Mystery Lameness - any ideas??

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mousesmum

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My 5 year old Connemara mare has been lame on /off now since last August. She was MRI'd october 12 when a small lesion in her collateral ligament was found, vet reading MRI said it looked like an acute injury. Fast forward through box rest, controlled handwalking, walking under saddle and she came sound by early December. Told by vet to start trotting, didn't even get one trot before she was dog lame again mainly on right hand circle. She went to Leahurst then for 'specialist' opinion, ended up with Bronchial Pneumonia (such luck!!) and when got over that they trotted her up 3 days in a row and she only showed intermittent 1/10th lameness on hard circle right fore. They did no other diagnostics and said to give her more time to get over ligament injury.

So, fast forward again to about 3 weeks ago, all looking good no trotting yet but walking well, then farrier came and did her usual 4 weekly shoeing (regular due to keeping feet balanced) and she walked away from him practically on 3 legs. She had hot hooves, digital pulse etc so gave it a week then got vet out who xrayed no sign of lami and no obvious cause, no reaction to hoof testers but very saw on a circle in walk even which was way worse than before.

Anyway, she's been up in Hird and Partners since Sunday for nerve blocks etc and although about 50% improvement to coffin joint block still not 100% positive block. She was MRI's yesterday and they have just phoned to say there is absolutely nothing showing up that could be making her so lame. I was thinking navicular but no, everything is fine. The original collateral ligament injury has healed really well too. They are perplexed to say the least and are trying one more nerve block this afternoon but really don't have anything conclusive.

I guess I'm posting on hear to see if any of this story has been experienced by anyone else or if any one has any suggestions.

The vets were talking about possible keyhole surgery to cartillage or something which I can't see the point of because they can't see anything wrong. I'm thinking more of taking her shoes off and turning her away for 6/9 months and see what happens. I am maxed out on my insurance, this whole thing has cost about £4500 and I'm still no better off or closer to knowing what is wrong.

I would be really grateful to hear of anybody's experiences.

Many thanks :)
 
I'm sorry I can't help with causes but I think aiming to stick her in the field for a year is your best option now- it'll heal or it won't and then you'll know
 
I agree, I would take her shoes off and chuck her out and see, if they can't give you a diagnosis there seems little point in doing much more.
I presume re keyhole they are suggesting an arthroscopy to check for damage to the cartilage? What leg are we talking?
 
i would take off her shoes and not trim her at all for a least 8 weeks, let her hooves find a natural shape and let the sole thicken, if she is not sore, or when she is not sore cause her feet have grown i would walk her on the road for 20 minutes a day.

then maybe a very light trim not touching the sole or frog, i would`nt leave her out 24 7 i would bring her into a good bed at night, so she can rest and her feet dry out, and control her weight.

she`s still young and nit finished
 
I'm thinking that 5 (or rising 6?) is still quite young and possibly feet are still immature even if they look OK.

What is the digital cushion like, does your mare land heel first?

It can only do your pony good to take the shoes off in any case.

Good luck.
 
thanks for the replies. Ester, yes, they did mention about cartillage but I'd not heard of this before. Would cartillage not show up on MRI??

AnShanDan she does land heel first. She's had her whole foot conformation changed by farrier who has been trimming and balancing her every four weeks, she has had a lateral extension on to support the collateral ligament. I thought maybe foot conformation changes had caused pain but vet said this would show up as a thickening on MRI. I'm just hoping that they haven't missed something else going on higher up, as the problem was originally in the hoof I think they assume it still is. Nevertheless, it's very frustrating to spend so much time and money and still be no further on.
 
years ago my pony was lame for nearly a year, saw all sorts of vets and had all the tests, i did what i said above and over 12 months she recovered, she is now 20 and charging round here like a very athletic 2 year old completely sound.

looking back it was a huge waste of money and conclusive diagnoses was ever reached.
 
I could cry for you, they are such a worry sometimes.

I too would take shoes off and turn away, what were your farrier's feelings on it? If you trust them, I would be guided by them.
 
To be honest PorkChop I have been very disappointed in my farrier, something obviously happened last time to make her so sore but he wasn't helpful at all. He doesn't seem to have much of an idea and just says I don't know all the time. Everyone raves about him and he does know what he's doing but just hasn't got very good customer service!!
 
I think I would also turn the horse away. I've just spent six months getting my horse over two minor lamenesses, neither one with a firm diagnosis. It's very frustrating not to know what's going on. But in the end, my vet reminded me that treatment doesn't heal the horse. Only the horse itself can heal, and treatment may be supportive (or make no difference whatsoever). It makes us owners feel better to "do something", and sometimes pinpointing the problem can give helpful guidance to know how long the horse should be rested before even attempting to bring it back into work, but the healing still happens just by itself and with time.
So, considering that the diagnostics haven't turned up anything solid, I'd turn away for at least 6 months if not a year, and then see where you are.
Luckily, my horse seems to be back to his old self 6 months on. I still have no idea what caused his latest lameness.
 
Blimey, just got off the phone to the vet in Halifax who said she tested for cartillage problems and everything is fine. Anyway, she said the farrier turned up to put Mouse's shoes back on and he said she was really sore in the hoof capsule. He said all this seems to stem from the farrier nails going too close or into the laminae structure and that some horses laminae goes closer to the hoof wall. I suspected all along it was to do with the shoes and am really surprised my own farrier didn't notice how uncomfortable she was with getting shoes on. Vet said to go barefoot and chuck her out in the day and poultice with bran poultice overnight to soften feet. She is sure they have reached the right conclusion that the pony cannot tolerate the nails into the hoof wall. It all makes sense now and is very frustrating that it has cost £4500 to get here!! Definitely, changing my farrier. Quite relieved though as it does seem to be something we can manage.
 
Why would anyone want to soften feet!?

Other than that leaving shoes off is usually a good idea for a lot of horses. I have just never heard anyone recommending they be softened or the use of a bran poultice.
 
tristar said:
i would take off her shoes and not trim her at all for a least 8 weeks, let her hooves find a natural shape and let the sole thicken, if she is not sore, or when she is not sore cause her feet have grown i would walk her on the road for 20 minutes a day.

then maybe a very light trim not touching the sole or frog, i would`nt leave her out 24 7 i would bring her into a good bed at night, so she can rest and her feet dry out, and control her weight.

she`s still young and nit finished
Click to expand...

I might add that shoeing every four weeks flags up some fault in conformation, barefoot turnout is the only practical solution, and I would also try i different trimmer, someone with at least ten years experience..
I would want to walk in hand on a flat tarmac road if possible.
 
successful feet come from diet, movement and trim in that order usually.
The first thing you need to look at to try and resolve her issues is diet.
 
the prob with our pony turned to be the feet, its a very long story, but she was trimmed too short i thought and a one point had a haematoma, which i feel was caused by bruising.

i think the vet is spot on, in case of any residual infection poulticing is a good idea , it will also help her feet to relax, moisture aids hoof growth as well.

shoes are not essential i have some of the new old macs scoot boots, no more nails, but we don`t need to use them now cause the feet are so good, i`m pleased to say!
 
mousesmum said:
Blimey, just got off the phone to the vet in Halifax who said she tested for cartillage problems and everything is fine. Anyway, she said the farrier turned up to put Mouse's shoes back on and he said she was really sore in the hoof capsule. He said all this seems to stem from the farrier nails going too close or into the laminae structure and that some horses laminae goes closer to the hoof wall. I suspected all along it was to do with the shoes and am really surprised my own farrier didn't notice how uncomfortable she was with getting shoes on. Vet said to go barefoot and chuck her out in the day and poultice with bran poultice overnight to soften feet. She is sure they have reached the right conclusion that the pony cannot tolerate the nails into the hoof wall. It all makes sense now and is very frustrating that it has cost £4500 to get here!! Definitely, changing my farrier. Quite relieved though as it does seem to be something we can manage.
Click to expand...

That's good news really. Not sure about the bran poultice either, can't imagine how that could help. Shoes off, find good trimmer (or farrier that actually knows what he is doing ;)) and a bit of patience, hopefully your mare will be fine.
 
Connemara's can be prone to hoof wall separation syndrome. If you think the problem is in the hooves then it might be worth testing for it.

Exploding Chestnuts said:
I might add that shoeing every four weeks flags up some fault in conformation, barefoot turnout is the only practical solution, and I would also try i different trimmer, someone with at least ten years experience..
I would want to walk in hand on a flat tarmac road if possible.
Click to expand...
 
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