Lameness at walk & turns only, not at trot?

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eva

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Hi all,

I've posted this in vet forum but maybe here would be better?

My 5 yo has come in slightly lame 3 days ago, I had the vet out yesterday, she is not sure and suspects he has pulled soft tissue in elbow area while slipping in the muddy turnout. Vet has put him on bute for 3 days and advised that if today he's not better give him another 3 days on box rest and if not better still, work him rather hard to identify the problem.

Has anyone had smth like this before? Horse is fine when coming out of the stable, trots up fine on hard ground, but when given 10 mins of exercise on soft ground develops slight lameness at walk only, especially visible when turning? Any advice would be appreciated re what could it be and how should I treat it (since the vet is not sure).
 
Could be anything really from minor bruising or soft tissue strain to something much more unpleasant but lame on turns never good.
How is the foot being placed on the ground heel or toe first? Could give better idea of area in pain. Would be surprised if it is in the shoulder but you never know.

I had one with similar symptoms, seemed minor, turned out to be bilateral front lameness with fractured bone cyst in coffin joint. Appeared sound in trot but only cos both fronts were sore. Horse had been shown and judged days before at big show so very hard to spot!
Had another youngster with arthitis in coffin joint, also similar symptoms and hard to pin point pain without nerve blocks and X rays. He just looked tense around corners, no actual lameness.

I would get full lameness workup if no better after some rest.
 
Thanks a lot, angel7! what would you suggest to do for a full lameness workup? just a lot of work so it shows up more? it's my first brush with lameness so I haven't got a clue.
the vet was sure it's not the hoof/lower leg as there's not swelling or heat anywhere and no reaction to hoof testing.
 
I would speak to your farrier before you do anything. The vet will give you the worst case scenario every time and then use costly science to try to find a problem.
My lad had the same symptoms as yours over the summer. He was fine in trot and on soft ground. Only slightly shorter in stride in walk and struggling to turn small circles in walk. It was after a shoeing so spoke to farrier who advised a week of rest, but he was no better. Being the dutiful owner I called vet out who could find no abcess, prick, sensitivity, swelling, heat etc. Vet booked horse in for xrays, nerve blocks etc to find out what problem was, scaring the hell out of me by mentioning navicular... Vet advised me to treat it as laminitis until I could get the horse into the vets.
I rang farrier to tell him all this and he came straight out, removed shoe, couldn;t find anything. Told me if it was lami he would bare his behind in a shop window!!! He said it was just a bruise and I should treat it as such. SO after deliberation I decided to go with farrier's advice, hot poulticed for a few days then treat with arnica, but box rested for a week in case of lami.
Horsey came sound after 3 weeks off. So the farrier was probably right in this case? Either way he saved me a whole lot of money and effort and stress! It would be no trouble to you to ask, so I would check what farrier says before rushing to the vets and spending £100s.
 
ooh, ok, I'll ask my farrier! I thought as there's no heat or swelling in the foot I shouldn't bother him... I guess there's no harm in asking!
 
I had similar symptoms with BOTH my boys this summer;

*lameness at walk and trot on a circle
*No lameness shown in straight lines


Turns out it was a problem with their feet.....Had farrier out and hey presto a week down the line they were sound again.

May be worth consulting your farrier OR getting a different reccomended farrier in for a look x
 
ok, will def try asking the farrier! I'm quite pleased with him, wouldn't want to change him really... Do you think it could be a farriery issue, he's been shod 2 weeks ago and didn't have any problems until 2 days ago?
 
boogles said:
I had similar symptoms with BOTH my boys this summer;

*lameness at walk and trot on a circle
*No lameness shown in straight lines


Turns out it was a problem with their feet.....Had farrier out and hey presto a week down the line they were sound again.

May be worth consulting your farrier OR getting a different reccomended farrier in for a look x
Click to expand...

^^ This. Oh mare had sumptoms as you describe. Vet couldn't find anything, next step was nerve blocks. Had farrier out who found v slight medial lateral imbalance in the near fore, this was fixed with careful trimming and a new set of shoes (no road nails, studs or anything that could knock the balance out by even a shade), a couple of days later after she had got used to the slightly different balance of her new feed - mare was sound as a pound!
 
I had the same symtoms with my mare, the vet and I decided not to go down the boxrest route as at the time she had suspected RAO.
She was fine in trot even on the lunge, but walking her and turning round she would fall into you. The farrier came and did hoof tests with no problems and vet came to see her troted up and did flexions etc.....still nothing. We went into the vets a week latter, did xrays and found 1mm of bone growth on the cannon bone. Diagnoses DJD, since then she has come back into work and I've had no problems *touch wood* she's back in full work even jumping, although I am careful what I do with her.

Good luck, even if at first it sounds bad it's not always the case :)
 
gosh... thanks for all the advice guys... I'm secretly terrified to bits :( will try and keep myself together until the farrier comes in on Tuesday! It's just really scary not to know what it is!
 
I too would get a second opinion on your horses feet and shoes but a good horse vet worth his salt should have looked at this on first examination.

A first work up by decent vet should include a thorough examination of foot balance, hoof testers, flexion tests, working on hard and soft ground and nerve blocking in the first instance and shouldn't cost any more than £200, probably a lot less. Although I would certainly rest the horse a week or 2 to see if it resolves itself before calling in farrier or vet.

I would be concerned if your vet doesn't seem too sure about how to proceed. Get a better one!
Also take the opinion of your farrier with a pinch of salt. Many horse owners believe they have a good farrier, but a change of farrier can highlight issues they werent aware of. For example I used my livery yards farrier for my new horse as everyone elses feet looked great. He was well experienced and fully qualified as you would expect, but a few weeks after shoeing horse wasn't right, looked pottery. Farrier could find nothing wrong, got a recommended farrier from the vet school for opinion, immediately said the shoes used did not suit the horses feet. The size, weight, width and type of shoe were all inadequate for her feet. He took a lot of length off the feet, made a set of shoes from scratch which were wider and thicker with lateral extension, altered the medial lateral balance and beveled the edges. He didn't add toe clips and horse was fine within days. He explained everything he was doing, even using a special measuring set to show me how much one of my horses feet was bigger than the other!

I have seen this scenario repeated over and over with different farriers over the years. Remember you are paying for their opinion, and opinions can vary between professionals in all specialities.
 
Another vote for something in the hoof. A very experienced vet once told me if it looks like its in the shoulder/elbow area IT IS ALWAYS THE FEET
 
riiight... thanks so much guys!
angel7, the vet that came to see us did all of those only without nerve blocks, as she said it's better to try just resting him for 3-4 days first and if it doesn't work then, try nerve blocks. The workup didn't show anything really, the hoof testers went fine, so swelling or heat anywhere, flexion test fine... the horse shows slight lameness at walk after being worked for a little while. trotting is still fine.
although it is a slight lameness I'm very worried, what can it be? uncertainty is the worst :(
the vet said if it doesn't go away, try to further on working him quite intensely so the lameness intensifies and she can see what exactly is wrong.

oh God, the one highlight of my day was an hour's riding... :(
 
I'm afraid I don;t agree that farriers' opinions are not necessarily correct. The vet who came to see my horse was fairly recently out of college, and really shed no light on the matter at all, plus had never seen my horse before. However the farrier knows my horse well, works for the vets and has a very good reputation round here, and I know several professionals who use him(despite being a pain in the ass on many occasions)
My horse showed no symptoms when tested by the vet. It was my farrier who suggested a bruised sole. Vet didn;t even mention that as a possibility. Had I followed the vets advice I would be several hundred pounds poorer by now, and my horse would have eventually come sound anyway.
 
Hence the phrase any DECENT vet "worth his salt" and not some newbie just out of college. Clearly noblesteed your farrier had greater knowledge than your vet due to his experience. Vet must have been pretty c**p not to consider bruised sole in first instance.

I was trying to say to eva that just cos her farrier is "qualified" doesn't mean what he says is gospel. Same goes for a vet. Take other things into consideration when seeking their advice.

Source of lameness could still be in the feet or lower legs even though no heat, swelling or reaction to hoof testers. Could just be jarred up legs - possibilities are endless!

Eva you say trot is fine, but is it really? Does she go as forward, nicely, freely and springing with the tail moving nicely? or is she poking her nose, head in the air like a giraffe and trundling round using as little of herself as possible? Is she reaching out in front when you push her on and landing heel first, or is she landing toe first and scuffing a bit of arena surface up with each step? When you lunge her at trot quite hard on a hard surface does she make a face and tense up through the back and tail? Does she trip at all or lean on your hands around corners when you ride?
 
angel7, he is really fine in trot, I rode him today for 20 mins, I must say he was much better! he seemed really happy about everything, overall a little stiff, but hey he's been locked in for 5 days, going nicely forward, pretty even! the walk is still a tiny bit dodgy - he reaches nice and wide forward with both fronts, but the on right one he seems to linger on just a fraction of a second longer? just a tiny bit, I'll leave him in tomorrow as well and hope it might go away. he also is a little resistant to lift his right front for hoof picking, I wonder if it hurts him to lift the right foot?
 
eva said:
i mean, can the lameness stem from the feet if there's no heat/swelling/hoof tester/flexion test reaction?
Click to expand...

Yes - my mare had a tear to her DDFT within her hoof. She wasnt right on turns to the left and apart from that seemed sound. MRI revealed the problem
 
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