Lame in the foot - ideas?

[Zoeypxo]

Hi my horse went lame overnight over the last weekend. Sound and riding Friday, lame Saturday morning.
Slightly lame in walk and moderate lameness right fore in trot.
Vet & farrier have been out and cant find anything. Shoe has been taken off and been advised to tub & poultice over the weekend just incase of an abscess.
Negative to hoof testers.
Slight digital pulse right fore.
Any ideas?
She does have a small amount of mild arthritic changes to the RF coffin joint which was diagnosed in April and injected with arthramid - sound until this last weekend.
Had x rays this week which show nothing. Good hoof angles, no changes to the arthritis and nothing else to show.
She is not insured so MRI not really doable right now.

Vet thinks either abscess bruise or soft tissue. Very small chance of it being the coffin joint again but it is unusual for the arthramid to wear off this soon.!!

 

[Barton Bounty]

If the xrays showed no sidebone or anything, I would be inclined to think bruise or abscess. It could be a deep seated abscess in which case may take a good few days to reveal ?

 

[Zoeypxo]

If the xrays showed no sidebone or anything, I would be inclined to think bruise or abscess. It could be a deep seated abscess in which case may take a good few days to reveal ?

hopefully an abscess pops up!

 

[Barton Bounty]

hopefully an abscess pops up!

Hope so, but keep poulticing it and if it is coming, it will be really stinky

 

[Zoeypxo]

Tubbed and poulticed for 4 days , absolutely nothing.
still lame if not worse.
Still negative to hoof testers

 

[Barton Bounty]

Could be soft tissue damage then. ? nightmare. Vet again then ?

 

[Birker2020]

When my last horse had Arthamid in her coffin joints initially there was improvement but then she went lame again.

It turned out she was putting more weight on the back of her foot and this impacted on the navicular bone, x-rays showed a spur on the back of the navicular and the DDFT was catching on the back of it.

I'm not suggesting this is the case with your horse but she might be feeling better and therefore transferring her weight differently in her foot causing another issue?

 

[misst]

Is she on grass? Digital pulse and worsening lameness just suggest a bit of laminitis to me. Maybe take her off grass and soak hay and monitor all 4 feet for pulses? The rain and warmish temperatures will have put a fair bit of sugar in the grass.

 

[Zoeypxo]

When my last horse had Arthamid in her coffin joints initially there was improvement but then she went lame again.

It turned out she was putting more weight on the back of her foot and this impacted on the navicular bone, x-rays showed a spur on the back of the navicular and the DDFT was catching on the back of it.

I'm not suggesting this is the case with your horse but she might be feeling better and therefore transferring her weight differently in her foot causing another issue?

shes had 2 lots of x rays and the navicular bone is clean!
She was sound for 6 months after arthramid.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Is she on grass? Digital pulse and worsening lameness just suggest a bit of laminitis to me. Maybe take her off grass and soak hay and monitor all 4 feet for pulses? The rain and warmish temperatures will have put a fair bit of sugar in the grass.

Yes out on grass has been all year round. 16.2 wb not fat.
ive asked vet and farrier who both say its not laminitis

 

[Zoeypxo]

Could be soft tissue damage then. ? nightmare. Vet again then ?

vet is coming next week to do a joint block into coffin joint to rule out that needing medicating again or not. If not then she said shoes off and turn away and see what shes like in spring. Assuming soft tissue involvement.
Not insured anymore due to pretty much everything being excluded because of previous claims otherwise would send for mri

 

[Barton Bounty]

vet is coming next week to do a joint block into coffin joint to rule out that needing medicating again or not. If not then she said shoes off and turn away and see what shes like in spring. Assuming soft tissue involvement.
Not insured anymore due to pretty much everything being excluded because of previous claims otherwise would send for mri

Sorry to hear that @Zoeypxo

 

[Zoeypxo]

Horse was sound on monday with no pulse, by Tuesday lame again with a faint pulse. Vet is back out Friday to do joint blocks.
Does anyone know if a horse will block to the coffin joint if its a ddft injury or collateral ligament?
Temped to whip shoes off and turn out till Spring

 

[ycbm]

Sounds like a bruise or laminitis, it seems very early to be paying for nerve blocks.
.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Sounds like a bruise or laminitis, it seems very early to be paying for nerve blocks.
.

Farrier says theres no bruising and wanted to rule it out.. im just worried about her with her previous history and hate just leaving her hobbling around!
maybe i should wait a few more weeks

 

[Zoeypxo]

Ive had farrier out twice and vet twice who both say not laminits .

 

[ycbm]

Ive had farrier out twice and vet twice who both say not laminits .

They wouldn't be the first to miss it when it's in only one foot. I had a 7 year old who used to start it in the right fore only.

The coming and going pulse is suspicious.
.

 

[Zoeypxo]

They wouldn't be the first to miss it when it's in only one foot. I had a 7 year old who used to start it in the right fore only.

The coming and going pulse is suspicious.
.

good to know, was yours reactive to hoof testers?

 

[ycbm]

good to know, was yours reactive to hoof testers?

Not especially. It was only really clear what was going on when it abscessed at the coronet in the dead centre of his toe and all the laminae from top to bottom were dead. I could squirt peroxide in at the top and it ran out the bottom. It was caused by careless overfeeding by the person who was looking after my horses while I was on holiday. From then on, he could not have grass without it going again in all four feet, but it was always the one front one that went first. I called it his signature foot. He was negative for Cushings, these days I'd have him tested for EMS and the better Cushings test.
.

 

[Birker2020]

A previous horse came in one Saturday in Summer with a raised pulse in one foot and the foot was warm, I decided to monitor her - she wasn't hopping lame, just a bit short on her stride but was a little painful when turned in a circle. She was already strip grazed

The next day she came in with a bounding pulse in the other foot and was lame to turn. I described her symptoms over the phone to the on call emergency vet, she asked me some questions and said she was quite certain it wasn't laminitis but thought her coffin joints probably needed medicating again, she could come out that day to check or it would probably be better to wait until the following day as what I'd described didn't sound like laminitis to her. She wasn't weight shifting or standing abnormally.

I decided to trust the advice of the vet and I waited until the next day after work, the horse had a raised pulse because her coffin joints needed medicating. Vet was very proactive and said he could do both right there and then, it would take 40 minutes max but I decided to book her in at the clinic as I used to be very wary of joint injections at home in an unsterile environment.

Raised pulse can be as a result of inflammation in the foot as well as laminitis.

 

[Zoeypxo]

My previous horse Bailey came in one Saturday in Summer with a raised pulse in one foot and the foot was warm, I decided to monitor him, he wasn't hopping lame, just a bit short on his stride but was a little painful when turned in a circle. He was already strip grazed

The next day he came in with a bounding pulse in the other foot and was lame to turn. I described his symptoms over the phone to the on call emergency vet, she asked me some questions and said she was quite certain it wasn't laminitis but thought his coffin joints probably needed medicating again, she could come out that day to check or it would probably be better to wait until the following day as what I'd described didn't sound like laminitis to her. He wasn't weight shifting or standing abnormally.

I decided to trust the advice of the vet and I waited until the next day after work, the horse had a raised pulse because his coffin joints needed medicating. Vet was very proactive and said he could do both right there and then, it would take 40 minutes max but I decided to book him in at the clinic as I used to be very wary of joint injections at home in an unsterile environment.

Raised pulse can be as a result of inflammation in the foot as well as laminitis.

was your horse ok after re medicating ?

she had arthramid injected into the RF coffin joint in May and has been excellent up until about 2/3 weeks ago

 

[Birker2020]

was your horse ok after re medicating ?

she had arthramid injected into the RF coffin joint in May and has been excellent up until about 2/3 weeks ago

No I'm sorry to say she wasn't. She then started shifting her weight onto the back of her foot. After lots of toing and froing from the vet saying she had an abscess I demanded a nerve block (the vet didn't do it very well) and an xray which showed a bony spur on the back of the navicular which we believe was catching on the DDFT itermittently.

She was pts a few days later.

 

[Zoeypxo]

No I'm sorry to say she wasn't. She then started shifting her weight onto the back of her foot. After lots of toing and froing from the vet saying she had an abscess I demanded a nerve block (the vet didn't do it very well) and an xray which showed a bony spur on the back of the navicular which we believe was catching on the DDFT itermittently.

She was pts a few days later.

thank you i think i remember you saying about this. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Birker2020]

thank you i think i remember you saying about this. Sorry to hear about that.

Thank you Z, I had a brilliant 17 years with her to be fair. but when the pain meds couldn't help her I decided enough was enough.
I do know that Arthamid had helped a lot of horses, I think mine was just one that couldn't be helped due to her overcompensating and an area we never thought was an issue suddenly became evident on xray.

Hoping your horse has a simple abscess OP x

 

[AandK]

Mine had similar symptoms 2yrs ago, no heat, no reaction to hoof testers, nothing on initial x-rays, MRI inconclusive, did mention a small space occupying lesion but not thought to be of significance. Decided to rest him for a few months and see how he got on. After a few weeks he was lame again, worse this time. X-rayed again which showed some changes to pedal bone, booked him in for surgery to remove suspected keratoma the following week. He also had a massive abscess burst out of his coronet band 3 days after he'd been to the vets, all the while had been negative to hoof testers! Was instantly much sounder. Surgery still went ahead to remove the keratoma.

Deep seated abscesses can take a long time to work their way out, especially if the horse has good feet, in the case of my horse.

 

[spotty_pony]

shes had 2 lots of x rays and the navicular bone is clean!
She was sound for 6 months after arthramid.

unfortunately this doesn’t rule out soft tissue damage. My gelding had text book x-rays but mri revealed tears to both DDFT.

 

[misst]

unfortunately this doesn’t rule out soft tissue damage. My gelding had text book x-rays but mri revealed tears to both DDFT.

Sadly that has been my experience also.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Little update

i had been considering barefoot for most of last year - she was in wedges and pads due to NPA and questionable coffin arthritis - blocked to joint but x ray clear.

Farrier & vet not very supportive and i didn't know enough at the time to make the decision.

Spent months researching fb groups and this forum, found some great info, purchased a few books by Nic Barker , looked at rockley farm blogs etc.
Her last set of shoes (November) solidified my decision. She was flinching when the RF was being nailed up and the look of worry on her face made my mind up. Shoes were taken off and she has been turned out since
(I bring in for a few hrs daily for feed & foot care etc)

she is now as i speak field sound, landing heel first and hasnt had any pulses since Nov

she is not quite sound on a trot up, and a slight unlevel on a circle on the lunge. Still a massive improvement from before though

she was 6/10ths lame RF in November

it does all seem to be soft tissue related, i didnt MRI as my plan of turnout and removal of shoes would have been the same regardless

i will update in a few months and hopefully post some nice hoof transformation pictures !

thankyou for everyones advice

happy horse being a mud monster in a herd atm!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Sounds like you made the right choice hopefully with a bit more rest she will come right it's amazing what a bit of barefoot 24/7 turnout can do.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Hi @Zoeypxo

I have a DDFT horse who sounds similar to yours.

She is completing her final month of box rest, having been in from late October. She has a small hardstanding pen around her stable. She is hand walked and grazed in hand a couple of times a day and has coped brilliantly. She is barefoot and in hoof boots as much as possible.

She will build up turnout for a month or so and then come home to go out 24/7 for the rest of the year, in a quiet environment.

We will reassess before winter.

She is six so I’m keen to give her every chance to come sound. Our aim is to get her hacking sound and able to school on the flat a bit. My vet thinks I am being very realistic.

I think it sounds like our horses are at similar stages now. Mine is nearly sound trotting up on the straight but still showing lameness on a circle.

I am also building up heel and working on getting the foot angles a bit better - mine had the worst feet when she came to me (she arrived lame).

It will be so interesting to hear how your horse progresses.