Unlevel horse - any ideas?

oofadoofa

oofadoofa

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OK, I'll try and start at the beginning...

Horse did his suspensory ligament (right fore) approximately 2 years ago. The leg was scanned at the time. He was also nerve blocked, has had his feet x-rayed, his knees x-rayed which showed no problems. The ligament was scanned in January this year which showed that the ligament had healed. But he's still lame.

The horse is definitely more unsound on a hard surface than on the soft, which to me suggests bone/joint, but obviously everything has been x rayed and no problems showing up.

When trotted up, it appears that he is putting his weight on the outside of his right fore. Vet has also looked at the shoing and confirmed that feet are level and balanced.

Have had a McTimony chiropractor out who said that he was quite stiff across his withers, and quite stiff in general, but nothing major.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas?!!!

Horse is 11 years old BTW.

Thanks for reading! Think I have tried to explain everything!
 
hey hunnie.
Stiffness of this kind can sometimes be caused by tension.. If somehwere in his head he is saying 'I DONT WANT TO PUT MY FOOT DOWN ITS GONNA HURT' then he braces against his weight every time he moves.. he is gonna end up sore.

I know how your feelings as i am having something similar, however, i dont want to compete or anything so i am happy to stick ted on a maintence dosage of bute.

Only thing i can suggest is that you either have him re-xrayed and nerve block, or ask for an MRI (very costly)

Or you reside to the fact that hes gonna have to go tak life slower and stick him on a painkilling substance and use him as a hack

Howeever i would suggest your continue with regular mctimoney, and Reiki may also be a good idea (I have seen some amazing results from this on stiff horses)

Lou x
 
Thanks Lou, that's really useful. I was just wondering whether it could have become a habit or coming from the stiffness further up rather than from a joint or the ligament. Maybe it would be worth putting him on some bute for a while to see if that makes a difference. He really doesn't want to be a hack so I think if he doesn't become sound enough we may have to consider having him pts. Hopefully it won't come to that though! I only had the chiropractor out yesterday so will be interesting to see if he's any better in a day or two.
 
Hum, yes its very possibly its in his head and its very possible its caused by the stiffness in his withers.. I it was me i would bute him, if he comes sound, its not in his head, if he doesnt come sound.. its in his head..

Harder to solve if its in his head, unfortunatly.
I would also be very tempted to book him in for a course of 4 of 5 sessions of mctimoney in a short period of time..

Consider reiki tho. its saved a couple of horses lives as i know.

Is it your TB?
If so, then i defo know where your comng from (althoguht Ted's happy for the quiet life of hacking after 10 years racing blesshim )

Lou x
 
Have you tried putting him on Bute to see if he improves? This could help you tell if he's in pain or not...

Is it possible you need to teach him how to use his legs again? My mare is coping with Spavin currently and as part of her recovery I've had to teach her how to carry herself normally again as she's addopted what can only be described as a brace position!
 
My mare had a pelvis injury at the start of the summer- suspected fissure (hairline) fracture diagnosed by scintigraphy (bone scan). She was on three months field rest, showed a huge improvement, brought slowly back into walk/trot work, but two months later didn't trot up 100%.
frown.gif


It's not a hopping lameness, just a slight unlevelness where one hind leg takes a shorter stride than the other. The ended up doing a morphine/anit-imflammatory "pain block" and she trotted up exactly the same as without it, so was diagnosed as a wonkey donkey (my words!), or "mechanically lame" (their words!). Nice to know she isn't in any pain though.

This could be due to muscle compensation form the original injury (and memory of pain, so avoiding it, even though it's not there) or that the pelvis has healed slightly differently.

The vet is happy for me to keep gradually bringing her back into full work and play it by ear. It may stay the same, it may get better. We need to watch it doesn't get worse. I don't think it was ridiculously expensive to do the "pain block", maybe this would be worth a shot?
 
Bute is not a failsafe test for whether the horse is still in pain or not. Some horses react to bute better than others and some types of lameness respond better to it than others so if the horse is still unlevel on Bute he could still be uncomfortable somewhere.

I would think the vet needs to re do the nerve blocks to definately confirm the site of the lameness and then take it from there. If it's in the foot then maybe an MRI is needed as x-rays are limited in what they show and do not show the soft tissue.
 
QR I just want to challenge the "all in his head" comment. Its rubbish, if you bang your leg you limp 'til it stops hurting, then when it does you are relieved to go back to normal. You don't carry on limping imagining it still hurts! It is far far easier for a horse to move straight and even than it is to hold their back tightly, use one leg more than another and generally act lame if they are comfortable. If the horse is unsound it is either due to pain or a mechanical problem restricting movement.

Sorry OP, I have no idea what this horse's problem is but I'd bet my life its not an imaginary/remembered one. Best of luck finding it.
 
KVS, I really do believe that some horses are lame "in their head". I have an old ex racehorse who managed to jar himself up on hard ground (playing in the field). I box rested him for a week or so and every time I trotted him up he was lame. After a while I got to thinking that he could not still be lame from just jarring himself up, so got on him and took him up the road. He was lame but I ignored it and took him for a canter round a field. When I came out of the field I trotted him up the road and he was 100% sound.

I'm not saying that this lameness IS in my horse's head, but I do think it's a possibility. He has obviously been lame for a long period of time and consequently has been carrying himself differently. I see what you're saying about if you bang your leg you limp until it hurts, but if you were out of action for say 2 years or more, it would affect you're whole body and the way you carried yourself.

Thanks for the PM Lou, that's really useful! x
 
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