Lami/foot sore??

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Devlin23

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Vet is involved and following their advice but just looking at others experiences/opinions.
Pony lives out, field is stripped. We've had really dry weather so ground is really hard but also not alot of grass. Only fed hay. Hooves have been exfoliating and frogs peeling. Suddenly went lame last week obvious in field so was put straight on box rest with soaked hay. Within a day lameness was improved although not fully sound. Vet said could go out on a small restricted bit of field. Lameness continued to improve. Vet came did lameness work up and bloods, no reaction to pincer test. Gave go ahead to do light work on soft ground, stick to restricted field and soaked hay. Lameness went. He did escape onto some grass over weekend so spent the weekend in again just incase but all seemed to be fine no change. At no point has there been heat or pulses. Suddenly lameness returned again no heat or pulses but returned 4 days after escaping. So back on box rest. Bloods came back completely normal. Vets really not sure but advising keep in for now, can stretch legs in school and see if farrier finds anything. If farrier doesn't then come up with new plan next week. Farrier coming at weekend but I have spoken with him who thinks it could be due to the ground been so hard. Pony is only 5. Last summer when he was broken he was shod on front due to getting foot sore but we removed over winter when turned away and as he had been doing well have kept them off. But already the lameness is again improving. In his self is fine and very much full of it. Just wondering if anyone had any ideas really. Obviously treating asif it's mild lami and been very careful but Vet is still unsure due to fact bloods was normal and they ran sugars, glucose and something else that can be found in ems ponies as wanted to check as we was doing bloods basically to help rule things out but nothing was out of range. The lameness seems to be the front right.
 
Is the pony skinny or does he/she have a crest?

I think one of the biggest tells is a crest that hardens up.

Other than that, I think only the vet and farrier would be able to help.

I would say though, both of mine are on 'stripped' grass. They are obviously eating though as they are getting fatter! I'm guessing mine are just eating it as fast as it grows, but it is growing well.

Also, stripped grass is stressed grass and more likely to cause problems. So, I would not discount the danger from stripped, bare land.
 
Red-1 said:
Also, stripped grass is stressed grass and more likely to cause problems. So, I would not discount the danger from stripped, bare land.
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Very short grass could have a higher % of sugar but there’s much less of it. Like drinking a single shot of vodka compared to 10 pints.

Did the vet test blood glucose levels?

Is he lame in both front feet?

No raised digital pulses at any time?
 
Thank you for the reply!... he is chunky but not massively over weight if that make sense but his crest hasn't hardened. But this was some of the reason last week vet didn't want him just stood in box not moving because we don't want him getting bigger.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Very short grass could have a higher % of sugar but there’s much less of it. Like drinking a single shot of vodka compared to 10 pints.

Did the vet test blood glucose levels?

Is he lame in both front feet?

No raised digital pulses at any time?
Click to expand...
Yep tested glucose all normal. No pulses to be found at all, been checking at least twice a day and obviously vet checked also. Seems to be front right.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Very short grass could have a higher % of sugar but there’s much less of it. Like drinking a single shot of vodka compared to 10 pints.
Click to expand...
I agree there is less of it, but while it is growing, there may still be enough growing to tip one over. Mine are on what looks bare but they are getting bigger. It grows but I can't see it as they are eating it as fast as it grows. One is on a 'bare' paddock and still muzzled because of the growth. As you can't know the rate of growth, it may be one shot or 5.

It is my (ex) EMS one who is muzzled. He no longer tests as EMS as it is controlled by weight, but the vet cautiones that once EMS, always vulnerable. He is fatter that the vet would wish.
 
Thank you both for the replies! It can feel like a full time job dealing with grass at times 😅 I'll see if the farrier comes up with anything, I can't see anything obvious when picking his hooves or investigating and he certainly isn't telling me there's anything wrong when I'm prodding and poking about.
I was just being curious if anyone else had had a similar experience. Horses! Just got one sound and rehabed following injury and this one starts with an issue.
 
It also depends when the glucose was tested - I hadn’t realised levels can go up and down quite quickly. If pony was tested for glucose after being in his box overnight with only soaked hay, say, the levels would be quite low.
 
Could be a stone bruise which the farrier should find. Could be grass.

Once sound, if you want to rule out grass, I would work (fast enough to get the heart rate up) at both ends of the day from the stable for at least 20min each time, then when in good amounts of work begin to turn out a bit at a time. If the pony stays sound in more work then you’ve probably got a sugar issue. If the more work makes pony lame even from the stable then something physical is more likely to blame.

I would x ray the foot in your situation if the lameness is more than very minor. If you think lami you will want to check for rotation.
 
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