Odd Hind Leg Issues

[Bumblepony]

Hi all, first time posting, I've been trawlling threads about hind limb lameness and now thought I'd make my own!

I have a 35 year old pony who has been a bit arthriticy and stiff on and off for a few years but nothing too troubling until this year.

Back around the end of July he went a little bit lame on his near hind. It wasn't very obvious, only visible at first in trot as him bringing the off hind under him differently, so at first I thought it was that leg he was lame on, but after a vet visit we ascertained it was the other leg he was actually lame on.

After being mildly lame for a couple of weeks, quite suddenly one day he was very lame on it, almost like he couldn't bend if properly, he was moving a bit like he had a wooden leg. Vet out again (twice) with no ideas. After a couple of days there was some improvement and he was back to just being a bit lame again. My usual vet who knows him well came to see him then and spent a good hour looking at him, manipulating the leg etc, still nothing to see really. Eventually between the vet and physio and myself we felt it was probably stemming from something to do with his hip or sacroiliac. He had another sort of flare up where he was very sore on it (this time for just one day!) then since that he'd just been mildly lame. He'd also started, when that leg was lifted, to pull the leg right up and forwards, but would eventually ease it down. He was still getting up and down to lie down/ roll and happy otherwise; he's usually depressed and off his food if he's in pain but he'd been very perky throughout.

By this time a couple of months have passed. The lameness was mild at this point, but thinking it might be an added tool to get to the bottom of the problem, I asked an osteopath to see him and asked that they be mindful of the fact he was very old and would have certain compensatory things in place which might need extra care to be taken around them. They did some adjustments, felt that he'd had an injury on the off side of his sort of sacroiliac area, and that the persistent lameness in the near hind was due to comepnsating for discomfort there. For about a week after that appointment he was okay, not really looking any better but no worse.

Then about a week after that appointment, I lifted his near hind up and he pulled it forwards, as he'd been doing for a while, but then hopped up and down and snatched it off me as if he was in agony! I discovered that if I held it low to the ground he could lift it, but whenever it was lifted he wanted to pull it up and forwards himself but then this triggered this quite extreme pain reaction. Eventually he stopped wanting to lift it at all, and if he does he has this extreme reaction. I had the osteopath out again last week largely to ask if they had any thoughts why this new problem had occured, and their thought was that this was a trapped nerve, which had occured as a result of him starting to use his hind end differently after the first treatment, and that after a bit of work (which the osteo did that day) it'd settle down in a few days. That was a week ago, and it's worse than ever in terms of him not lifting the leg, though he's no more lame than he was.

I have noticed since this all started he's also finding the near fore harder to lift and hold up for a long time, but I am not sure if this is related.

I'm at a bit of a loss now, his physio sees him every few weeks and found some improvement last time to previous trigger points identified along his back, but apart from some slight reactivity around his sacroilliac which he's always had really there isn't much to see or indeed feel to do anything about.

I could almost understand and deal with him being a tiny bit lame on that leg, as he's still able to get up and down etc and is happy, but this new problem is more troubling and also making it difficult to boot him (he wears hoof boots) and trim him.

I'm doing what I can myself, he's on a Danilon a day plus Global Herbs Alphabute, I keep him warm, put a hot water bottle over his sacroiliac area for an hour or so every day, he's got a Back on Track rug and leg wraps he wears. Just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences or thoughts please. Thanks in advance

 

[SEL]

Hmmm - its difficult when they are that old because sadly things can deteriorate quickly. I'd probably have the vet back out really just to see if they can spot anything new. Worth asking the vet if it would be OK to increase the bute significantly for a few days to see if there is any improvement.

 

[HeyMich]

What turnout/exercise/movement does he normally have? (just wondering what the boots are used for?)

At that age, I would be tempted to increase pain relief and make sure he is comfortable. When he isn't comfortable any more, it may be time to have a frank conversation with your vet. You may not ever get to the bottom of the latest lameness/niggles, but as SEL says above, things can go downhill quite quickly at that age.

Good luck, and I hope he is comfortable again soon.

 

[Bumblepony]

Thank you both, I'd asked my vet this week if they thought it worth seeing him again and your replies have made up my mind to go ahead and do that, and will ask about the bute as it's a good idea to see if that makes any difference. I had 'the conversation' with my vet earlier this year as I'm really aware I don't want to prolong things; they were more positive than me (I do tend to take a pessimistic view!) and we talked through monitoring quality of life. I'd even wondered about whether putting him through another winter was the right thing to do, but with how he is at the moment I'm fairly confident he wants to keep going but I do always have it at the back of my mind.

He was taken for short walks in hand up until the lameness started, now he doesn't have any exercise other than turnout, he's out for about seven hours a day, the boots are to walk him over stones on the way to the field

 

[TheMule]

Poor old chap- he just sounds very arthritic, probably not helped by how little turn out he gets. I would spider speak to vet about upping the Danilon to help keep him more comfortable

 

[EllieBeast]

Bless him, he’s made it to a great age

My mare is much younger but unfortunately has severe hock arthritis, and when she was having only 6 hrs turnout a day had similar symptoms. (Ive always liked mine out as much as possible, I moved her to a new yard who weren’t entirely honest about their turnout situation ?).

She’s now out 24/7 and 95% improved, is drastically improving his turnout time an option?

If he’s out for 7 hrs a day, that means he’s stood in for 17, which is a long time especially with arthritic issues which I’m sure he’s bound to have at such a good age?

 

[Bumblepony]

Thank you both, and that's really good your mare has improved with more turnout EllieBeast His turnout is limited as he's prone to laminitis and also because he's ready to come in after that amount of time, which is unfortunate as I'd love to try him out for longer to see if it helped. He does have a bigger than average stable (though I know that's no substitute for moving around in a field) and does spend a good couple of hours a day being groomed and faffed about with though again I know it's still no substitute for more movement. I migth have a chat with my vet to see what she thinks about starting up some slow and gentle walks again but being guided by him as to how much he wants to do.

 

[Gloi]

If he wasn't prone to laminitis I would be thinking of a steroid injection in the painful area

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

His 35 so probably arthritis I would just give him some bute everyday to make him comfortable sometimes more movement can help but sometimes it doesn't.

 

[[153312]]

If laminitis is the issue with turnout can you muzzle and/or put on a track or strip graze, or turnout in an arena or dry lot? I do agree that he is probably getting nowhere near enough time out - 17 hours in would be enough to make most horses stiff and sore, especially as it is now colder and damper.

 

[Equi]

At 35 i would expect most of him is achy with arthritis and as you said compensatory things..possibly ligaments etc going too. The best thing is going to be as much turnout as possible (way more than 7 hours) and bute. You already seem mindful of quality over quantity so do just be mindful that you are not being the vets best customer and them letting you prolong things past what they maybe should be. Something i would do for my old lad was a good brisk massage all over before attempting to turn out so his muscles and bloodflow got up a bit before moving.

 

[Bumblepony]

Thank you so much all. He is muzzled, it's really interesting so many are saying that seven hours isn't a lot, I think because of the yard I'm on I've gotten into the mindset that being out 'for the day' (ie 7 - 9 hours) is normal, if that makes sense, so I'm now having an interesting rethink! He doesn't like staying out for too long when the weather is bad, but on nicer days I'll try to give him as much longer out as possible. Thankfully I really trust my vet and trust that she's putting his best interests first. I took him for a little walk yesterday and I think he enjoyed the change of scenery, he was very sharp and wanting to trot.