lame horse

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cob mad

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Hi, can anyone give me some advice?
Ive had my mare for nearly 6 years with no probs at all. Then last summer she started to get stiff on her near fore after she was ridden. once she started to move again the stiffness went. Started to feed supplements to see if that helped. Not much difference.
Rode her 3 weeks ago, was lame. Got the vet out who thought she might have lami. Had slight heat in both front but no pulses. Had full work up and the vet said she had pain in near front.
The vet told me to boxrest for 2 weeks, no turnout at all and 1 bute daily. If no diff at the end of the 2 weeks they would xray and go from there. Had diferent people tell me diff things so desided to get a second opinion from a dif vet. Same diagnosis apart from this vet told me to turnout for a couple of hours aday and if she wasnt no better she wants to do nerve blocks 1st before xrays.
Is this right? Which vet do I trust? Any body had nerve blocks and xays done and in what order?
 
My mare had intermitant lameness in near fore last summer .
The vet did flexion tests and nerve blocks at home before she went in for more nerve blocks and then x rays so yes I would expect the vet to nerve block before xrays..
She was diagnosed with arthritis in the coffin joint .I had cortisone injections done after which she came sound for around 6 months .
She is on a joint supplement and 1 danilon a day and has been injected again on this regime she is field sound.
 
thanks for he reply, am a nervous wreck at the mo. I need to make a decision as to what to do next as shes no better but no worse. Did you find the nerve blocks helped? sorry to be a pain
 
A nerve block is a short acting anaesthetic that is injected into the nerve of the leg(s) at specific points to identify the area of pain. They start at the foot and work the way up the leg. Without nerve blocks the whole leg would have to be xrayed! And xray changes alone are not indicative of lameness causes as often changes cause no pain. So nerve blocks are the first thing to do.
 
As cm said a nerve block is not a cure it is a diagnostic tool to pin point the exact area of pain so x rays can be targeted to that area which will reduce the cost.
However worried you are you do need to sort out the cause so treatment can start.
How old is your mare? are you covered by insurance?
My girl is 20 and a T/b who raced for a very short time .I have had her 17 years .With cortezone injections about twice a year and danilon and joint supplement she is sound enough for light work.Because of her age there is no vets bill insurance but after diagnosis (which cost around £500) each set of injections is around £300 a time .
She gave me 16 lovely years and is worth the money to keep her comfortable
My mare is better turned out and becomes stiffer if kept in a lot.
Good luck hope it turns out fine
 
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Hi thanks for the reply. my mare has just turned 12, Not insured so any vets fees i pay myself. Shes my pride and joy so dont mind. I ve found shes better out than in.
Have booked the vet to come out fri am to do nerve blocks and work up.
How much does it cost to keep yours on danilon, if you dont mind me asking?
 
A box of danilon costs me around £50 from my vet (60 sachets) You can get it a bit cheaper online but will need a presciption from your vet to get it I have seen it for around £40 a box but the vet may charge for the prescription.
I tend to stick with the vet .My mare is 16hh and is around 650 kilo .She has base dose of 1 sachet a day which i up to 2 if she looks a bit off (currently on 1 and half to 2 a day because it is sooo hard under foot at the moment.
So a box of danilon lasts about 6 weeks .I use a basic supplement (ExtraFlex HA ) Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM and Hyaluronic Acid from Feedmark which is on offer at present this lasts me around 4/6 weeks.
I guess it costs me around £10 per week on average.
Hope this helps.
 
hiya am new on here but saw this post and wanted to add a comment as rthis sounds really similar to my pony at the moment. have had him 6 yrs without any problems, lame on near fore leg, no heat/swelling/strong pulse. unreactive when hoof was tested. only diff with mine is that he is overweight so this will obv make him a more likely candidate for laminitis. had vet yest who was unsure really.... he said poss v mild laminitis (but wasnt really convinced by this) danilon and box rest for a week (can turn out with muzzle on for short periods if i want to). but vet was thinking more towards artritis really i think. pony only 14..... and im not insured......
good luck with the vet i hope you get some good news
 
Cobmad any news ? I was thinking about your horse yesterday as you said the vet was visiting

Hi kerr26 .I'm afraid as far as arthritis goes 14 is an age when it can start to show .It often depends on conforation and previous use of horse/pony (lots of working on hard ground lots of jumping etc soe polo ponies get it ) I knew an arab that had done a lot of endurance who was diagnosed with athritis in both knees and he was only 9 years old!!! I think there can also be a predisposition to it as well.
Treatmented early and trying to lmiited more degredation in the joint as well as specialiist shoeing can keep these horses in work for some years after diagnosiseary diagnosis is important .
 
hi horselib, thats interesting what youv said about arthritis, esp about conformation as he is pigeon toed and over at the knee, and generally quite wonky knobbly looking front legs! he hasnt had a very hard life really , no endurance etc just hacking and a bit of jumping, though due to his speedy nature he has always had riders who are prob borderline on the heavy side for him (including me). he is a 13.2hh welsh sec b and im just under 9 stone, and another girl who had been riding him was a bit heavier than me. so just wondering now if that could have contributed to it (if indeed he is arthritic). think am gunna do a bit of reading up about arthritis. thanks for your reply.
 
Hii kerr26 ,I find its worth reading as much as you can as 'information is power' and knowing a lot about ways to manage arthritis means you can help the horse to carry on and able to be ridden
Early diagnosis is important as stopping any further degeneration of the joints means the horse/pony stays sound for longer
here are a couple of links to information on arthritis.Your vet and farrier are the best people to have on side.My mare has a heartbar shoe on the foot which has arthritis in the coffin joint and that has helped a lot (she has a slight pidgeon toe on that foot too).
http://www.recoveryeq.com/arthritis_in_horses.htm
http://www.moronacity.com/horse-journal/equine-arthritis.shtml
http://www.arthritistypes.org/arthritis_in_horses/arthritis_in_horses.html
there are lots on the internet but I would have a talk to the farrier next time he visits and of course the vet
 
Hi horselib, sorry for delay, The vet desided as shes exactly the same and no obvious signs shes gonna to do nerve blocks and tests at the clinic to get to the bottom of it. The 1st day available is next friday (4th). Have to box rest and bute until then to keep her comfortable. (shes not impressed) Any ideas on cost and what to expect?:confused:
 
Please you are starting to get to the bottom of it At least you will be able to start treatment .
It will probably be a long day I was at the vet' from 10:30am until 4:00pm There was a gap between 12:00 and 2:00 when she was in a stable having a rest when he went out to an emergency.
The cost will depend on how many nerve blocks and x rays he/she does ,I think mine was 2 nerve blocks and about 10 xrays .He also took a coupke of the other front foot for comparison.
When he was sure what he was looking at I was offered the chance to have the treatment done there and then and she was medicated by injection into the coffin joint and navicular bursae with hyluronic acid and depo steroid.
The treatment coat £380 and I think the actual diagnosis was about £590.So just under £1,000 total
She improved dramatically after the injections and also the vet discussed the x rays with my farrier and he designed a special heartbar shoe for that foot.
This was all done in June 2009 and she was sound and doing light work until the end of March.I then had her medicated again (but of course she didn't need the diagnosis this time }
Hope you get a good result ,My mare is happy and comfortable and enjoying semi retirement doing a little school work and light hacking.
 
horselib - thanks for the websites - have had a good look and they were very informative. cobmad - good luck for fri. my pony still just as lame on danilon and boxrest. was hoping for a slight improvement :(
 
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