Lame at walk but not trot?

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Nakipa

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My horse has been lame for the last 6 weeks. At the beginning it looked like a shoulder problem but after scans and X-rays the vet found a slight inflammation to the lateral collateral ligament. Nothing was done re the shoulder as the vet felt it was more important to address the LCL.
He has been field rested for 4 weeks with supplements of Glucosomine/MSM/Chondroitin/Devils Claw and cider vinegar.

After 4 weeks he has been started working in walk 2-3 times per week just on flat level ground, only working in straight lines.

After 3 weeks I had an equine Osteo to look at him and she found a lot of problems in the shoulder and SI joint on the nearside and worked on them and is coming again next week for a second session. She wanted me to work him a couple of times a week on a lunge using a pessoa! Ask two professionals and you will get two opposing opinions!

He has been back in work for 2 weeks and he is still slightly lame but only in walk. He is nodding lame on the odd stride working in the school. On estimate I would say he nods on 5 strides out of 20. He is stepping short with his left foreleg the same as when he initially went lame. He doesnt do this on every stride either but on about 25%. The nodding does not coincide with the short striding.

In trot he seems totally sound and also is using the shoulder to it's full reach forward.

The vet just keeps saying it will take time but I am wondering if I ought to go for a second opinion as he has never looked at the shoulder at all and that is as much of a problem as it was at the beginning.

I have never heard of a horse being lame in walk but not trot and would expect it to be the other way round.
 
Shoulder lameness is extremely rare in horses. If you don't trust your vet get another one out, I would have thought if he was still unsound the vet would be advising further rest as opposed to work? Di they nerve block?
 
Hi. My youngster had a problem where he was lame at walk but sound at trot, the vet took xrays and told me he had a side bone developing and to rest him and give him some bute. After four weeks he was lamer at walk but still sound in trot. anyway to cut a long story short, he had a poisonous corn in his hoof, (found by the farrier) which does not respond to bute and was made worse by being untreated for so long. My mistake was not having the nerve block done prior to xray. Good luck :)
 
A suggestion as someone else has also pointed out horses don't often get shoulder injuries.

Lunge the horse on firm ground and watch for the following

If the horse goes more lame on the inside of the circle the lameness is associated with the lower limb.

If he goes lamer on the outside of the circle the lameness is higher up in the shoulder.

You can do this test in both walk and trot.
 
well your oesteopath and vet are obviously working together, as the osteo needs your vets permission to work on the horse. As the horse is still lame i would either ask for a referral, or give the horse another 6 to 8 weeks rest. 90% of lameness is in the foot. as your horse is still lame he shouldnt be working. i would ask for a second opinion if i were you.
 
Thanks for the replies. The osteo is working together with the vet it's just they have given me opposite advice regarding the work he needs. I am also having the vets remedial farrier who is fantastic and the horse now has aluminium shoes with leather pads under to help the LCL. He also has shoes that are rolled all the way round so that he can chose the breakover point as we believe that it could be due to farriery issues that the LCL has developed.

I am reasonably happy with the vet and where I live good vets are like rocking horse pooh. I would have to travel over a hundred miles to any other decent vet.

The vet is adamant that he must not be box rested and should be field rested and then in slow work. He wants 'Constant lowlevel exercise'.

I have been reading up on the injury he has to the LCL and it seems that this is a popular school of thought now and that box rest is not the way to go as the ligament needs to be used and stretched slightly.

He definitely has something going on with the shoulder though and you can see it in his striding. I am worried now though as you say shoulder problems are rare.
I have emailed the vet this weekend with a video of him to show how he has/hasnt improved and am waiting a reply. I think I may ask for a referral when I hear back from him.

ETA: He was nerve blocked in the fetlock when it happened and this made some improvement to his soundness but not totally sound. The vet the x-rayed and scanned and found the LCL inflammation.
He is more lame on a circle when the problem shoulder is on the outside.
 
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Is he pointing with one leg, that is definitive of shoulder injury, sounds to me like a whole lot of things going on, and as the horse compensates for one he is stressing another area, you have not mentioned if he is getting Danilon, as that would ease the pain and inflammation where ever it is, thus allowing healing processes to kick in.
He may not appear lame at the trot because he is equally in pain on both legs.
Personally, I would turn him out, give him Danilon for three weeks, and if no better after four weeks, take off the shoes, and repeat the above.
Hi tech solutions are obviously not working at the moment and my gut feeling is to stop riding and turn away, with or without physio or chiro as you feel best. If after eight weeks, then start agin with investigations.
 
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He has not had Bute or Danilon and the vet doesn't want him to have it, just the devils claw etc. He doesn't want him to not feel it and then not protect it IYKWIM?

I will await the reply from the vet this week after seeing the video and see what he says, then go for a 2nd opinion I think.
 
Yes, X-rays of feet, pasterns, fetlocks done. Only thing that showed up in x-rays were slight changes where he might get high ringbone but vet was confident that this was nothing to worry about now and could be addressed to prevent it progressing. The horse is 12 and has had a showjumping life in the past so nothing that would be unexpected in a horse of this age he said.

The LCL inflammation showed on the scan about 1" above this area.
 
He is the same in the field and on the lunge or in hand. That said I aint the worlds best rider and am willing to take it if it is my fault but the vet saw him in hand and lunged and saw him lame once at the beginning and again 4 weeks later and he hadnt been ridden in that time.

He has been schooled to a reasonably high level in dressage and jumped at a high level too. I haven't had him long... 7 months ...... and haven't done much with him since I had him. Mainly hacking and a few flat and jumping lessons.
 
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