Thoughts on what caused this...

bexcy-bee

bexcy-bee

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Ok, so yesterday morning, my mum went to feed the nags, one of them couldnt move. The night before, he was running around, bullying the shetlands as usual, but in the morning, he physically couldnt move one leg. So, called the vet out, i got out of work, and now he hasto be on box rest, which he is NOT very happy about.

Best case scenario, 6 weeks box rest, worst case, hair bone fracture to his top front leg (not sure what bone is called lol).

Vet is stumped as to what could have caused it, most likely a kick, but im not sure =[

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance

x
 
We had a mare that was exactly like this a few years ago. I had called them up for their feed and although she was usually the first up she just stood at the bottom whinnying and making no attempt to move. It took 6 of us to physically carry her, step by step, up the field. She had a small mark on the top of her front leg and couldn't/wouldn't move the leg. Vet thought she had been kicked and told us to box rest her, the next morning she was a little lame but moving around quite happily. My theory is that she had been kicked on a nerve and had a 'dead leg'. Hopefully, after a night in and some pain relief you have the same result, he may have been kicked if they were racing around playing.
 
Forgot to mention, he can put weight on his leg, can stand happily on it all day. He just cannot bend it. Vet said he had been kicked on the nerve, but where it is, may have resulted in a hair line fracture. I dont believe it was a kick, as they dont generally kick, as he is boss man, but am confused as to what else it could be =/
 
if i were you, i'd want to know if it were fractured, and if so, whereabouts and the depth of fracture etc so you can treat accordingly.

i dislike box-rest for the sake of it. i'm not saying that's what's happened in your case, but vets do have a tendency to say 'box rest' for anything... and this ignores the fact horses heal far better when moving around as blood gets pumped around the legs... and blood carries everything needed for the body to heal... :)

can you ask for an xray? x
 
Mine had a similar problem a few years ago - we assumed she'd been kicked. She was fully weight bearing on the leg, happy for you to touch it, but couldn't move the leg forward. Vet gave her an injection of bute, and something else to help deaden/calm the nerves and said she'd come back first thing in the morning. First thing in the morning, horse was back to normal. She did it one more time, a couple of years later, but nothing since. Very odd, can only describe it as a "dead leg".

I'd give it 12-24 hrs, then xray if still lame.
 
clipcloppop said:
if i were you, i'd want to know if it were fractured, and if so, whereabouts and the depth of fracture etc so you can treat accordingly.

i dislike box-rest for the sake of it. i'm not saying that's what's happened in your case, but vets do have a tendency to say 'box rest' for anything... and this ignores the fact horses heal far better when moving around as blood gets pumped around the legs... and blood carries everything needed for the body to heal... :)

can you ask for an xray? x
Click to expand...

Ditto this.
 
I'd be wanting to know exactly what it was if the vet has said he needs 6 months box rest, so I'd be wondering why he's not suggested x-rays asap, specially if the horse can't move at all on that particular leg.

As to how he's done it, well that's anyone's guess, even just looning about in a field can cause all sorts of serious injuries.

Hope it's nothing serious and he recovers quickly, meantime I'd want to know a bit more from my vet though to be honest.
 
We had a horse with a suspected fracture a couple of years ago. The problem with a hairline is that if the horse is out in the field moving around it can just go, and you can lose the horse, whereas with boxrest, if its not fractured it will get better in the first week. Its a shame horses don't know to take it steady really! Thats why our vet prescribed box rest initially - just to be sure. In this case we didn't x ray initially as we don't have insurance. After a week when the horse was considerably sounder he was allowed to go our again, and was fine soon after.

Hope that it is a "dead leg" as people are describing. I'm sure it would have been a kick. Even with horses that don't normally fight it can happen, and especially at this time of year when they're starting to mooch round gateways...
 
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