lameness mystery

digitalangel

digitalangel

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I cant think of anything else right now! Xrays are tomorrow but cant stop thinking about what it could be!

Jan - lame off hind very distended tendon sheath fetlock/pastern - advised cold hose, kaolin poultice, box rest - did nothing.
Feb - xrays, showed wear and wear injury, minor changes to bone, chip off bone but vet seemed to think it wont affect anything long-term.
advised box rest for 4 weeks, followed by 2 weeks walking in hand, followed by exercise regime of 2x weeks walking, 3xweeks trotting then call back for final check
End of May before starting canter - called back, trotted sound, flexed sound. got the UK for turnout, He has been on box rest since Jan.


Start of June - not entirely sure hes right, either behind or in front. vet confirms hind leg lameness. but then forgets which leg it was and refuses to inject
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Turned out and not ridden while trying to organise alternative vet.
13th June : lunged - completely sound
14th: ridden : unsound behind, also looks uneven in front
15th June : at vets. top lameness vet examines. passes flexions on off hind. abaxial nerve blocks sound. Off fore now quite lame on right rein, slightly worse on hard ground, Palmar digital nerve block improves 80%. another nerve block in the same area improves 100%

Xrays tomorrow. - both front feet, and near hind up t fetlock for comparison to previous fetlocks.

Hes not particularly short-striding, neither is he landing toe-first. There is no lameness in near fore but they are xraying for comparison. He is also definitely not lame on off hind.

Vet is 'keeping an open mind' and wont even hint at what he thinks it could be. He has said that the chip found in Feb is not the cause of current lameness in his opinion.

Obviously this is driving me insane!!! Any guesses on what it could be guys? Anyone else had similar symptoms? I suspect ringbne, but he shouldnt pass flexion with that. His turnout is restricted and hes only been ridden on a surface, and hes not lame enough to suspect a pedal fracture or abcess. No signs of lammi. Vet thinks its joint, not ligament.

Ill update once ive heard back about the xrays tho!
 
Sorry to hear your news. Sadly my horse had exactly the same problems. He originally went into vets for lameness workup for hind lameness but in the week between the vet seeing him at home and him going in he was sound behind and lame in the right fore.

To cut a very long story short, he has navicular. Not a lot showed on Xray but enough for the vet to refer him for MRI which confirmed it is navicular.

Now for behind....he has been lame on and off and having had box rest and light work etc he is now worse and is going to Rossdales next Monday for a bone scan to find out exactly what is going on as my vet is unable to pinpoint it. She thinks it's in the sacroiliac area and he is worse with a rider on board but when she blocks that area (and all the others from the foot up) he is still lame
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He has had 2 doses of Tildren plus they have medicated the sacroiliac joint by injection.

This has been going on since last November and we just need to know exactly what it is now.

He obviously doesn't like it in the school but on vets instructions we have been hacking him out (to keep him lame enough) and he doesn't make any fuss at all about hacking out and has his ears pricked at all times and really strides out BUT, put him on a circle and he is really sore so we must get to the bottom of this.

I will follow your post with interest and please keep us updated.

Good luck
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Wow thanks so much for replying! it does seem like our two neddies are very similar- my boy adored jumping too, but his real talent was dressage, and i have that sinking feeling that both will now be out of reach.. we will see i guess.

In regards to the foreleg - has tildren helped at all? i guess i am considering it as a next step for navicular (if it is navicular ) - just see how he copes i guess. What other treatments are you trying?

I once loaned a horse with a sacroiliac injury - he was amazing, but never truely sound with it - we tried TENS treatment - maybe that will help your lad?

Likewise ill be following your story with interest too!

xxxx
 
Hi there,

The Tildren def seemed to help at first but now he is unsound on the off fore (both feet affected but the off fore is worse). Since this all started he has not had even one sachet of bute etc.

He is a git at times and will not behave and charges round the field playing with his mates (tried individual turnout but he hammered round and round and would not settle) Box rest lasted 4 months and he was honestly dangerous and he couldn't have lasted any longer without hurting us or himself. He was literally cantering round the box and double barrelling the walls in frustration.

To be fair the Tildren seemed to work really well but I'm not sure if he is unsound because it hasn't worked or because he will not slow down
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We tried putting him in a small pen and he jumped out!!

I am going to give Hilton Herbs Reflex and their navicular supplements a go, I know lots of people would scoff at this but Reflex made an amazing difference to my old lad who had arthritis of the hip (obviously not when it got too advanced) he was totally different when on it.

My vet has said that he can have bute as regards the navicular but it is the back end which is causing concern.

He was a fantastic competition horse and loved his job so much he never once stopped, I am so sad for him as he only had one summer competing before this happened. Before this he had only ever been a Mums hack with our friend. He passed a 5 stage vetting and took to his new job like a duck to water.

We know he will never ever be able to compete SJ & Eventing again and at best we are hoping he can at least be a hack now but we won't know until next week. He is only 9 and at his first ever (and last
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) PC camp he came 2nd out of 40 in the ODE competition. Lifes so cruel, such a promising career dashed!!

I intend to ask Rossdales of anything we can do for him, Tens sounds good. I am willing to try anything as we are so desperate to give him as long as possible (so long as he is not suffering). I am really confused that he seems so happy & willing to charge round with his mates and plays so much (it's usually him that instigates it) I am hoping this means he could possibly improve with some time off?????

Once again, good luck with your problems & hopefully you will get some good news
 

Heya - thought id let you (and anything else whos reading ) know the latest update on my boy.

Like you, ive only had one summer competing with my lad, in which time he showed a real talent for dressage, qualifying for champs first time out, and placing in every other comp we did. He has paces to die for so its really hard for me to see him all stilted and uncomfortable now :^(

We had xrays today, i was at work, and the head vet who is at ascot this week sent another vet to do them. I know this vet so i asked him to let me know any peliminary findings.

He texted me to tell me there is 'nothing ' on his xrays to indicate what is going on so im not sure if this is good news or not? The head vet is going to review them and call me though, when he has time.

In a way i am a little hopeful, but i am also taking your story into account - so i am wondering if anything showed at all in terms of the navicular? ALso with your boy - was he lamer on the outside or inside of the circle?

I guess i can play the guessing game forever, so i guess ill go back to biting my nails and waiting for the vets call!
 
Hi,

Oh how frustrating for you. My lad is lame on the off fore and was worse on the lunge going to the right so the leg was on the inside.

The x-rays showed that he had slight changes to the navicular bone hence the reason she sent him for MRI as it shows so much more and we could get a better idea on the severity of it.

Now my friend also had problems with lameness with her lad and like yours, nothing showed on Xrays so he too went for an MRI (3 weeks before my lad went lame). His problem was diagnosed that he had in fact torn his deep digital flexor tendon inside the foot. He had 6 months box rest with controlled walking (luckily he accepted it and behaved) she then turned him out in a small paddock and has gradually returned him to work. He is now trotting and we are keeping everything crossed that he will stay sound. It was quite a bad tear but the vets have said there is no reason that he can't return to work and pop the odd jump although she has made the decision that she won't be jumping him again.

In total it took 9 months for him to get to this stage and although it sounds bad, he has a much better prognosis than my lad who will only ever deterioate (sp?).

I am led to believe by my vet that if nothing shows on xrays there is a strong possibility of soft tissue damage etc and that is preferable to bone probs.

Lets hope the vet gets back to you asap.

Out of interest where are you based? Just wondering if you were to be referred, where would you go?
 
Sounds like Jesper I'm afraid. He damaged his left hind suspensory aged 5yrs. Turned away for a period and brought back in to work sound. When he was 8yrs old we constantly had vet and farrier out for what we thought were bruised soles. He had x-rays which only showed low lying pedal bones and paper thin soles. He came sound with corrective shoeing and silicone gel pads. Aged 9yrs he went lame... well actually shortened his stride rather than truly lame. More x-rays showed very slight arthritic changes to coffin joint. Given steriod injection into the joint. Only mild short term improvement. Referred to Liphook for MRI. MRI confirmed collateral ligament damage especially in right fore. Liphook were doubtful he'd return to work. Like yours he'd shown a lot of promise. Qualified three times running for regional champs and was working at Elementary. Turned away for nine months, brought back in to light dressage and hacking.
Sadly a year later he went lame again behind. Vet came back out and we decided to retire him. He has hind suspensory damage, front collateral ligament damage, suspected sacroilliac problems... none are particularly bad and all would be treatable alone but together it's too much. Jesper was never very lame, a maximum of 2/10th but normally barely noticeable. The 'lameness' was intermittent for six months before diagnosis but was assumed to be due to his poor foot conformation.
Sorry to be full of positive information but I hope this helps you realise how important a diagnosis is. If x-rays are clear I'd imagine you'd be going down the MRI route. As a general rule navicular shows on x-rays but not always.
 
OMG

just heard from the head vet.

xrays havent shown anything serious- he has wear and tear on the front of the pedal bone and slight changes on vavicular bone but vet is definitely sure it not navicular. he has recommended bringing the toes right back as theyre too long on all 4 feet and shoeing with natural balance and maybe pads in the future.

he has also prescribed a course of navilox and bute.

this is a good thing right? i dont know!!!
 
Is the vet saying it is a poor foot balance problem?

I'm confused about the navilox as my vet and friends who have used it in the past have said that it has been discontinued which my vet is really fed up as she said my lad is an ideal candidate for it
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I could well be wrong but I thought navilox was to treat navicular but perhaps not
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Maybe it just improves blood circulation in the feet....sorry I'm waffling but I don't know exactly what it is meant to do.

Apart from the navilox & bute are they intending to do any other tests (eg MRI)?
 
Yes he is saying its a foot balance problem, which has put pressure on the pedal bone, hence thew wear and tear.

He says the toes are too long but weirdly they dont look long to me! I am going to ask for a copy of the xrays.

My vet has navilox and says i must come pick it up tomorrow so i would be surprised if its been discontinued!

The way he explained it to me, is that the pedal bone has been damaged so the NB shoes will take the pressure off the toe, and the navilox will increase the blood supply to the foot to promote healing.

You are right though, this is very similar treatment wise as navicular, however he doesnt have navicular - vet kept repeating that he didnt and that its the pedal bone.



BTW im in south bucks if that helps - vets are in wokingham - perhaps your vet can ask my vet where he gets his navilox from? PM me if you want full details of vets
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Hey that's really good news as it sounds as if it could be easily sorted once he has new shoes and the navilox.

I will call my vet in the morning and if they still cant get it, yes I will take you up on your offer on getting your vets details.
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i found it on hyperdrug.co.uk - ask your vets for a prescription and then sent it off to them and they will ship it to you in a day. Maybe it will help your lad? it is given for navicular.
 
Jesper had natural balance shoes and silicone pads which really helped. He also has a low lying pedal bone which is prone to concussion. I'm assuming the navilox is to help promote blood supply and therefore healing. Out of interest which vets do you use, we're quite local. If the treatment doesn't work I'd push for an MRI as they can be more conclusive.
 
Brilliant. Spoke to farrier today who does NOT agree with the treatment at all - but will shoe him NB anyway but doesnt want to take the toe back - hes toes arent long at all and he actually has quite good feet.

So i got a second opinion from a farrier who specialises in NB. he said it sounded a lot like pedal osteitis and agreed with my farrier that his feet conformation wise are really very good and also agreed that the toe cant be shortened much more.

I have decided after his first set with current farrier to switch to this second guy as he knows more about NB.

Sigh.

Marchtime, i will PM you - btw i was wondering, with your boy did he ever react to hoof testers?
 
Blimey, this sounds horribly familiar! My boy is ongoing lame with vet and farrier not agreeing what is causing it and whether his toes should be trimmed back! Fingers crossed all get fixed asap! x
 
Tended to react to hoof testers but he is a wuss and a TB. We think he reacts as much because his soles are so thin as for any other reason! He doesn't have a major reaction though, more discomfort.
 
My boy is being fitted with wedges and gel pads on Thursday as the farrier has identified that the solar surface of his pedal bone has counter rotated (the opposite way to what happens with laminitis) and he is confident this is causing the intermittent lameness. Apparently the weakness (not lameness) in his back end is probably another symptom of his very poor start in life but is not related to the lameness in front. The farrier believes he may have had a weakness in the soft tissue/ligaments in the back of his near fore and fooling around in the field was more than it could cope with so the pedal bone shifted slightly- fingers crossed elevating the heel and alleviating the pressure will allow the tissue to heal and the pedal bone to return to normal- or at least stabilise. How are all of yours doing??
 
Hi Guys how are your horses and problems today?
For your perusal please find some piccies from today... My hero farrier said I could post these photos on the condition that I give him a mention so many thanks Mark Olliver
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Gel-i-fied foot (technically half foot, Mark wanted space for foot to breathe)
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Right foot (Offside fore) with normal shoe on (Mark decided not to elevate the heel of this foot as the pedal bone lies correctly and he feared it would do more harm than good)
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Left foot (nearside fore!) with wedge
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Mark was whining about the amount of construction that had gone into making these shoes, they are 7" feet!!
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