Lame on a circle, Xrays clean

[MiniThoroughbred]

My thoroughbred is lame in front on a circle.
I went for a lesson back in Jan 23 and the instructor picked up on her being unlevel on a left circle right at the end of the lesson, no heat or swelling to be seen when I jumped off and her legs were cold and hard the following morning. We trotted her up on hard ground and we could see she was lame on the front left. She had a week off and then trotted up sound so we cracked on. I don't do anything serious with her, 70cm jumping and prelim dressage.
We then had some new horses arrive on the yard on the 1st May and she had a bit of a hooney around, she then came in lame a couple of days later on front right. Farrier came out and hoof tested and said she had some bruising to her soles, she had a week off and was sound again, farrier put pads in her fronts and she was sound until 29th May. Then over reached on the front right again and had another 10 days off because she was sore on that, I got back on her on the 19th June. I went for a lesson on the 27th on a surface and an instructor who had never seen her before picked up that she was lame on a left circle after all the issues and worry we'd had with her right fore over the previous month.
The vet came today and watched her on a circle both directions and picked up that she was 1/10 lame on both fore legs. She X-Rayed to see if there were any changes going on but the X-Rays are completely clean.
I'm not sure where to go next now other than to turn her out for a month or two and pray for rain. Anyone have any experience of this?
Vet, farrier and instructor all in agreement that it is concussion through her fore legs and hooves and if time doesn't work then we will have to do a full work up and see what we can find. Has anyone had similar?

 

[Tiddlypom]

No nerve blocks or scans yet?

 

[ihatework]

Pretty common!
Could be something could be barely anything.

Bilateral lameness front feet sometimes means they are lamer than they actually are - essentially if they are lame on both, visually they cancel each other out to the eye.

First thing to do is block one forelimb out and see what happens.

Is the lameness more or less apparent on a circle rather than a straight line.
Also is it more or less apparent in the school or on a hard surface?

Are you insured?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Did the vet nerve block? What did the vet x ray?

 

[MiniThoroughbred]

She isn't lame in a straight line and the lameness is more apparent on a hard surface although it's more of a stiffness than head bobbing lame.
Vet x-rayed hooves to see if there were any changes going on but they both look good.
She did say that if she doesn't come right after a bit of time off then a full lameness work up will be the next step. She isn't insured but that wouldn't stop an investigation.

 

[ihatework]

She isn't lame in a straight line and the lameness is more apparent on a hard surface although it's more of a stiffness than head bobbing lame.
Vet x-rayed hooves to see if there were any changes going on but they both look good.
She did say that if she doesn't come right after a bit of time off then a full lameness work up will be the next step. She isn't insured but that wouldn't stop an investigation.

Personally at a minimum I’d block the feet to see if you really are dealing with 1/10th lameness or whether it’s more significant. 1/10th I might just rest. More I might consider further diagnostic

PS - I assume vet assessed the foot balance off the X-rays and that was ok even if no changes?

 

[MiniThoroughbred]

She isn't lame in a straight line and the lameness is more apparent on a hard surface although it's more of a stiffness than head bobbing lame.
Vet x-rayed hooves to see if there were any changes going on but they both look good.
She did say that if she doesn't come right after a bit of time off then a full lameness work up will be the next step. She isn't insured but that wouldn't stop an investigation.

I should say she isn't obviously lame in a straight line.

 

[MiniThoroughbred]

Personally at a minimum I’d block the feet to see if you really are dealing with 1/10th lameness or whether it’s more significant. 1/10th I might just rest. More I might consider furthe

Personally at a minimum I’d block the feet to see if you really are dealing with 1/10th lameness or whether it’s more significant. 1/10th I might just rest. More I might consider further diagnostic

PS - I assume vet assessed the foot balance off the X-rays and that was ok even if no changes?

Yes, all looked good apparently. She is going to get another vet to have a look though and give me a call at the end of the week so we can look at what the definite next steps will be.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Definitely worth blocking the feet it could still be soft tissue which won't show up on an xray.

 

[eggs]

Lame on a circle on a soft surface is often soft tissue. I agree with the others re getting front feet nerve blocked and scans done.

 

[Squeak]

Out of interest, what sort of work have you been doing with her recently? Has she been doing a lot on the hard ground at the moment hence vet and instructors thinking it's that which is the issue?

 

[MiniThoroughbred]

Out of interest, what sort of work have you been doing with her recently? Has she been doing a lot on the hard ground at the moment hence vet and instructors thinking it's that which is the issue?

No, I tend to avoid hard ground as best I can. That assumption comes from the initial bruising we were dealing with after she had a good gallop around the field to show off to her new neighbour.

 

[IrishMilo]

I assume based on the foot X-rays navicular was ruled out? I would ask for X-rays of the knees next tbh. How old is the horse? (Not that I think it makes much difference)

 

[Zoeypxo]

Mine presented similar with NPA and a ddft injury in the RF.
Mine did nerve block to the foot and eventually joint blocked to the coffin joint

Yours could be just bruising or could be soft tissue or tendons higher up. Difficult to say without a block tbh

Any pulses ?

Laminitis ruled out?

 

[Red-1]

I can't stand not knowing. She was rested and then went lame again, I would now take her for a workup. I wouldn't just block the foot on the leg that looked lame, I would work up the leg until they vet found the spot that stopped the lameness in that leg. Suspensories often don't show much on the skin surface (heat/swelling) but can be a pernicious little lameness that can rumble on.

I would also not be surprised if she was lame on the other leg badly when the 'bad' one is blocked.

What state are her feet in? They are not healthy feet if they are soft on hard ground. I would look to see if there is any infection and at the balance.

 

[ester]

I’d work up now too, from descriptions it’s likely hoof but I’d want a block to confirm then I could plan next steps.

 

[criso]

Did the vet definitely not nerve block? Unless there is an obvious area, they usually nerve block before X ray so they know what to X ray.

 

[Birker2020]

Being lame on the left circle but with known bad right leg would to me suggest the same as what Bailey had - a suspensory branch injury. She was lame on a right circle although her injury was left fore. Because they push with their outside leg on a circle and it hurts there is a pronounced hop whuch can show up on the uninjured leg making that look like it's the lame one. Hope that made sense!

Now the vets found her bilaterally lame I'd go for a nerve block like others have said.

I'd tend to agree with Red-1 about it being a suspensory or a suspensory branch.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

It could be useful to post some photos of her feet, on level ground, as close to the ground as possible.

There are quite a few people on here who are really good with foot balance, and where some of the tiny inner structures might be taking strain.

My mare presented similarly to you but had come to us with very long, underrun heels and we suspect she’s damaged her ddft as a result.

 

[Sossigpoker]

A lameness that seems to improve with rest only to reoccur indicates tendons or ligaments. I'd go for a work up and certainly scan the suspensories in the front. I wouldn't bother resting and waiting as you've done it a few times now.