Lame in trot only and only on one rein?

[hnmisty]

Last Thursday I was riding Barry in the arena and the people watching me weren't sure if he was lame. I got off, we trotted him up lots and he was fine. Got back on, trotted him round again and they thought he looked fine. Cantered and he was fine. They had originally thought it was his front right.

On Friday, the lady who feeds him in the morning for me texted to say she thought he looked a bit lame in walk. I hadn't mentioned it to her. She said front right. We trotted him up later and he looked OK.

On Saturday he charged round like an idiot, same on Sunday. Took him out for a hack on Sunday (mostly walk) and he was fine. Had a lesson on him on Monday, instructor said at first he looked more uneven than lame, but he improved as we went on until she thought he looked completely sound.

I asked someone to make a video of him trotting in the arena today. He felt absolutely fine on the left rein, but didn't feel right on the right. I've got a video of him on the right rein (friend who took it only sent me the one for the right rein). He is usually a slight head nodder but not to this extent.

www.dropbox.com/s/83m7w0xb23qo31m/Barry in trot.MOV

Any opinions welcome!

Thanks

 

[HeresHoping]

I may have this completely wrong but to me he looks a little short in the near hind - although that could well be if he was short in the off fore. Arena surfaces are never the easiest to make an assessment on. Is it more exaggerated on a circle? Did you find any heat/pulse anywhere?

 

[DabDab]

I thought he looked short in the near hind too - possibly some muscle stiffness through that left haunch or the left hand side of his back.

 

[hnmisty]

Interesting. Thanks for the replies.

He was fine on 10m circles on Monday, I didn't do any in trot today.

I didn't notice any heat, although I didn't look too hard at the back left admittedly.

Do you think vet or physio or leave and see if it gets better?

 

[DabDab]

How old is he, and what has he done previously?

 

[be positive]

He certainly looks lame to me, the head nodding is very clear, it is showing as off fore but from that short clip ridden on a soft surface makes it hard to help any more than to say it needs some investigation, the foot would be the obvious place to start, especially if he has taken lame steps in walk it may just be some bruising.

 

[hnmisty]

He's 9, he was a point to pointer, finished when he was 5. He did riding club stuff with his old owner, local SJ (up to about 3') and a fair amount of XC schooling. I got him in may and haven't done much with him, just hacking and some schooling so far.

 

[hnmisty]

be positive- I gave his hoof a good tapping the other day withy hoof pick and he didn't bat an eyelid. I can give it another try tomorrow. That was on the off fore. He seems OK in walk. He was shod a fortnight ago.

 

[Bigginge]

He definitely looks lame to me I'm afraid, looks to me like right fore or right hind, would need to watch him from behind but he does look short on that right hind. For me lameness that lasts more than a week, even if you think it's only in trot would signal a vet visit. Lame is lame, it means he is sore somewhere.

Edited to add, there could be a hundred reasons for lameness and hoof sensitivity is only going to cover a few, and if you did want to rule out a hoof issue he'd need a proper test with hoof testers which can apply more direct pressure than banging with a hoof pick.

 

[be positive]

be positive- I gave his hoof a good tapping the other day withy hoof pick and he didn't bat an eyelid. I can give it another try tomorrow. That was on the off fore. He seems OK in walk. He was shod a fortnight ago.

Unless they are in extreme pain tapping with a hoof pick is unlikely to get any reaction, you need a farrier or vet with hoof testers to check if it is the foot and even then they may not find anything.

 

[hnmisty]

Could something in his hoof only be apparent on an on-off basis?

Someone is having the vet out tomorrow anyway so I think I will get her to have a look at him.

 

[night_mare]

Yes I had a mare with an abscess which bothered her intermittently - found that she was better on days when the ground was wet/softer and worse on days where the ground was hard - so for the first couple of times thought it was just a bruised sole which then fixed itself, but then she went properly lame as the abscess got worse.

Although you've got the vet visiting soon, it won't do any harm to tub the foot in the meantime. Boil up some water, mix with salt or epsom salts, cool until you can comfortably hold your hand in it but it is still hot then place in a shallow bucket high enough to cover the coronet band then lift the front leg up, move the bucket underneath the leg and put the hoof in the bucket and make sure the horse stands iwth its hoof it the bucket and stays ther and let it soak for a while. Do this twice a day. It also won't do any harm to put a poultice on the foot in the meantime.

 

[AmyMay]

If he's a head nodder as you put it, presumably he has a continual degree of lameness. This on its own needs investigating as does this new episode of lameness.

So one for the vet.

 

[saddlesore]

I'd also get your farrier back out to take a look. My personal experience is that they are more useful for hoof issues than the vet.

 

[cornbrodolly]

+2 for the vet. I d say lameness higher up ,in pelvis rather than legs/feet