections/ultra sound plus call outs of over £40 a time and it was around the £700 mark. Be cheaper if you can take your horse to the practice.
 
I do have insurance yes but I'm with E and L. I've heard some really bad reviews, people have said lots of vets want you to pay upfront and claim it back off them but it's difficult to get. The excess is 17.5% of the final bill too. I've been told to expect the x-rays, nerve blocks etc. to cost £1500-£1800?
 
First thing to do then is change insurance company!

Nerve blocks and X-rays it's difficult to know a price as it depends on how hard the lameness is to diagnose. Speaking as someone who has spent the last three years with ever bit of saved or spare cash going on vets fees excesses for three different lamenesses! :)
 
When I went to try him he was barefoot and he was sound. The then owner said if I was going to be doing any roadwork then she suggested shoes because she'd done very little with him the two months before I bought him. She had fronts on two days before he was delivered and then I had a full set on him about a month later. I've never had him barefoot apart from the two occasions I went to try him. And I'm unsure if I can change as I paid for the whole year upfront. I was planning on changing when it came up for renewal but they did it automatically and decided it was too much hassle to change it as they would probably find any excuse to take as long as possible to pay me back!!
 
My last horse had exactly what you describe - very subtle and ok on the straight but head bobbing a little and short stride in front on one rein only. My vet didn't think it was her feet - initially he thought it was her knee (she had a small swelling on her knee and has had for years). Got her up to the vets and blocked down to the foot! It turns out she has quite a mild side bone and with a set of heart bars / corrective farriery she is back on the road and back to normal! My blocks and X-rays of both knees, fetlocks and feet (only xrayed feet) including 2 home visits and 1 vets visit and day stable on cost me £700! That horse wasn't insured and so,I had to just pay it but with it she would never have came sound as vet / farrier didn't think it was her feet! Best of luck and I hope it's something simple.
 
victoria1980x said:
are you insured? I had nerve blocks, x rays and injections/ultra sound plus call outs of over £40 a time and it was around the £700 mark. Be cheaper if you can take your horse to the practice.
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Ditto. Got my bill here, I paid £60 for call out and nerve block. My total bill so far is £650 (I have a £250 excess on my insurance, use AmTrust who apparently are good at paying out. If they try not to, I will cry at them). That's including £80 on an HA injection.

LauraJay said:
I do have insurance yes but I'm with E and L. I've heard some really bad reviews, people have said lots of vets want you to pay upfront and claim it back off them but it's difficult to get. The excess is 17.5% of the final bill too. I've been told to expect the x-rays, nerve blocks etc. to cost £1500-£1800?
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I presume that would partially depend on where the problem was- Barry responded to the very first block, so presumably that makes things cheaper. If it's on any interest to you, I paid £10 for the nerve block the first time, and £20 for a joint block (not sure what the difference is) when she did the X-rays.
 
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I had thermal imaging done on my girl after she'd been to vets twice and I was told she wasn't lame. She wasn't but I just knew she was right. I got person out without telling her anything about my mare, the hot spots she found were the starting point for my vet and we had a diagnosis after nerve blocks and x rays.
It's much easier once you know what you are dealing with.
Good luck
 
My horse was similar, lame for 6 weeks intermittently... similar pattern to yours, vet was stumped and farrier was stumped. Then around the 6 week mark he came in on 3 legs and I feared the worst, (hairline fracture moved and got worse, minor tendon damage gone in to a tear etc). Turned out the horse had very unusual abscess symptoms! he had got bacteria in his white line and a small pocket of pus has formed, but it kept moving so the lameness 'rumbled on' for 6 weeks. The vet still insisted that there was another more serious underlying issue but after the abscess popped he has been 100% and that was almost a year ago. Hardly any puss came out, it was a very weird situation. That did show up with hoof testers though after a few weeks
 
I had this with one of mine and his issue was thrush!!! he feet didnt smell (farrier/vet hadnt picked-up on it) but it was like an onion with layers of frog coming away, another very smell layer was revealed!!! the middle part of the frog looked like cotton wool at one stage!

Anyway he was on/off lame for months and no-one really knew why. Sometimes it looked like a front leg, other times a hind, sometimes perfectly sound!!

Makes sense looking back now, he wasnt completely comfortable on any of his feet and just compensated alot, which then caused other issued

Anyway, its worth looking into as its very cheap to treat!!
 
A lameness work up will not cost thousands, but hundreds.

If you want to know what's wrong with your horse you will need to get them done.
 
LauraJay, your boy sounds very similar to mine. Intermittent lameness, never terribly severe but I could see it.
Went to vets, left him in there overnight so vet could work with him as and when. Saved me paying multiple call-outs. We had nerve blocks in all four legs, 10 xrays (feet, hocks and back- he had to be sedated for this as well) and then front feet, hocks and back were medicated (sedated again). Cost me £490 in total (including 10 days worth of danilon). Fingers crossed the vet gets to the bottom of the problem. Mine was found to have arthritis in coffin joint, spavins in hocks and mild kissing spines. He is not back to ridden work just yet, but he has been working well on the lunge / long reining.
 
Just wanted to comment on your case as I have been working on a very similar lameness today:
You say the horse is ok when belting around the field but different when it comes to school work.
My thinking is that the horse will come up sound with a caudal nerve block, if this is the case then the problem can be explained, understood and if in the early stages, treated.
It is very encouraging that there is a stage at which the horse appears sound, as this is the place to start.
Too many times I am referred horses that are periodically lame and the vet/farrier have started with the lameness, not with when the horse is sound!
I am sure it will all be ok.
If you can bare to watch the video of the shod foot at the bottom of this page it might help
http://www.rockfoot.com/why.html
 
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