Lame horse! any similar experiences wanted

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Rachael34

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So I’m wondering if anyone has had similar issues to me. I have a 25 year old mare, pretty much retired except for my young son riding her from time to time. Lives out through the day, in at night in a hard standing area with field shelter. About 6 weeks ago noticed she wasn’t herself, looking miserable and lame in trot on front left. Got farrier to check, no reaction to hoof testers, no digital pulse, no heat. Gave Bute for a few days, came sound. Week or so after that exactly the same, really miserable, v lame, refused to trot up. Gave more bute for a few days, still lame although loads better on Bute, got vet who diagnosed bruised sole and turn out as usual , Bute if needed. She is still as lame, much worse on a night time when coming in from
Field, slightly better on a morning. V miserable, muscle wastage in that shoulder , refuses to walk backwards when asked, just leans right back on her heels. Stands with bad leg in front of good leg. Farrier coming next week again and vet again if he can’t shed any light but I’m wondering if it’s a coincidence her having the bruised sole as she was checked for bruised sole when initially lame (v good farrier), wouldn’t expect that degree of muscle wastage so quickly, if she had developed an abscess wouldn’t there be heat or it burst out somewhere by now?, this girl has literally had one period of lameness in the 12 years we have had her so we are getting worried .to hear from Anyone with similar experiences would be great!
 
The farrier is due on Monday anyway so thought I’d get him to check first and then get the vet back out was just wondering if anyone had had a horse with similar symptoms
 
With her age I would be thinking EMS and laminitis. Very often they get grumpy first and unhappy before they go lame. They do not have to be fat and cresty and I would put her on a deep bed and treat for lammi
 
If you are seeing muscle wastage on the lame leg already then I would be getting vet out ASAP, not waiting for the farrier. It sounds like something more than a bruised foot.
 
I had very similar in a pony once. I initially thought it was a bruised sole too. In fact she'd ruptured all the ligaments in her shoulder.

Please do get the a vet out urgently. If their is no improvement while on bute, I would suggest this could be something serious.
 
She does have a bruised sole as you can see it but yeah I agree I think it’s something more. The vet will come next week unless the farrier finds an abscess on Monday. The Bute is helping her
 
no reaction to hoof testers and diagnosing the cause of lameness as a bruised sole is odd, albeit you can get deep bruising that takes a long time to resolve.

she sounds terribly uncomfortable, to the point that I'm not convinced I'd feel it was ethical to wait for the farrier on Monday and then the vet later on in the week.

If she still has an abscess brewing for 6 weeks you potentially have another serious issue on your hand.
 
There was no reaction to the hoof testers initially by farrier but a definite reaction to them from vet and a visible bruise that it why the vet said give bruise time to resolve before further testing
 
I have to admit posts like this frustrate me. The horse has not been right for 6 weeks now, with muscle wastage to add to the symptoms of a horse that is clearly in a lot of discomfort/pain. There may have well been a bruise 6 weeks ago, but it sounds like there is something else going on if the horse is "V miserable, muscle wastage in that shoulder , refuses to walk backwards when asked, just leans right back on her heels. Stands with bad leg in front of good leg". IMO you should be getting the vet out today.
 
She is in no way crippled like you seem to believeWe are actually following the advice of a very well respected vet but thanks for your opinions. I won’t be continuing to read this
 
We can only read what you write, I haven't seen anyone suggest she is crippled (ergo not moving or recumbent).

Get your well respected vet back out ASAP, from your OP it sounded like he had only been out once.
 
Maybe someone else has but I've never seen a horse with muscle wastage caused by a bruised sole.

Muscle wastage is a huge red flag that something else, potentially pretty bad, is going on.

In your OP you describe your horse as having been 'v lame' and then later say that the lameness is still the same. That, with the muscle wastage, is why people are advising you not to wait to have your vet back out.
 
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