Looks like Beau is going to Horsepital

Blizzard

Blizzard

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Posted yesterday on AHHO but posting in here for those who dont go on there.

Basically had vet out yesterday as Beau was more lame, and lame on the straight now, was not impressed with vet as she was so bloody scared of him my friend and I had to do the flexion tests etc ourselves!

Anyway they made no difference to his lameness, and the vet thinks he needs to go to York Minster for nerve blocks. x rays and maybe MRI.

My farrier thinks the lameness is higher up, in his shoulder, and I agree, the vet said she didnt have a clue.
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Im getting my usual vet out for a 2nd opinion because how can a vet that wont touch your horse diagnose anything, Beau is funny with strangers but he didnt actually do anything yesterday other than stamp his foot twice and turn his head towards her.

Anyway I really am baffled as to what the lameness can be, not clued up on things in the shoulder, and he is only 7.
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Bloody vet. I am generally sympathetic to people who are frightened of horses, but why didn't she just ask one of her partners to come out if she was so afraid of them?

Fingers crossed he will be ok, anyway.
 
Im sure I wil be getting a bill for it Gina, and I know what I will be saying about that too!

Also she was supposed to talking to my vet and getting him to ring me, still waiting for that call.

Im looking after my mum until after lunch, then going to have to ring them.

It was beyond a joke.
 
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Bloody vet. I am generally sympathetic to people who are frightened of horses, but why didn't she just ask one of her partners to come out if she was so afraid of them?

Fingers crossed he will be ok, anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely, an equine vet scared of horses is very odd though!
 
Blimey how odd- it seems a bit quick to be talking about sending him to York? Local equine practices can x-ray and nerve block, seems strange to be talking of MRI if she didn't have a clue what was up?
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Would have thought that further diagnostics eg nerve blocks would be the first step to try and pin point the location of the problem- those could be done very locally and may provide the answer anyway???
 
Exactly Laura!

A horse at our yard with lami was nerve blocked and x rayed in her stable, and while I appreciate Beau cant have a shoulder x ray at home, he can be nerved blocked.

Im really angry TBH, she didnt even suggest box rest or bute, nothing, just send him to York!

He has only been lame a week!
 
He's only been lame for a week?

How severe are we talking here? Whats the weather been like in the UK?

To be fair, a lot of injuries that people identify as shoulder problems are foot problems but it sounds like your farrier has had a look and if the fields are nasty, shoulder problems can occur. (Mine did bambi legs in his field last year while i was watching and he had a good 3 weeks of not rightness)

Unless the lameness is severe and or deteriorating fast, im not entirely sure i'd be rushing him off to York (unless there is something dodgy you can attribute it to, but im guessing you'd have mentioned it). If he has quite simply pulled or tweaked something, its perfectly reasonable that he'll be feeling it for longer than a week imo.

On the other hand of course, referring him somewhere that has full diagnostical apparatus does mean you're likely to get to the bottom of it quite quickly but a week seems a very short period of time unless the lameness and you're expecting something sinister.
 
I agreeTierra.

I lunged him about a week and a half ago and noticed he wasnt right on the right rein, he was slightly lame, but totally sound on a straight line.
I thought perhaps he has pulled something, gavehim a few days in the field, tried again and he was a bit more lame, but the shoe on that foot looked to be pressing into his hoof on one side.

so out comes farrier, he said yes the shoe was digging in and it could have caused the lameness, give him a few days, if no better then get vet. Farrier did say he was stiff through his shoulder though.

So lunged him yesterday, just one circle, just as lame as before, however he had been in a different field the night before and had been tearing around, so could have aggrevated it.

anyway I got the vet, who said about sending him to york.

even my farrier said if he has knocked himself he could be lame for a few weeks, he is now very noticably lame in trot, but sound in walk, and happy in himself.
 
Oh and Ive just spoken to my friend, this same vet told her her pony had mild laminitis and to give her half a bute a day, the pony had severe laminitis and has had to be put to sleep since, so now i have NO faith in this vet!!
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Not possible to get a second opinion instead?

If we (as in riders) pull a muscle, most people on here can testify to how long it can take to heal fully. Equally i trod on a stone last week (through shoes might i add) and managed to bruise the bottom of my foot. It was far from agony, but walking on it for over a week was affected... not pain as such, but very uncomfortable and i was limping on it to avoid putting the painful part to the ground.

Im sure you see where im coming from... there needs to be some degree of time given (imo) to heal.

When jack pulled his shoulder last winter, it was easily 3 weeks and may have been 4 before he was quite right. It was rather slight, but it was there and, incidently, my trainer insisted when she first saw it that it was in his foot (and it never was ;p)

I dont know.. hes your boy and you know him best but it seems a tad drastic to me.

If it IS in his shoulder, lunging on a circle will tend to show it more than trotting up on a straight line. Also be aware that "checking" on the lameness by lunging can re-aggravate a pulled muscle.

I'd be inclined to give him a couple of weeks of doing not much and then reassess him from there. But of course, Im no vet :|
 
im absolutely getting a 2nd oppinion Tierra, from my usual vet.
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TBH I think the vet yesterday didnt have a clue, which is why she said send him away.

Now Ive had time to digest everything, Im not convinced he needs to be sent anywhere, yet.

I did say to the vet yesterday perhaps he has pulle something or knocked himself, she said it wouldnt stil be sore after 4 days?!

WTF, why not, I know when Ive been kicked it has bene sore for longer than that!

Obviously I only want to do what is best for him, which is why when a vet tells you he needs to go away, well you think its for the best, but i do want a 2nd opinion.

not a very satisfied customer.
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No, I wouldnt be either. Was she an equine vet?? If so id be making a complaint.

In her defence, I suppose if she had no idea what was going on, then referring was a good option but id expect an equine vet to have a bit more of an idea than that and also not get the owner to perform their own flexion tests ;p

My old mare dropped drastically lame a couple of years ago on one of her fore legs. It was really rather evident in trot. She was already out of work due to a permanent hind leg injury but i opted to get my vets out to take a look.

My vet was quite honest with me at the time and said it could be anything from a pulled muscle in her shoulder through to something else. She couldn't diagnose without x rays or nerve blocks but either would have been done at home.

Her end opinion? a few days of bute to take off the edge of any unnecessary pain. THREE weeks of leaving her alone and then to trot her up and see how she was.

The mare was sound by the time she was trotted up and whatever it was had sorted itself. She's a really tough mare and not one to let things get to her. She'd only ever been once with me prior to her bad accident which is why i paniced. Whatever she'd done must have hurt quite badly but im 99% sure it was a pulled muscle from looning around in the fields - it was winter again
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If you've had the wet weather we have, im guessing the fields are somewhat sticky?

From what ive gathered from other posts, beau isnt really in much work atm? Id leave him alone unless it was thought to be something urgent (possible fractures, tendon issues etc) and see if he heals on his own ;p
 
Thanks, no he has outgrown his saddle (great) so hasnt been ridden for over a month, we have been taking him for walks in hand and he lives out, so he has an easy life at present!

Beau is a bit of a loon in the field, especially with Lance, they tear about and play rough too, reaing up at eachother and galloping around.
Until yesterday I wasnt that worried about his lameness, that vet just made me feel like a bad owner tbh, like I wasnt taking it seriously enough or something, but for me a horse slightly lame for a week isnt an emergency!

she was a horse vet, but my friend told me she was the one who told her her pony had mild lami, the poor pony had to be PTS, and who knows that early misdiagnosis could have made a difference.
 
Hmm without wishing to start up the female vet thing again.....what more can I say except that this has been my experience with them too.

I wouldn't be happy paying a bill from this vet and I wouldn't bother asking her to come out again. Stick with your own vet that you trust.

It is rare that lameness occurs with shoulder injuries; generally it is a problem further down in the leg/foot. See what your usual guys says and take it from there. Good luck.
 
Thanks Tia, I sure will only be seeing my own vet from now on, Ive never known an equine vet actually scared to touch the horse before, I certainly wont be paying the bill.
 
The vet you had out to look at Beau sounds terrible and in my very inexperienced opinion sounds like she may be overreacting. Hopefully a 2nd opinion from your trusted vet will help shed some sensible light on the subject, fingers crossed.
 
I've just had this sort of problem with my horse. It was his back. Whatever he'd done to his back was making him lame from the shoulder down. Have you got someone to look at your horses back?

Anna
 
yes he has had McTimoney, twice in the last 2 months, he had some veterbrae out which have been sorted out now. He also has his back checked every 2 months, and his saddle.
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Im going to ask our physio to have a look at him I think.
 
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