Lameness problem

[jojoebony]

Okay,a long one but for those who can bear with my and offer advice it would be much appreciated.
I have had my TB since he was 18 months, he's now 3 year 7 months.
Last August he went lame behind and in front.
Hind leg - just a niggle til vet did flexion and hock blew up. Scan showed damage to tendon and xrays showed spavin. Xrays of off hind were fine.
Fore leg - twisted from the shoulder, vet diagnosed sweeney shoulder.
Problems didn't get much better although were intermittent. Referral for Edinburgh came in October. They diagnosed navicular.
He was fine for about a month after being shod but started with a vague lameness again (i'd been advised to start backing him). Vet sent physio to sort out. Advised to get him in to work and ride him on to strengthen him up. 2 months later, agreed with physio and vet to send for schooling to access problem (if indeed there was one, vet suggested horse not lame but being 'gangly') but I was certain he wasn't right.
Vet said hgive anti-inflams, they arrived and are Danilon. I wasn't happy about putting him on this as the recent lameness is in his off hind (the one that was supposedly ok and therefore hasn't been diagnosed).
He's gone to a professional who has started working him. She rang today to say he is crippled. He's vaguely lame on a large circle but "crippled" when brought in on a 10 metre circle.
So, my question how many of you would be happy to ride a horse or have your horse ridden on bute under these circumstances? I've never really been happy with the diagnosis but put my faith in the vet, now I'm not sure I've done the right thing

 

[alligator]

Cant offer anything that is very helpful but would have thought riding it a bad idea - particularly if he's on Danilon??

Think you should get your vet and/or physio back again and if not joy get a second opinion.

 

[buddly]

i personally wouldn't ride and would be inclined to get second opinion as mentione. good luckhope you get it sorted

 

[GoJo]

does seem to have a stack of issues which have only been semi diagnosed- i'd definitely get a second opinion and would not be riding until verdict came through- may make things worse and cause him more pain. good luck with it all

 

[Patches]

Could it not be OCD? That can affect shoulders as well as hocks.

I certainly would not be happy to ride a "crippled" horse and certainly not one so young. His memory of riding will be pain, as that's all he's known.

Poor lad. Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[Tierra]

Id be wanting a second opinion here and I wouldnt be working the horse at all. The yard Im at take in the odd horse for intensive schooling and there is no way in hell we'd be working a horse that wasnt right. Riding on bute is all well and good but it masks the pain. You have no idea what you could be making worse by doing such. I'm all for giving bute for a couple of days after a bump / knock to give the horse some relief but not beyond that and I certainly wouldnt be happy working on it.

There seem to be a lot of problems that have been semi diagnosed but then almost ignored or left to their own devices.

I'd also be inclined given such a multitude of problems, to send him to a specialist where they can xray / scan / run gait analysis all on site.

Is there an option to go back to Edinburgh? What treatment was recommended in regards to the navicular? Is the lameness now on the front end or back? And can the professional in question identify where its stemming from?

 

[loopylucifer]

with the horse being so young i wouldnt want to ride it until i knew what the problem was as riding could just aggrivate the problem. aslo one proble could cause another. I know how frustrating it can be as my mare although 17 had simmiler problem with being lame in three out of four legs made diagnosis difficult even more so due to being very neddle shy!!
i would want full lamness work up nerve blocks xrays scans etc... are you insured?
generaly it think danilon use is fine when you know the cause but would be hesitant to use it with out knowing the cause.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
So, my question how many of you would be happy to ride a horse or have your horse ridden on bute under these circumstances?

[/ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't - hopefully the horse has been sent home to you, and the 'professional' didn't offer to do any further work on him.

Sounds like a year in the field job doesn't it??

 

[jojoebony]

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have had him ridden on but wanted to know whether I was being rational or not, this boy is my baby and I know sometimes things look differently from the outside.
I've rang another vet for advice, they are coming to see him early next week, They did say he'd be ok to ride in walk but very large but neither myself or the lady who was due to school him want to do this.
He's staying there as I don't want to transport him the way he is and the rider has offered to walk him in hand to keep him going. She is also going to have the pleasure of this boy on box rest again!
She is being great about it, keeping me well informed and thankfully shares my opinion that he just should not be ridden or worked through it.
And yes, time away sometimes does the job, but this boy gets very bored very easily and gets into a lot of trouble hence 5 emergency call outs in 18 month. Also, with the spavin he'd be better with light exercise as it's still in the early stages (this was why he was backed early).
Also, although it's not the nicest thing to admit, there are financial implications. The insurance runs out in August and although I'd like to think I'd find the money somewhere and somehow if he wasn't right after this time I do need to be practical about this.


Jo

 

[AmyMay]

So you're having a second opinion as you're not happy with either your vet or Edinburgh??

 

[jojoebony]

Not quite.
Edinburgh made their diagnosis on what they saw at the time. That was 3 months ago and things have changed since then. I could take him back there but it is a long way to travel a lame horse, if there are other options. I was very happy with the treatment he got there.
They didn't do anything with the hind limb lameness then as he was only 1/10 lame on the hind limb with the tendon complaint so they were happy that it was healing (we know it asn't the spavin as his joint block was negative).
Whilst the navicular nerve block made him sound then that doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing else going on as the twist he has in his leg unlikely to be from that from what I have been told, my vet attributed that to the shoulder injury.
With the shoulder injury there is a possibilty that the nerve was severed when he was kicked, although the positive results we got post Physio indicate that it was just a temporary condition (apparently it can go either way with a sweeney shoulder). He would need to go to a specialist for some sort of electrical stimulation test to confirm this and it costs an awful lot of money.
And there has never been a diagnosis with his off hind which is the one he is bad on now.

 

[Tierra]

Where abouts in the country are you? There are other places you can go for diagnostical work.

 

[ihatework]

Personally given you only have another 6 months insurance cover I'd ship him straight back to large equine practice for full head to toe investigations and take it from there.

 

[jojoebony]

We are in the North East. I know of a few larger practices fairly locally but it would be atleast a 2 hour drive each way.
The practice that is coming out on Monday have a good surgery though and a good reputation. I don't think they are as high tech as some but as I said they have a good reputation for getting to the bottom of these problems.
Vets out on Monday so fingers X.
It may be they just agree with the diagnosis I've had so far, in which case I'm ok, I just need to know for sure as I am struggling with myself over this. I'm ny no means an expert so I can't say I agree or disagree with anything so far, I'm just not confident that we are there yet!!

 

[Sparklet]

When you say North East - are you too far from Malton (near York)?