Mystery lameness - starts off sound in trot and becomes lame

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Procrastination

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My mare has been out of proper work for a good few months due to back problems and then waiting for a new saddle. Initial back problem was dealt with by Physio who gave her the OK to be brought back in to work, this was about 8 weeks ago. At that point I still didn't have a saddle to fit so I was riding her in a bareback pad without stirrups, however due to her being the width of a bus I could only manage short hacks before my hips seized up. I would say we were doing about 3 miles 3-4 times a week. 90% in walk with the odd short burst of trot.

Fast forward a month or so and I find a saddle to fit and have it fitted by a master saddler...this was 2 weeks ago now. Great I think, I can now start getting her properly fit! So I have carried on with the short rides but I have upped the frequency so we've been doing 3-4mile routes about 5 times each week. She is walking out well, the walk is pretty active and forward for her (she's always been very slow at the walk) and she seems happy to go. She is definitely unfit and she is also pretty fat at the moment due to only being ridden lightly all summer. So I am taking things slow and building up the distance/difficulty of our rides slowly.

This is where the mystery lameness comes in....
Like I said, she is walking out well as is completely sound for the duration of our ride. She is a mare who will nap very badly (including rearing) if she doesn't want to do something, but since getting the new saddle there has been no napping whatsoever so I can only take that as a good sign. If I ask her to trot, she is happy to go forwards with her ears pricked and starts off well but after a short period of time (can be as little as a few seconds) she drops her head low and starts nodding. It starts off small and gets worse, to the point where she then stops and goes back to walk. Despite the head nodding I don't think it's an issue with a foreleg, as it feels very much like there is something strange going on with the back end. Sometimes she will trot happily along for a decent length of time before the lameness begins, and other times it becomes apparent straight away. Sometimes when it happens, if I bring her back to walk and give her 10 seconds and then ask for trot she will set off absolutely fine again with no hint of lameness. It does seem that she is better in the middle of a ride, once she has warmed up and before she gets tired. This probably makes me sound like I am hammering her along it trot and totally disregarding this problem but I can assure you I'm not, I have been experimenting if you like to see when it is better and when it is worse and how long she can maintain the good trot for at different points during the ride. At all times she is happy to trot, I have no doubt in my mind that if she was unhappy she wouldn't go forward.

Other things worth noting....sometimes when the lameness starts if I push her on it goes away briefly (maybe for half a dozen strides) and then starts again. Or if I change my diagonal she will give a few sound strides before going unsound again. Also she did this at least once when I was riding in the bareback pad, she definitely did it the last time I rode her in the pad which was two days before the saddle fitter came out to fit new saddle. This makes me think it's not saddle related, but possibly is related to the weight of a rider. Unfortunately I don't have access to an arena so can't tell you how she is to school, at the moment I'm waiting for our fields to dry up slightly so I can try lunging her.

Oh and just to add, there is no heat or swelling in any of her legs, she doesn't mind being touched anywhere, and her hooves are solid. She is barefoot and has been all her life, I don't think that is where the lameness is coming from. She is 5.5yrs, Fell X Cob

I've tried to cram as much detail as possible in to this post but I've probably missed things out! The vet is booked to come out next week and the Physio is coming the following week so hopefully by then I will have answers but it is playing on my mind and I'm very interested to hear if others have ever experienced anything similar, or if you have any ideas what could be causing it.

Well done if you've reached the end!
 
How long has this being going on. I assume two weeks.
An abscess is possible.
Change to a very thick saddlepad.
Try with no saddlepad.
Check for nipping by girth or rubbing, change the girth.
Does the saddle stay in the same place.
Is the girth too tight?
Have you run your hands all over her skin look for sensitivity, sores etc.
 
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At a guess it is whatever was causing the "back problem" in the first place that is now showing up, it could be coming from anywhere and hopefully your vet will be able to find a reason so it can be treated appropriately, I would hold off on the physio until you have a proper diagnosis otherwise you may end up going round in circles for months on end.
 
Bonkers2 said:
How long has this being going on. I assume two weeks.
An abscess is possible.
Change to a very thick saddlepad.
Try with no saddlepad.
Check for nipping by girth or rubbing, change the girth.
Does the saddle stay in the same place.
Is the girth too tight?
Have you run your hands all over her skin look for sensitivity, sores etc.
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Thanks, plenty to consider there.

Yes it's been going on for about 2-3 weeks, happening in new saddle but also in bareback pad. Both saddles used with a thorowgood style girth, one dressage, one normal. I have ordered a girth sleeve which is hopefully arriving today so I will see if that makes a difference.

Saddle doesn't move, she is a very roly-poly shape with almost no wither so I take the fact that it doesn't move laterally as sign that it is a pretty good fit.

I wouldn't say the girth is too tight, it's elasticated both ends and I can always get my hand under it easily.

I can't find any sore areas, but saying that it was my instructor who picked up on the soreness the first time and then Physio also found it when she came out so my track record of finding sore spots isn't great!
 
be positive said:
At a guess it is whatever was causing the "back problem" in the first place that is now showing up, it could be coming from anywhere and hopefully your vet will be able to find a reason so it can be treated appropriately, I would hold off on the physio until you have a proper diagnosis otherwise you may end up going round in circles for months on end.
Click to expand...


Physio thought original sore spot on back was caused by her old saddle not being the right tree shape, she felt it was too flat as was causing excess pressure at the back. She felt she was very tight across the whole of her back, probably as a result of holding herself in a certain way for quite a long time. She was almost totally unable to show any kind of lift through her back at all at this point. Physio did quite a lot of physical manipulation with her and used a machine to help loosen off the muscles and left me with lots of exercises to due twice a day for 2 weeks, which we duley did. Physio came back after two weeks and was much much happier with points range of movement as was happy for her to be brought back in to work slowly but not ridden until I had an alternative saddle. We started off with lots of walking out in hand and long reining, and then I moved on to riding in the bareback pad.

The plan with the Physio was that she would come back out after pony had been back in fairly consistent work for about 8 weeks, so hence why she is booked to come out mid November. I have also emailed her about this problem but I'm waiting to hear back from her so it might be that she also suggests holding off until I have a diagnosis from the vet.

Thanks for your reply :-)
 
I'd suggest a lameness assesment by the vet. It could be arthritis, although I would question that, as it normally gets better with movement not worse - my horse does about six pottery strides and feels bad when I first trot, but after half a lap of the school he is fine, its just stiffness and becasue he is using himself in a different way to how he uses himself in walk it is noticeable for the first few strides.

It maybe that she has tweaked a muscle somewhere and after a few strides the pain becomes more intense.

You could go on for ever guessing, so probably better to wait for the vet.
 
Thanks for your suggestions.

It's going to kill me this week waiting for the vet! I had been thinking along the lines of pulled muscle, it seems odd that she will repeatedly start of fine and then deteriorate...I was comparing it to how I would feel if trying to run with a pulled muscle, I would probably start of full of beans and then rapidly decline lol
 
I'm in a very similar position, except mine tends to be sound when working properly and goes very slightly off when he's tired or slopping along, and can have whole days with no problems. He's booked in for nerve blocks and scans on Monday - vet has suggested arthritis or suspensories are the likely cause.
 
OH's mare started doing this. Intermittent lameness, some days OK, some days not, sometimes lame for only part of a ride but always starting out ok. X rays showed arthritis - she was 15 at the time though. I would definitely suggest a lameness assessment by the vet and maybe X rays.
 
applecart14 said:
Not ideal I know, but neither is the end of the world. x
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I know, neither is a death sentence....but still I'd be gutted if she was diagnosed with arthritis at five and half. It's just so confusing, I would say she is walking out better than she ever has before, really putting effort in to it rather than bumbling along like she normally does. It's a shame we don't have a school as it would be useful to see how she is on a circle etc. I'm not sure how much the vet will be able to diagnose with our limited facilities, I imagine I will probably get referred to another practice which then means more waiting :-(
 
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