lame for over a week!

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serena2005

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Hello,

Just want a few opinions please. My boy has been lame for over a week now.
He's just being brought back into work but too much was asked of him last time he was ridden.
He was stiff for a few days then the lameness showed. He has heat in his thigh. Only a small localised area. He was due to have a massage but due to being lame he didn't have it.
We was advised to walk him for no more than 20 mins a day around the field to help him loosen up. But now it's been a week and he is still lame we have put him on bute and he's stayed in a few nights.
Obviously if his lameness continues the vet will be called. But what else can I do to help him over come this?
It's not the first time he's had prolonged lameness on a hind leg. He does not suffer with lami.
There are no cuts or swellings anywhere on him just this slight patch of heat in his thigh.

Any thoughts will be great, thanks
 
There could be so much going on, previous lameness may or may not be related, doing too much when unfit could have caused a muscle pull or it could be a bruise from a kick that has not damaged the skin, it may not even be where the heat is that is the area causing the lameness.
If it is muscular he would most likely be better off out moving around gently 24/7, the problem is without a proper diagnosis you may be doing the wrong thing to treat him, a week with no improvement is a long while and really needs a vet to diagnose so you can treat correctly.
 
serena2005 said:
Hello,

He's just being brought back into work but too much was asked of him last time he was ridden.
He was stiff for a few days then the lameness showed. He has heat in his thigh. Only a small localised area. He was due to have a massage but due to being lame he didn't have it.

We was advised to walk him for no more than 20 mins a day around the field to help him loosen up. But now it's been a week and he is still lame we have put him on bute and he's stayed in a few nights.
Obviously if his lameness continues the vet will be called.Any thoughts will be great, thanks
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OK, so here are my thoughts:

1. you say that "too much was asked of him last time he was ridden"........ so in that case, BEFORE you brought him back into work again, did you get a vet's opinion as to whether he was ready?

2. "We have put him on bute". Em, who exactly? Because only a vet should be prescribing bute; OK so a lot of people stockpile it, but TBH the only person who should be putting any horse on bute is a vet.

3. Keeping him in at nights won't help matters, it will only cause him to stiffen up even more. But given that he's had Bute, IS probably going to be the best option TBH.

My advice, for what its worth:

FFS stop bunging Bute into your horse without a vet looking at it. Get the vet out and ask him/her to properly diagnose this lameness.

If you're "asking too much of him" then maybe you will have to look at what you're doing and whether your horse is able to cope with that level of work. It sounds very much like he's been brought back into work far too fast TBH.

One thing you could do to help would be to cold-hose the affected area twice a day for 15 minutes or so. IF you've given him bute, and he as a result can't feel the pain (pain is there to protect from injury as horse or human won't do stuff if it hurts, but if given bute the horse won't be able to feel the pain and may damage himself even more). So given that he's had bute, I would keep him in TBH as if he's turned out he's liable to hoon around and damage himself even more. However, often its better (my opinion, plus my trainer's) to just turn a horse away in a field to recover slowly as nature intended - and NOT to give bute in this situation but just to let nature take its course.

But FFS get the vet out to look at the horse and see what's going on. Lameness won't be "cured" by bunging bute in something and hoping it will be OK, sorry if that sounds harsh.

Also if a horse has got ongoing lameness issues you will need to re-assess what you're doing and, under veterinary advice, allow your horse time to rest and recuperate, with chemical intervention such as Bute, only if prescribed by a vet.
 
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Buteing him up is a bit over the top! He's on 1 a day! I'm trying to make him more comfortable. And the vet knows him pretty well and has said to give it to him for a few days to see if it hekps.

He has been brought back into work with vets approval, and we have done it slower than advised. But my stupid sister let her friend ride him without telling anyone, so by the time we noticed he was stiff the damage had been done!

He's not the type of horse to hoon around.

I'm not an idiot, I'm just asking for some friendly advice and get accused of ignoring vets advise and Buteing him up. I'm not 'hoping' it will be ok, the vet will be called as I said in my original post! But as it's Sunday and bank holiday tomorrow it's unlikely it's going to be in the next few days, as his leg is not hanging off!

Thanks to those who gave their advice understandingly, I just wanted some advice to make him more comfortable until the vet comes, I'm not loading his feed with Bute to mask a on going lameness!
I'll think twice about posting next time I need advice! I don't need to be made to feel like I'm not doing right by my horse.
 
You have to have a thick skin to post on here, h&h has a lot of hollier than holly members, experts of everything.
How many who truly have a lot of dealings with horses have never given a sachet of bute to a horse without directly being told to do so by a vet? Do you ask the dr every time you take an ibuprofen ( the human version )
Bute is not only a pain killer but also an antiinflammatory so to give a sachet to a lame horse of unknown lameness is usually actively encouraged by most vets, especially in a horse they are already treating!
 
OP didn't make it clear that (1) the animal was already under treatment by the vet and that (2) the vet had OK'd the bute.

If you'd seen as many horses as some of us unfortunately have who've been given bute without the vet's OK, which their numpty owners have stockpiled......... then you'd understand why some of us might have come across as a bit Dragonish.

Sounds OP like you need to seriously duff up your sister though!!!:)
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
OP didn't make it clear that (1) the animal was already unr treatment by the vet and that (2) the vet had OK'd the bute.

If you'd seen as many horses as some of us unfortunately have who've been given bute without the vet's OK, which their numpty owners have stockpiled......... then you'd understand why some of us might have come across as a bit Dragonish.

Sounds OP like you need to seriously duff up your sister though!!!:)
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Haha! Yes she got a duffing ;) months of in hand work, and gentle hacking all wasted! :( back to square 1,

Sorry I think I threw my toys out of the pram, yes he's very much the vets best friend this year :) she just haven't been called out to see this specfic problem. But we usually speak on a monthly basis about any issues!
 
Would get vet in to do a full lameness check first (when not drugged up! Tee Hee! :) ) . Nerve block and then if necessary x-rays. If still no cause then he almost certainly has a muscular issue.
 
So after all it was his tendon :( nerve blocks done, 1 week of box rest and medication vet is back out on Monday to give him a check up. Hopefully she will be pleased with progress, don't fancy the RVC 2 times in the same year!!
 
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