Mystery hind limb lameness - all suggestions welcome. Long!

[Matafleur]

Right, I'll start from the beginning.

We went to CT on Sun 24th, did 2 dressage tests and 1 3ft jumping. Won first Dr and was 5th in CT, good marks etc and normal behaviour. Turned out that night and in in the cow barn next day and night due to huge amount of rain. He was not ridden at all and completely sound.

Turned out again Tues morning, also sound. When I brought him in on Tues eve he was hopping lame in his off hind, about 7/10ths. He seemed to get better with walking so I left him out overnight. No swelling or heat at all. Still the same on Weds morning so booked to go to Vet on Thurs morning.

Was naturally almost sound on arrival at vets! About 1/10th lame and vet said prob soft tisue injury and to give the weekend off and start walk work on Monday again. Was 100% sound on Saturday so on Sunday Eve long reined up road for maybe 10 mins. Tracking up perfectly and 100% sound.

Brought in from field on Monday night and completely lame in NEAR hind. Panicked and called back man who came out on Thursday and couldn't find anything "out" and advised I call the vet again for anti inflamatories. He did not treat at all.

Vet came out Friday and horse (of course!) much improved by the time she arrived. About 3-4/10ths lame rather than 7/10ths.

Spent ages trotting up, feeling legs etc. Said she didn't know what was wrong. Took faecal and blood samples which have since come back clear. She said to keep turning out but keep an eye on him and wants to have him in for a pelvic and rectal exam.

I have phoned the vet and asked to have another vet look at him before they do that but they have not got back to me - they seem very reluctant to let me have a second opinion from someone at same practice.

He was shod on Friday 29th and feet were all fine. The lameness is quite odd, like he wants to put most of his weight on the toe. I am convinced he is not right in either leg but vet seems convinced it is just in the Near hind even though it started in Off hind.

He is currently turned out in a small paddock and I am waiting for the vet to phone back and tell me if I can see this other vet or not.

No history of lameness in the past. If anyone has come across anything similar I would love to know what it was. I am at my wits end.

Thanks and well done for getting this far!

L
x

 

[ihatework]

Sounds very odd to me, if you are 100% conviced in your vets ability then I would be inclined to follow their advice.
I am slightly surprised however that they haven't worked the horse up with nerve blocks to try and locate the area of the problem. You often find that a horse can be bilaterally lame and once one leg is blocked they go lame on the opposite one.
Hope things improve, and fingers crossed you have insurance!

 

[gemmaw]

i'd defo get a second opinion, i'd go to a different vets too so the first vet who came out doesnt give their opinions before they even see the horse. I had our local vet out to my colt because he was snatching every few strides in walk and trot but not canter. She came out and was absolutely crap!! after trotting him round for ages with him being an arse all she could say was that he was definately lame on his off hind!! since that was the reason she came out i wasnt happy that this was all she could come up with!!! she had no explination to what the problem could be and gave up suggesting things!! i contacted the vets after and told them i wasnt paying for the examination as she did not tell me anything i didnt already know! they agreed with this which was a bonus then i took him to alisdair topp (top competition vet!) who told me the 2 cm long cut he had on the inside of his hock had adhered to his tendon! this was why he wasnt lame all the time, it was only when the tendon was moving a certain way!!

he has told me to work him through the pain and it would come away naturally so he's on bute for 2 months but i can already see a massive improvement after 1 month already!! defo glad i paid the extra and had a top vet, he was worth every penny!! he'd still be on box rest if it was left to the other vets!!

 

[AmyMay]

Pound to a penny you have gravel lurking away in the heal.

Have you had the farrier to poke around?

 

[Matafleur]

Not poke around as such but he did check his feet when he was shoeing him and the vet also used hoof testers when she saw him the first time. I thought it may be corns when he wouldn't put weight on the heel but farrier said def not.

Vets have v good rep and are the vets at well known equine college in Glos. Althouth the receptionists customer service could do with some work.

 

[BethH]

Is very hard to diagnose lamesness if bi-lateral, my ned had bi-lateral lameness due to kissing spines and it took 2 years to diagnose. He always looked sound for the vet as he was very slightly lame on both back legs and I had to wait for back to deteriorate before he went properly lame so could investigate if that makes sense! (I am not suggesting for one second this is your lameness problem by the way!)

Sometimes if one leg is lame the other gets sore as it compensates by taking all the weight - you probably know that already so am not telling you anything new! I agree with other posts, 2nd opinion needed as you are going round in circles - I think I would be looking for nerve blocks to try and clarify what part of the leg is causing the problem and that will make it easier for you to know what you are dealing with.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

my lad used to be saddle lame, was his way of asking for a holiday, used to trott up ok, put saddle on would go lame, vet found nothing, he even got nerve blocked, saddle was checked, back checked - nothing, so we gave him 2 weeks off

 

[Matafleur]

Small amount of progress...

The off hind was filled to just above the fetlock yesterday morning and in the evening an abcess had burst on the heel (well done AmyMay!). I have poulticed that (lots of stinky black gunk on poultice this morning!) but he is still preferring to stand on the abcess leg than the near hind even though the abcess obviously hurts.

There is still no heat or swelling in the leg he is currently lame on. Am I being overly optimistic in hoping it may be an abcess in that foot as well? Or would that be too simple. Vet wont see him again until abcess has cleared as it will cloud diagnosis.

I have never been so glad to see an abcess! At least I can do something about that!

 

[AmyMay]

I'm bloody pyschic......

It was the reluctance to walk on his heal that was the give away. You have a very naughty vet - its the first thing they should have looked for an considered....

Excellent news though!

 

[goldengryffindor]

before i got to the bottom i thought it sounded like an abcess then saw that it was. my horse has had 3 since i have had him! and thats what gave it away because he didnt want to walk on his heal thats what my horse always does.

 

[TURBOBERT]

I suppose the vet checked for a curb.... its just that several years ago now we went through hours of vet's time exploring a lameness that turned out to be one of these. Sometimes very little heat - worth checking yourself just in case. Can be caused by jumping out of mud - particularly in a young horse - and we have had plenty of that!