Lame on a circle..

Luci07

Luci07

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I will preface this by saying horse is under vet care and treatment but I am looking for other ideas.

Horse is a 6 year old ISH, very well put together. Normally sane. Until he decided to stick his right leg through his haynet and do his level best to saw it off. Cue 6 weeks off, under vet and then finally scanned and cleared to go back into work. 3 weeks proper fittening work and scar tissue nearly all gone and due for final all clear so I can start fast work. Horse is now being a bit of a prat as feeling good but restricted. Horse was a massive idiot day before vet came out and truly OTT. Next day.. Sound in a straight line, lame on a circle on hard ground (hopping) on the other front leg last Monday. Been on bute. Turned out each day, not ridden. Trotted sound today but lame (despite bute) on the circle. Vet out again on Monday but I am heartbroken and really worried. Any ideas?
 
mare at work gave same signs as yours but no known injury before hand scans showed mild damage to DDFT, rest for 4 weeks no better, of to newmarket full exam of both front legs showed damage to DDFT in one fore leg and damage to check ligament in other front leg, 3 months box rest and walking re-scan monday.

other mare went lame thurs eve looks like tendon vet out monday for her too-not looking good for her as despite being nursed along problems keep occurring.
 
He is being scanned again on Monday..****** is all I can say..my normally kind horse becomes a handful to manage and rude when off work for a prolonged period of time.

There is no heat or swelling in either front leg. Even the scarring is nearly all gone. Please god it's not something more deepseated.
 
Lame on a circle on just the hard is usually a lameness in the hoof can be a sign of navicular not sure that helps at all. Will keep everything crossed for you ..... Horses a great cause of worry
 
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lannerch said:
Lame on a circle on just the hard is usually a lameness in the hoof can be a sign of navicular not sure that helps at all. Will keep everything crossed for you ..... Horses a great cause of worry
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Yep thats what both myself and vet said when mare at work was lame-there was no heat/swelling so we thought it would be hoof but no, the other thing they found with her was an arthritic knee-she is 6yrs
 
Dear god I hope not. I know his history, imported as a 2 year old, grew up with other babies, not backed till 4 and has had a pretty easy life with me as was so green and backwards..thank you all for taking the time to post comments. This looks like it is going to be an insurance claim now..
 
Fingers crossed you get to the bottom of it but mine who was sound straight line/soft circle lame hard has been diagnosed with impar ligament strain so I would investigate feet too. Good luck!
 
Yes it ca be in the hoof if lame on circle on the hard. Mine was very slightly lame tight circle on the hard 1 - 2/10 lame on both fronts and also a bit sore when turning sharp on the concrete. Sound in straight lines in trot and on the lunge on soft. Vet thought I was mad as he was sound nearly every time he trotted him up! He was diagnosed with collateral desmitis both fronts by MRI! It can be a sign of navicular disease or syndrome but could also be something very simple like abscess or low grade lami. Even if it is a navicular issue you can do a lot to sort this, I have taken my horse barefoot as I believe this will be the best way for a total recovery. He also inititally went lame after a period of illness and box rest! Fingers crossed it something simple for you. x
 
Luci07 said:
I will preface this by saying horse is under vet care and treatment but I am looking for other ideas.

Horse is a 6 year old ISH, very well put together. Normally sane. Until he decided to stick his right leg through his haynet and do his level best to saw it off. Cue 6 weeks off, under vet and then finally scanned and cleared to go back into work. 3 weeks proper fittening work and scar tissue nearly all gone and due for final all clear so I can start fast work. Horse is now being a bit of a prat as feeling good but restricted. Horse was a massive idiot day before vet came out and truly OTT. Next day.. Sound in a straight line, lame on a circle on hard ground (hopping) on the other front leg last Monday. Been on bute. Turned out each day, not ridden. Trotted sound today but lame (despite bute) on the circle. Vet out again on Monday but I am heartbroken and really worried. Any ideas?
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Funnily enough I've just put this reply on another post. My horse has calcification inside the ligament on the near fore, and he hops on the right rein as he is exerting pressure on the bad leg.

See video - look closely you will see this injury quite clearly. This video was a few months after the original injury, he then 'did' his leg again, getting stuck in a wheelbarrow and carting it around the yard whilst I was at work one morning. He's currently six weeks into recovery after a period of three months of deteriation following the accident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U93TkaYep0

I'm guessing by your description this is what your horse is doing. It may be that the scar tissue has developed into calcifcation which happens in some horses (although no one knows why this happens). This is what causes the hopping that I have now as the inflammation following the wheelbarrow incident has caused the calcification to increase to the size it is which is now causing problems :(

If I were you I'd ask your vet to take an xray of the injury area and then the calcifcation (if thats what is causing the hopping) will be clearly visible. I am guessing that this could be what's wrong with your horse.

Don't lose heart, my horse was 3/10ths lame on the right circle on 2 x danillon a day. Now he is barely 1/10th lame on 1 x danillon a day, but the difference is I've put him in his old saddle and have also changed the way I ride, getting him off his forehand, slowing down his trot and making him step under more to take the weight off. The difference is clear.
 
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So far....horse has discomfort in both front feet. Went sound after first block on each foot and vet back tomorrow to x ray. My vet is very pragmatic and no nonsense but she is tending to think that the 6 weeks off for a big young horse caused problems and we might need to look at the shoeing again. Externally he has perfect feet. He has not had any real time off since I bought him and has always been kept ticking over - not hard hunting fit but always enough to keep him nice. I am aware it could be related to nervicular syndrome but in the basis that this boy has not any lame steps till he tried to amputate his front leg, I am remaining hopeful. Thank you all to those who have shared advice and experiences. It really has been massively appreciated.
 
So...turns out to be sore ligaments at the back of the heel ( best explanation I can give) everything else was good. Next step remedial shoeing to rebalance the foot, and then start fittening all over again in an absolute minimum of 3 weeks time. Lot better than I originally thought but so much for a winter of indoor Show jumping and Hunting. We are now 11 weeks away from the original injury..
 
Not sure if this helps and I have posted the sorry saga on here already but in brief my daughters pony went lame after I think putting in a horrible nasty slide stop at a fence on hard ground. Vet said abscess, it wasn't, box rest didn't help. Seemed to be ok in straight line on soft ground but most definitely lame on hard ground and more so on circle. . Nerve blocked to the foot, X-rays showed nothing, vet said 'soft tissue damage in hoof and no way of telling anything more unless MRI'd. Advice also included box rest for 3 months and keep shoes on. However I took shoes off and Chucked her out in field - 6 weeks on, she is looking sound and starting walk. Sometimes it's just impossible to know what's going on - muscular strain in heel.was probably what our mare had....
 
Mine was perfectly sound on hard and soft in trot for the vet. Lunged slowly on a circle on both reins and lame. Externally, his feet look brilliant and the angles etc are really good. I have always been anal as my vet was very clear I needed to really watch his shoeing and balance as he has so much more growing to do. It was not till my vet x rayed that you could see the inflammation and the need to change the balance of the foot. However, apart from bute to kick off with, no other drugs needed and we are keeping everything crossed this will be sorted quickly. This is also a horse who has never shown any lameness or shortness of stride. The one "clue" which I put down to his age was his propensity to throw me onto his left shoulder. I got round that and hit the fitness pretty hard so stopped that but now think it might well have been this and not me as a rider. Also, my jump saddle needs to be refitted pretty much every 4-5 months, but not the dressage. Again. Put it down to having a baby horse but now think that was him always reshuffling. Maybe the attempt by him to to remove his front leg was actually a good thing in hindsight..
 
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