Intrigued in peoples views on this

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Hovis_and_SidsMum

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Before I write this I make it clear I'm not passing judgement on the person in question - she's a nice lady but I am intrigued to know if this is common.

At my yard there is a horse that has been lame for a while now.
He is 15 and suffers from arthritis and was noticed lame on right rear leg when the sharer came for a lesson on him. This was about 4-5 weeks ago. At first it was assumed he'd pulled something so owner put im on devils claw and left him for a few days. Took him off the devils claw and he was still lame.
Since then a round of putting him on devils claw, giving him a few days, taking him off it then lunging him etc has followed. The horse is still lame.
They have also tried "working him through it" - horse was blatently hopping lame and seemed to get a whole lot worse.

Now my question. I am a novice owner who knows i'm inexperienced thus I probably am too ready to call a vet. However I am really surprised that as yet no vet has been called. There is another horse on the yard with a similar story and they've not called a vet either.
Whats your process / timescales when your horse is lame before you ring a vet?
 
If she was hopping lame I would get vet asap, normally its only something that will get worse so the sooner the better. Plus I hate to think my mare is in pain
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They clearly need a vet, they've messed about with him for over a month & he's still hopping lame. If he's this lame he's in pain, this needs sorting out properly.
 
Ditto what the others have said.

As a YO I would deem this to be a welfare issue and would have to pull rank and insist on a vet. The YO is equally responsible in law as the owner for the horses welfare.
 
I'd go as far as to say that is negligent. A horse should not be allowed to be lame for 4 - 5 weeks without veterinary assessment and advice having been sought, even if the owner assumes it's the already diagnosed arthritis problem. And certainly not if it is expected to work. Sounds as if people are trying to save money at the expense of their horse's wellbeing
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Mild lameness I would give a bute and leave for 48 hours. If no sign of improvement the call vet.
Hopping lame then vet gets called immediately.
 
I too would have called the vet in long before now. Probably after a day or two of rest if I saw no improvement, depending on the severity of the lameness, the history and any other signs/symptoms.

Another point - Devils Claw needs time to work. I wouldn't expect it to make any difference after such a short time. They're wasting their money by using it for just a few days then taking him off again.
 
it really depends on the horses history , if the horse has already had a full diagnosis & the owner is used to managing the condition & is sure that this is a flair up of the condition then there's no point calling the vet

i have been in a similar situation with a horse , the vet would only say to box rest & bute which i don't need them to tell me
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as for working the horse thats a different matter unless they have been told to by the vet , although it is a litle worrying that you say the lameness is acute , lameness with managed arthritis is generally not so acute all of a sudden
 
If my horse was a little lame I would give him a couple of days off if he was hopping I would want vet to look while still lame as its annoying when your horse is lame and you wait a few days and its sound when the vet comes.

I have a 'thing' about people who are continually trotting up lame horses in my world if a horse is lame day one trotting up every day makes no sense.

So marginal lameness couple of days off trot up if still lame vet. I am very wary of whacking bute in too often.
 
I would give my horse 10 days complete rest, if still lame call the vet. This horse has a history of arthritis and the vet should have been called out sooner and definitely not been in a lesson.

If they are lame, there is pain or so the saying goes.

My horse has arthritis and has been on treatment from the vet and he now has an appointment tomorrow at the equine hospital.
 
Agree, I would have had the Vet by now....horse on our yard been lame for months - initial diagnosis tendon injury, ok in walk but in trot he's dog lame...looks to me and a couple of others like its actually a shoulder problem from the way he's going, but owners refuse to see whats going on, won't call vet back because theyv'e been told tendon prob and thats it as far as they are concerned.....this is a rather large overweight cob with legs like treetrunks...not saying it can't be his tendon because anything poss, but they wont even consider a second opinion or even a review by the original vet ...
 

I personally would leave a horse a good week or so if there is even the slightest sign of lamess, providing there is no evidence of an abscess or major swelling etc, otherwise I'd have the vet out straight away.

If the horse is still moving slightly lame after a week then I'd contact my farrier to remove the shoe/check feet and the call the vet out.

Hard to say unless you know the particular horse and actually see the extent of the lameness I guess.
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On the other hand, I cant understand why people work horses on bute after an injury,when there supposed to be on box rest for a length of time, just because they appear to be sound whilst on bute...then wonder once they have finished the course, why the horse is still incredibly lame...if not worse than to begin with.
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Depending on the degree of lameness, I'd either get the vet now - or leave for up to a week. I would certainly not leave it any longer, no matter how mild.
 
My motto is "if in doubt, vet comes out" - I have a very nice local practice who always say to me they are just a phone call away and my own attitude to it is my peace of mind is worth the price of the callout fee. My horsy friends all have the same attitude. We feel we are not knowledgeable enough to diagnose anything when the cause isn't staring us in the face so take no chances.

The owners in this case seem to be assuming the problem is the horse's arthritis - maybe it isnt.
 
If horse goes lame I get the vet in immediately. Lameness indicates pain to me.

If the horse has arthritis it should not be being lunged at all and should probably be on long term prescribed medication.

I would agree that the yard owner should incist that owners call in the vet to examine the horse as this is a welfare issue.
 
Depending on just how lame the horse was I may wait a day or 2 to see if it settles itself but if it was hopping lame I would have the vet out ASAP.

As others have said, it's important to know the horses history - the owners may be in contact with the vet or have had similar issues with the horse previously but 5 weeks is a very long time to go without rectifying the problem.
 
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