Strange lameness? Going downhill, fine anywhere else..

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emilythinks

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Hello there,
New poster here!

Basically I have owned my ex-racehorse 16 year old thoroughbred since last March.

Originally we were on a fairly flat yard with flat fields etc, so didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

That is until we moved yards to a more hilly one. I noticed that as she walked down fairly steep hills, she was pretty lame and too very slow, grunting steps. I proceeded to call the vet out when it got so bad that she was dragging a hind foot.

The vet who came out then diagnosed a 'sore back' i.e. the muscles were sore as she was dipping her back when palpated. She diagnosed 2 weeks box rest with daily bute.

She came more sound and was never properly lame again, but still walks downhill extremely strangely.

I have seen all sorts of worrying posts such as potential navicular, bilateral lameness in front feet etc..

She is currently heartbar shod due to her awfully flat front feet which grow hardly any heel.

My farrier has significantly improved these since we have had her and we try to keep on a low sugar/starch diet, but I highly doubt her front feet are ever going to be 'good'.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas? She is extremely difficult to get any kind of contact or collection etc, but I don't know whether that is down to her age and not being as flexible. When being free lunged/lunged on a circle, in walk she will relax with nose to the ground but she never truly stretches over her back.

Could this be a symptom of an underlying back issue?

Also she has had dentist, saddle fit, physio etc etc.. I'm having a chiro come out to us in January to see if she has any ideas too.

It's not a detrimental enough lameness to make me worry massively, but if anyone has had anything similar just wondering what the outcome was?

Thank you for reading this essay! :D and thank you for any replies xxx
 
I'd be concerned about the flat feet and heel pain. Mine had similar problems as well as back issues, which I believe were a knock on from the front feet issue. Initially he was shod with wedges but we scrapped these and took shoes off altogether. Not an easy route but the right one for him.
There's a lot you can do to help the fronts. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me comes along soon. You might want to take a look at the Rockley Farm blog. Also what is she fed on?
 
To be perfectly honest if your horses feet are so bad they need remedial shoeing constantly then I'd put money on it being that. Long toes and flat feet equal weak heels which leads to caudal heel pain or what gets called navicular.
Feet can be improved - I have 4 barefoot Tbs who all had the same long, flat, weak feet and who now all have great feet - but the transition can be challenging and you need to go into it as educated as possible.
Look at the Rockley blog, you'll probably find pictures on there of horses with the exact issues yours has.
Most horses with sore feet get sore backs too from the way they have to hold themselves. My mare always lacked muscle behind the wither, now her feet don't hurt any more she has totally changed shape and saddle widths.
When my first horse was diagnosed with navicular my vet told me that only way to fix feet is to take the shoes off.
I would be looking at the feet as the first possible cause.
 
my exracer had a similar issue going downhill and it was the first sign his sacrolilliac was acting up again. He was fine uphill but completely changed attitude when he had to go downhill
 
These are also classic bone spavin symptoms. The sore back is often secondary to the original source of pain. The horse moves awkwardly in attempt to take the weight off the hocks, hence causing back issues too.
 
I used to ride a pony that struggled downhill, it was put down to her arthritis. Then she had her shoes off because her feet were so rubbish she couldn't hold a shoe. I then started riding her in hoof boots and all of a sudden she was happily striding out downhill. She is now being ridden bare and is better down hill than she ever was in shoes. I would say that the heart bars are a major sign of problems with your horse'S feet and she may well benefit from having her shoes off. You can ride in boots and pads if her soles are too thin to go fully bare.
 
My horse has hock spavins and being odd and shifty going downhill was the first sign. It was prob another 6 months before he actually was lame with it and diagnosed but looking back the down hill was the first sign
 
Many things can cause this from KS to sore feet ,spavins and suspensory issues in the hind hocks .
Badly balanced saddles can also give this effect as can a sore jaw .
Take your pick but there will something .
Does the horse do the same if you lead him down a hill from another horse ?
 
Hey everybody, thank you for your replies. I will try to reply to each comment at once.

It can't be the saddle as this happens when she is unsaddled/bridled with just a headcollar on.

I have considered trying to take her barefoot, I know it is a lengthy process and it would not put me off, but I have spoken to my farrier and he has flatly said that he does not think Elllie could ever cope with being barefoot. I will try to attach some pictures at some point, but she has really got horrendous feet in the sense that she does not grow any heel. So I don't think that is an option at this point :/

Possibly could be sacroiliac but shortly after I had the physio out and she never said there were any issues there (that she noticed). As I said in OP, I have the chiropractor coming out the 2nd week of January so I will see what she says about it.

With regard to the bone spavins- I had never actually thought that could be a possibility. When the vet came out to see her she did flexion tests which did not show anything, however I'm guessing that the spavins could have gone unnoticed as flexion tests aren't the best diagnostic tools anyway.

Do you mean lead behind another horse? Yes she is always the same down steeper hills.

I have considered that it may be stifles, think me and the vet have some detective work to be doing...
 
My horse would prob pass a flexion test now even tho he has spavins and a lot of the time he looks sound. He has physio every 6 weeks and always feels fine. Don't take that as a given all is okay.
I hope it's not something like spavins for you but it all sounds very familiar to me.
 
Just to add wasn't until full X Ray's plus bone scan done at horseptal that he was diagnosed with bone spavins. Didn't even respond to nerve blocks
 
The symptoms you describe also could be gastric and hind gut ulcers. Racehorses are renowned for getting them because of the way they are kept. Lame downhill, toe dragging, poor quality feet are all symptoms. Google Dr. Kerry Ridgway and Dr. DePaulo. They are US vets that post a lot of info on the condition. Gastric ulcers can be confirmed with a gastroscope. The discomfort of the ulcers gives the horse a sore back.
 
Crikey, could be any of the above.
Could possibly be neurological? My horse was sound and jumping but I always some niggles such as dipping behind the saddle and tripping behind and then backing off down hills. Vet did simple tail test and followed by X-rays to confirm.
Might be worth asking and a vet worth his salt should easily check this anyway.
Good luck, hope you get to the bottom of it.
 
emilythinks said:
I have considered trying to take her barefoot, I know it is a lengthy process and it would not put me off, but I have spoken to my farrier and he has flatly said that he does not think Elllie could ever cope with being barefoot. I will try to attach some pictures at some point, but she has really got horrendous feet in the sense that she does not grow any heel. So I don't think that is an option at this point :/...
Click to expand...

Your farriers opinion makes me more convinced feet are your problem. Inability to grow heels = poor foot balance. Remedial shoeing will only add to the problems. It will take a long time, but with correct care and advice barefoot is the right answer here (but I don't mean working with your farrier)!
 
I have to agree that I certainly wouldn't take a farrier's advice on whether they thought a TB could go without shoes or not!
 
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