Lameness check after 5 months rest? (video)

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Neemo

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Hi. :) My horse has been rested for about 4/5 months after recommendation from our physio and usual vet who said rest for the summer to see if she improves. She was sore in her back (despite new saddle fitted!) and uneven behind, they gave us lots of stretch work to do etc. her back is no longer sore! I decided to have a check of her today, quick 5 min walk and trot, would anyone be willing to take a quick look at the video? I watch her so often I could do with an outside eye taking a look if theres an improvement or its just me! thanks :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgRMyl0RWlA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUfxssrl4wI
 
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Tiddlypom said:
Not sure, bit stilted.

You need to remove the lungeing contraption (don't know what it's name is) when you are looking for lameness, as it muddles things. The horse needs to be able to move freely :).
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Thanks i will do the physio told me to use that for her back, so just automatically put it on! she's still lame :( but can't tell if the rest has helped at all! We weren't insured hence why the physio and vet suggested resting.
 
I would guess she would nerve block to hind suspensories. A sore back alone is not that common and far more often it's secondary to another issue. If she were mine I'd be doing a lameness work up. I'm surprised your vet didn't recommend that 4-5 months ago
 
As above, I would book her in to a good equine practice for a lameness work up. It should only cost a few £100's (depending on how far up they need to block) and then you should have a much clearer picture. X rays/scans should hopefully reveal what's what. I find that getting a work up early on in a lameness saves money long term, as you can formulate a treatment plan and get stuck in as appropriate.

I'm with amage, in that from the video, and the history, I would suspect the hind suspensories, but I'm no vet.

Good luck.
 
agree with foxy ,this is exactly how my horse moves hes very sore in his Sacroiliac even after treatment so going in or bone scan incase there is secondary issue. Re comment about suspensory the vet thought this was my horses problem so was scanned and they are fine. She is moving exactly same way on same reins.What does she do in canter ?
 
cellie said:
agree with foxy ,this is exactly how my horse moves hes very sore in his Sacroiliac even after treatment so going in or bone scan incase there is secondary issue. Re comment about suspensory the vet thought this was my horses problem so was scanned and they are fine. She is moving exactly same way on same reins.What does she do in canter ?
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Thanks guys. In canter she bunny hops behind/switches legs. But recently in field had been looking better. Nightmare need to take her to the vets! Sounds like they don't know what's up with yours?
 
I think that the bunny hopping in canter is a key indicator of the hind suspensories having problems. Horse definitely needs a lameness work up. Probably should have happened 5 months ago tbh although obviously you were only following vets advice, I'm a great fan of rest but not without more of a diagnosis.
 
ester said:
I think that the bunny hopping in canter is a key indicator of the hind suspensories having problems. Horse definitely needs a lameness work up. Probably should have happened 5 months ago tbh although obviously you were only following vets advice, I'm a great fan of rest but not without more of a diagnosis.
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Thank you, gutted! :( It was just a general vet we get for jabs and a really good physio who said as we were uninsured to try a stretch work and vet said rest as "theres nothing like 6 months rest to cure lameness!". the horse vets are about 1 1/2 hours away but organising transport to get this sorted, just googled what everyone has said, hope theres something that can be done :(
 
Yes it is difficult OP as it is all connected, hence why nerve blocking can be quite helpful. No point in looking back anyway so see what horse vets say. Fwiw I thought she looked more unlevel during the trot - walk transition in the videos than during the trot if that makes sense.
 
Neemo said:
Thanks guys. In canter she bunny hops behind/switches legs. But recently in field had been looking better. Nightmare need to take her to the vets! Sounds like they don't know what's up with yours?
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Mine does this thats why I asked !He hasnt responded as well as to be expected so we think there might be secondary issue..Came sound for few weeks after steroid injection then became sore again hence bone scans . Hope you get to bottom of it .I would suspect SI :(
 
Hi thanks :) Forgot to mention also, originally we had the physio out and she noticed one hind leg had a lot more muscle than the other towards the top and she held her tail to the right, but the rehab work she gave us to do was helping. Then she pulled a shoe and went bad in her front so had some box rest, came back into work and thats when bunny hopping etc started so stopped work and rested. :( She's always been grumpy going into canter and with saddles (tried treeless etc / even a wow fitted etc!) so worried it may have always been an issue! have booked in with the horse vets so hopefully can get to the bottom of it, thanks.
 
I would have her off fore looked at too. Landing toe first and not travelling when on left rein. Navicular can make them look wrong behind as they shift their weight to avoid pain. had a horse years ago with front foot problems that looked wrong in its back and hocks but when nerve blocked in front came right behind. Mine had a very rare bone cancer but we were able to keep him going for a couple of years and once fronts were comfortable the back and hinds came sound. Good luck and hope you find the problem. Also I would get a chiropractor to look at the head and neck because that can also cause similar problems as the horse cannot work through.
 
Rotten news ,
There are many things vets can do to manage arthritic pain now a days .
I hope you can find something that helps her .
 
Tiddlypom said:
Oh heck. Never welcome news, but especially not in a such young horse. What did the vets recommend re treatment, is she a suitable candidate for steroid injections?
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Thanks everyone,
For now we have 6 weeks of bute and riding walk/trot 15 mins ish a day to see if it will fuse (providing she doesn't go very lame). I have to ring them in few weeks to let them know how she is doing and then 4 days off bute at the end of the 6 weeks and back for another workup to see if its helped or not, then reevaluate. :( She mentioned sterioid injections as an option but she wasn't hopeful, hacking is going to be the best we can aim for they though.
 
Have they offered you operation to fuse hocks or tildren there are loads of options to help fusion take place .My 4 yr old had op and came sound soon afterwards its well worth looking into .
 
cellie said:
Have they offered you operation to fuse hocks or tildren there are loads of options to help fusion take place .My 4 yr old had op and came sound soon afterwards its well worth looking into .
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Just trying riding on bute first. She's going back in 5ish weeks. Currently looks pretty sound but probably just the bute?!
 
peh1980 said:
Just to add that bunny hopping/changing behind in canter can be related to SI problems - been through this with two horses, so both may need exploring.
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It can also be down to bone spavin as this was the case with my horse, he was continually changing behind, especially on the straight.
Fusion using ethanol can be very effective is you want the non surgical route, it has worked very well with my horse and both hocks are fused and he has no pain in either although he still tends to drag his toe from time to time in trot on concrete. Here is a useful snap shot about fusion with ethanol http://www.horseandrideruk.com/article.php?id=2414 Its around £300 for both hocks and this includes the xrays that need to be taken of the contrast dye.Here is a paper on the subject http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00512.x/full

A word about a bute trial - this is not always effective and they can sometimes appear worse on bute than off it! Mine was lamer on three bute a day than on one at all - the vet seemed to think the horse was mechanically lame. This was in April time, now in Oct he is doing very well on Buteless and is continuing with comps and half an hour of schooling twice a week, and hacking for the other days.
 
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Poor horse (and poor you!) Just a thought, but how long did they have the horse for? Reason I ask is that I have a horse with hock arthritis and suspensory problems, and my vet wouldn't work up both on the same day, as the hock block can leak over the suspensories and make the horse trot up sound. I took him back the next day for the suspensories to be looked at, and they proved to be a bigger issue. The bunny hopping is a very "suspensory" thing !
 
the bunny hopping with mine is bone spavins, i originally suspected suspensories of SI, but its bone spavins. He doesn't like to canter on straight lines and doesn't like to do too much canter full stop.
 
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