Potential arthritis/deep muscle tear?

[HoneyMonster1]

This will probably be quite long so I apologise in advance!

Around the beginning of April, my horse became difficult with picking up her off hind. She would pick it up and hold it for a while, but wrench it off you and glue it to the floor after a few seconds. Now she is a true mare, and stubborn is her middle name so we assumed that she was simply being difficult- not picking up feet is something she's done before, and with persistence she suddenly decides she will allow us to pick them out!

However, this continued for a few weeks and we began to get suspicious that there may be an issue. Around this time, she needed shoeing, so we decided we would ask the farrier if he could tell if there was any issue. The farrier came and had the same problems with picking up this foot, to the point where he was unable to shoe her hind feet. This resulted in her back shoes being taken off. She was not in any way lame though, and the foot itself is very healthy. She will pull it forwards, but not flex it backwards, and this is how the farrier was able to take her shoes off.

At this point, we rang the physio, who came and found multiple points of muscle tightening, and treated accordingly. Also, she saw the horse was not crossing her hind feet too well, along with a bit of stiffness in that leg, but nothing major that was causing obvious lameness. She found particular tension in her hindquarters on the side of the foot that she won't pick up. After treatment, she suggested a week of rest, with reassessment today- and today, she still would not pick up the foot (I should mention that by this point she is no longer picking up and slamming down, but moving around to evade you even trying to pick it up, although there is no swelling and she is very happy for you to touch the leg if you don't try to pick it up). Today, the physio found that all areas she had treated had seen great improvements, other than her hindquarters, where she had tightened up dramatically again, although she had seen some very minor improvements there.

So she treated her again today, but with the advice that if she was not making any improvements towards picking it up by next week, we ring the vet. It is also worth noting that the physio noticed a slight toe dragging in the off hind, although she is now crossing her hind feet well when turning in small circles.

I suppose all I'm really looking for is any potential diagnosis. The physio said it could be a deep tissue muscle tear but that this was unlikely as there is very minor muscle wastage, but she would expect to see much more if this was the case. Could it be hock arthritis- despite the fact it seems to have manifested very quickly? Or is it more likely that it is genuinely just a painful twist that will take more sessions of physio to sort out?

Any advice/ ticks to try in the meantime to try to get any improvement? I will be ringing the vets on monday if I cannot get her to even lift it slightly by this weekend, but I am keeping my fingers crossed it is nothing really serious!

Thank you!

 

[PorkChop]

For me, if she was not improving after a couple of Physio visits then it would be time to call the Vet.

I could be all manner of things, but I think I would start with nerve blocking the hind leg.

When you press the areas that are tight is she sore, ie unhappy?

Is her hoof balance good? Any problems with her feet that need resolving?

The fact she is reluctant to pick the foot up, would suggest she is sore further up, however if her hoof balance isn't great, she won't be moving correctly which in turn could be making her sore.

 

[HoneyMonster1]

I will definitely be calling the vet if things don't improve this weekend. She was quite unsure when physio was treating the hindquarters, but didn't display clear signs of unhappiness like moving backwards very swiftly, which she does when physio addresses an old area of tension she has in the top of her shoulder. I'd say, from her reaction, the area did hurt a little but not so drastically she reacted strongly.

Her hoof balance is good- I am not an expert but no professional has ever commented that there is an issue, and the physio only mentions slight stiffness and toe dragging rather than other movement problems. Her feet are very solid, very healthy (touch wood) and we have not had any issues with them.

I would think nerve blocking to check for bone spavin, although everything I have read seems to suggest she would be more noticeably lame if this was the case? She was quite happily jumping a small course a few weeks ago and I suppose it seems odd to me that this has come on very suddenly, but not progressed into anything more, like for example noticeable lameness. It is just staying the same. She did have a minor kick to her hock several months ago and for a while it was suggested that this may be the cause of the problem, but it was only a very small cut and again she was not at all sore on that leg because of it. I suppose I just have to see if its any better this weekend and ring the vet if not, but I find it is always best to have some ideas of what the problem could be when consulting a vet!

 

[PorkChop]

Unfortunately horses can be relatively sound even with pretty serious injuries, they can be incredibly stoic. She could be bilaterally lame.

Hope it turns out to be nothing, but think you are sensible to get her checked.