Veteran pony lame in snow

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C.Rose1

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I have a 26 year old pony who is currently living out 24/7 rugged up as she hates being in but during all this snow she has become lame. She is already stiff on both her hind legs and I think this snow has made a joints seize up. We brought her in yesterday from the afternoon until this morning, but she just fretted, wouldn't eat her haylage/dinner. She isn't a big eater and is very skinny atm, so we really need her to eat as much as possible! I have two questions really; what can I do about her being lame/stiff? (she was much better this morning with a night in the stable and was just a little stiff) and secondly how to get her to eat when she's fretting so much? I think partly it could be to with the fact that she doesn't have anyone in the stable next to her, as she lives next to a friends horses that are out 24/7. We are obviously going to get another pony for her to have a constant companion, but atm with the snow, it is pretty impossible to get anything here.

Sorry for the long rant, just getting worried about her. Any opinions would be appreciated.
 
Aside from bringing her in could you get her some of those turnout chaps? Just to keep her legs and fetlocks warmer?

Also, laminitis is quite prevalent in snowy conditions, due to the cold causing circulation problems in the feet, so check her pulses.

Coat the underside of her feet in a thick coating of vaseline, put the chaps on, give her some bute/dannillon or no-bute and keep her topped up with hay/hayledge. All the best and hope she gets better soon.
 
I have a mare thats the same. She wont eat if shes away from others and its really hard to keep weight on her without pandering to her a bit. Fortunately I do have time on my hands so I do things like take her over the other side of the gate so she can see the herd but will eat.

Ive heard glucosamine is really good for joints which you can buy from naturalhorsesupplies.co.uk. Ive not used it myself but a friend of mine used it on her boy with brilliant results. Is your horse barefoot. You might find this hard ground is playing havvock with the feet because its so rutted and hard making it hard to be comfortable on.
 
I've given her some bute (which was a pain to get down due to her not wanting to eat, but managed too in the end). I've brought her back in as she was hobbling about on the snow. Turnout chaps are a good idea, any you would recommend? I was thinking of bandaging her legs while she's her stable or do you think just being off the snow and in a warm deep bed of straw will be enough? I will probably take her up to the others, to see if she'll eat dinner later! Snow doesn't half make things hardwork!
Thank you for the replies!
 
May be worth getting your vet to check her out and maybe giving additional pain relief. You can get bute in paste form or alternatively try Danilon which may be more palatable to your horse.
 
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