Shoulder injury

[Charlotte_93]

In December my horse was spooked in the field and as a result barged through a gate post, which was concreted into the ground, knocking the post to the ground. To begin with he was lame completely so was box rested. After a few days he was only lame in trot and canter so due to the fact he goes mental if he's left in his stable when everyone else is out he went out for an hour or so a day to prevent him injuring himself through kicking the stable door.

However ever since then he has been on and off lame resulting in him actually being ridden only a handful of times in the past 4 months.
He's been checked by a Physio and vet who both said there was nothing obviously wrong and then seem a rehab instructor who gave us a work plan but that can't be carried out due to lameness.

My horse is a 17yr old thoroughbred who has always acted much younger than his age and competes regularly through the summer in show jumping. Anyone got any ideas as to what may be wrong as I'd love to be able to compete him again except I sadly can't see that happening

 

[be positive]

I would get a vet to look at him, possibly a different one, just because there is nothing obvious does not mean there is not something that can be found if they actually look properly.
I would then want to be starting with nerve blocks to find where the lameness originates from, it may not be the obvious place, then take it from there, if he is not insured you can still go through a range of tests which should not cost too much once the correct area has been found, if he is insured getting a full assessment done with tests should be covered, then you can start appropriate treatment depending on what is found, without knowing what is wrong you may end up doing the opposite to what is really required.

 

[Wagtail]

Three years ago, my mare sustained a similar injury. But I think it was much worse than your horse as she was on three legs for a couple of days and it was several weeks before she was stable enough to travel the two hours to Rossdales. They xrayed her and scanned her. She was found to have a number of bone chips at the point of shoulder, and the biceps brachii tendon was badly damaged. The prognosis was poor, even to return to paddock soundness. Over the next year I gradually increased her turnout area. She did relapse badly after six months, but made a speedier recovery thereafter. After 18 months she was fully paddock sound, and just over 9 months after that, I started to ride her again, after having thought it would not be possible. She will never return to full athletic ability, in that she will not be jumped again, but I am hoping that she will be able to return to low level dressage (was previously at advanced medium). We have been held up recently because of her developing Cushings and having several laminitic attacks.

My advice would be to get your boy to an equine hospital and have his shoulder xrayed and ultrasound. You will then know exactly what you are dealing with. If it is a tendon injury, he will need at least a year off and very gradual return to work. Good luck!

 

[Charlotte_93]

Thanks both of you! Got the vet coming out soon and he's insured so gonna get extensive investigations done to hopefully solve the problem and start getting him better