My horse can barely walk

PrettyLittleLiar

PrettyLittleLiar

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In the field she still canters around etc, but she's lame. She lets you touch it without flackering. The more work she does, the worse she gets.
It started 5 weeks ago, she was a little bit lame on her right front leg but we just thought a few days rest would do her good. 3 weeks later, she was still the same, no better, no worse, so we took her too the vets. The vet said that she was lame on the left front leg, which she was quite badly, she had her shoe took off and a nerve block in her pastern, after that she was quite a bit better but still lame so she had an x-ray, it showed nothing, other than sitting quite far back on her heels nothing was wrong. That was the 27th March. She got bute, twice a day for five days, and she has too keep her shoes off for two to three weeks, but she needs shoes on.
Today when I went down to walk her around and have a look at her, at the beginning she was fine but the more she did, she got completely lame, i think she is over compensating on her good leg and is now sore on that one also.
The woman who owns the yard she is on thinks it has something to with her shoulder.
Please help, it's really complicated and I have no idea whats wrong with her :(. She is a 9yr old connemara, who has had a lot of time off due to her rider being ill.
 
Have you tried or been recommended to do box rest? If there's no other issues that mean its not possible (arthritis etc) then that would be my next stop to see if complete rest helps. Mine is currently on box rest, joy! :)
 
I think we might try box rest, it's just, when she's on box rest she goes insane. She's one of those horses that loves being out, she also kicks her door when she's on box rest and I don't want her to do any more damage :/
 
Well she had an x-ray on her left front foot and that was fine, but it did shift from her right leg to her left leg, but the vet did check her right leg and said it was fine. She also stands normally, like, she doesn't tuck her back legs right under her to take the pressure off or anything. she had suspected laminitis last summer but it turned out just to be a bad farrier job
 
she saw the vet on the 27th of March, her feet were a little hot but nothing major. She was better trotting in straight lines, when it got to circles and tight corners she was really struggling, but the vet did have a really good look at her feet and said they were ok
 
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Why didn't vet offer to take her in for scans :confused: ,maybe your practice doesnt have facilities but he can recommend someone that does.Sounds like she needs full lameness workout .If shes getting worse you need you get to the bottom of this asap .
Hope things improve :(
 
PrettyLittleLiar said:
she saw the vet on the 27th of March, her feet were a little hot but nothing major. She was better trotting in straight lines, when it got to circles and tight corners she was really struggling, but the vet did have a really good look at her feet and said they were ok
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Difficulty on circles and tight corners is typical of laminitis but of course it is a sign in many other problems too. :)

If you are bringing her in anyway I would switch to a laminitic diet, soaked hay etc. and see if it helps. It wont do any harm and might give some indication. With the symptoms you describe I would want to treat her as if she has laminitis, belt and braces is my motto having a laminitic pony. Here's a good short term diet if you decide to go this route. http://ecirhorse.org/index.php/ddt-overview/ddt-diet
 
she had a nerve block in her pastern and seemed to get a little bit better but not completely, he just gave us some bute and said to leave her shoe off and if she doesn't get better we have to go back

thank you for the link:), would the vet not of noticed any signs of laminitis when he looked at her feet and took her shoe off? the confusing this is, is that she lets you poke and prod at her no bother it's just putting weight on it that she's bad with, then the more she walks, the worse she gets
 
I'd bet anything it's laminitis. Hooves should be stone cold in this weather. Vets often miss it. Both the farrier and the vet missed my girl's.
 
Stencilface said:
Have you tried or been recommended to do box rest? If there's no other issues that mean its not possible (arthritis etc) then that would be my next stop to see if complete rest helps. Mine is currently on box rest, joy! :)
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She definitely doesn't have laminitis, any problem with her navicular or gravel. she's had two nerve blocks in the back of her pastern and was sound, how when she doesn't have it, it looks like it's coming from her shoulder.
she's been on box rest for two weeks today and went out in a small paddock for an hour this afternoon and was okish when she went out but was lame as a dog when she came in, it's been about 10 weeks of this now :(
 
Is there another vet at the practice that could come out and give a second opinion? I do think this warrants a more intensive lameness investigation, after all, it is getting worse not better.
 
MrsJingle said:
Is there another vet at the practice that could come out and give a second opinion? I do think this warrants a more intensive lameness investigation, after all, it is getting worse not better.
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The Op answered her own question in the very first post. - nothing to be seen other than sat back on the heels.

If it's getting worse, can now hardly walk and is rocked back on to it's heels what does it have ? surely the vets would have seen all the classic signs.
 
PrettyLittleLiar said:
She definitely doesn't have laminitis, any problem with her navicular or gravel. she's had two nerve blocks in the back of her pastern and was sound, how when she doesn't have it, it looks like it's coming from her shoulder.
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I know very little about lameness except laminitis but I don't understand this. Blocked at pastern= sound. Assuming that's what you mean then surely that means the lameness could be anywhere from pastern down? What makes it look like the shoulder? I may have misunderstood your post. Blocking at pastern would make hoof pain less surely, so if I am right (which is likely not so lol) how can this exclude laminitis?

It may well not be laminitis but have you fed her the emergency diet (and nothing else except drugs prescribed)as a test?
I agree a second opinion is in order.
 
Blocked at pastern sound .. The issue is below there them I agree with the other posters treat as an laminitic and get a second opinion .
 
amandap said:
I know very little about lameness except laminitis but I don't understand this. Blocked at pastern= sound. Assuming that's what you mean then surely that means the lameness could be anywhere from pastern down? What makes it look like the shoulder? I may have misunderstood your post. Blocking at pastern would make hoof pain less surely, so if I am right (which is likely not so lol) how can this exclude laminitis?

It may well not be laminitis but have you fed her the emergency diet (and nothing else except drugs prescribed)as a test?
I agree a second opinion is in order.
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Before the pastern nerve block, everyone thought it was her shoulder (even the vet), she isn't moving properly and cant turn tight corners at all, then after the pastern nerve block she has confused everyone:/. we treat her as if it is laminitis, she gets a hay net on a night, and small one for during the day that only lasts until about noon, then she stands for the rest of the day, and if we reduced her feed any more, she wouldn't be having any, she's a perfect weight and is looking well, so the vet agrees to keep her on the diet but he says its not laminitis as she would be lame all the time if it was (if she has something scary to focus on, she's usually fine)
 
Laminitus,no doubt in my mind;she could go on a really tiny area out,but movement is the danger,that is what will cause more perminent damage.Mine is on box rest,and for the forseeable future.Once she can turn easily then just maybe she can go out on a bare postage stamp.Today her fronts are nice and cool,she had a partial dorsal resection and was a little sore after,but not in any huge pain.Today is the first time she has had cool feet,and this started at the beginning of February,it is a long term treatment,be patient.
 
PrettyLittleLiar said:
she had a nerve block in her pastern and seemed to get a little bit better but not completely, he just gave us some bute and said to leave her shoe off and if she doesn't get better we have to go back

thank you for the link:), would the vet not of noticed any signs of laminitis when he looked at her feet and took her shoe off? the confusing this is, is that she lets you poke and prod at her no bother it's just putting weight on it that she's bad with, then the more she walks, the worse she gets
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NO! Removing the shoe would not show anything,because the initial inflamation/bruising/damage starts up by the coronet!It will be probably three to four months before anything shows up on the sole.It demands sensible laminitic diet/box rest and TIME to grow out the terrible damage this can do.She MUST NOT be worked,that will cause a severe rotation and eventually she will be hound meat.
 
Reducing her hay isn't necessary unless she is overweight. Getting sugars and starch down is what is the important part hence the need for soaking for at least 12 hours to reduce water soluble sugars. It is important not to starve horses or leave them for long periods without forage, hence double netting small holed nets etc. for overweight ones that may need 1.5% dry, weight of hay, of body weight (or 2% ideal weight) for a while. As she's not over weight you can feed soaked hay ad lib or 2% dry weight of hay minimum.
 
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Agree I'm confused - if she nerve blocks sound at the foot then I can't see how it can be the shoulder? That's the point of nerve blocks. Please get a second opinion, ideally from a different vets surgery altogether. She's getting worse not better and you could keep going round and round in circles on this forever which won't do either of you any good.
 
philamena said:
Agree I'm confused - if she nerve blocks sound at the foot then I can't see how it can be the shoulder? That's the point of nerve blocks. Please get a second opinion, ideally from a different vets surgery altogether. She's getting worse not better and you could keep going round and round in circles on this forever which won't do either of you any good.
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and all the while doing her immense irreversible damage!!
:mad:
 
EAST KENT said:
and all the while doing her immense irreversible damage!!
:mad:
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The head vet is coming out tomorrow, if he can't find anything we are getting a third opinion.
The thing i just cant understand is that she is her normal self, no sign of pain at all, (hoof tests included), until she trots, she's not as bad in walk. She's happy and mischievous.
On box rest her foot is cool, not as cool as it should be sometimes, but nothing overly warm. When the farrier came out he checked her foot for a long time and found nothing, put another shoe on and wrote down his nonexsistent findings for the vet.
I'll update tomorrow to say what the vet said.
 
PrettyLittleLiar said:
The head vet is coming out tomorrow, if he can't find anything we are getting a third opinion.
The thing i just cant understand is that she is her normal self, no sign of pain at all, (hoof tests included), until she trots, she's not as bad in walk. She's happy and mischievous.
On box rest her foot is cool, not as cool as it should be sometimes, but nothing overly warm. When the farrier came out he checked her foot for a long time and found nothing, put another shoe on and wrote down his nonexsistent findings for the vet.
I'll update tomorrow to say what the vet said.
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Fingers crossed you get some clearer answers or ideas.

Check for pedal pulses as well as heat. http://www.ironfreehoof.com/equine-digital-pulses.html
Unfortunately laminitis can be quite subtle and I'm sorry to harp on but it really needs ruling out and what you've written of the vets comments doesn't fill me with confidence.
 
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