sammiero
Member
Hi everyone. My horse has been lame since the start of august and the veterinarians can't figure out why she is lame. The problem is in the left front leg, she clearly bobs her head up when left fore is put down and the head goes down when right fore is put down. This is only in trot, she is sound in walk.
The story is quite long and complicated but I'll try to take it from the beginning:
In early august she got new shoes and the same day I had a lesson. In that lesson my trainer pointed out she was lame. I didn't feel a severe lameness but I felt she was quite resistant to move forward so we ended the lesson. We thought it may be the shoeing but she was not warm or had a high pulse so we let her rest for a couple of days while waiting for the farrier. The farrier came and didn't find anything wrong with her hooves, so I had our home vet out. I lunged her for him on a soft ground and she was 0,5/5 lame. Then lunged on hard ground and she was 3/5 lame so very obvious. The vet didn't have time to do nerve block so we took her to the clinic where they have everything.
At the clinic we started of lunging and she was 1/5 lame on soft ground and 3/5 lame on hard ground when left fore was the inside leg and 1,5/5 lame when left fore was the outside leg. When trotted on a straight line on hard surface she is sound. The next thing we did was a flexion test. She was sound when flexing the right fore and sound flexing shoulder and upper limb on left fore, but 0,5/5 lame when flexing fetlock and lower limb on left fore. So we started doing nerve blocks. Nerve block in fetlock made no change, nerve blocks in hoof made no change. He then nerve blocked the whole foot from a little under the knee and she showed improvement, but she was not sound. Then he also nerve blocked the whole right foot from a litte under the knee and she came up sound on soft surface and almost sound on hard surface in the lunge. We then took x rays off both front feets from under the knee to the hoof and they were perfect. Then we also took ultrasound on both front feets from under the knee and down and they were also perfect. The vets discussed and recommended next move to be a MRI.
A MRI were booked and was going to take pictures from right under the knee down to the middle of the long pastern bone. The MRI results came back and shows absolutely nothing. By the MRI results were back it had been over a month since we first discovered the lameness and she had under this time only been standing in her stall and going out in a small paddock. I checked her in the lunge from time to time and could not see any improvement at all. The vet at the clinic pointed out she had a bit long toe and her heels were a bit low, but he didn't think that would make her that lame. Because of that we thought why not change the farrier and see if it helps. The new farrier comes and finds out she has a thick false sole on both front feet and some bad thrush. The back feet were also shod uneven. He cleaned up the hooves and gave me something to get rid of the thrush and told me to keep her feet dry and clean.
The day after the farrier gave her new shoes I thought why not see her in the lunge again. To my surprise she came up sound in the lunge og soft surface and was much better on the hard surface. The day after my home vet came for another reason and I asked if she could just see her in the lunge for a second. The vet said she was sound on soft surface and 1/5 on hard surface, so a big improvement. Called the clinic and told them the good news and we came to the agreement that I should start ride her again and in a month do a new checkup. I keep riding her and she gets better and better. I also lunge her once a week to see if she improves. And she does improve. 1 week after the home vet was there she is much better in the lunge on soft and hard surface, 2 weeks after she is even better and 3 weeks after she is completely sound on soft surface and 99% sound on hard surface. I was thrilled and start upping the training. It doesn't go so well. When I start to put her more together to do the harder stuff in dressage she is lame again. Sound when ridden on long reines but lame when I try to collect. I am devastated and don't know what to do now. In the videos I can't see any lameness if I only look at leg legs, they all have the same striding, but when you look at the horse she obviously bobs her head and look dead lame. The only thing I think I see is that she sometimes land toe first. And that's something I think I've seen since the beginning of the lameness. She also do not put left fore down as hard as right fore, it has a slightly lower sound when you listen to her walk on asphalt.
She's going back to the clinic next week, but the vets don't know what do to. So I feel like I have come up with all these theories for the vet to turn down after what fits or not. I don't think it is in the shoulder? But maybe heel pain? In the beginning before the new farrier came she had trouble walking a tight turn to the left and especially on hard surface. Now after getting new shoes I feel like she turns good both ways. And something tells me it's in the heels since it all started right after she got shoed and immediately got better after getting new shoes, but that doesn't add up with here not reacting to nerve block in the hooves?
If you made it this far I really appreciate it and I am so sorry it became this long. But we have done a lot so it's a lot of information
The story is quite long and complicated but I'll try to take it from the beginning:
In early august she got new shoes and the same day I had a lesson. In that lesson my trainer pointed out she was lame. I didn't feel a severe lameness but I felt she was quite resistant to move forward so we ended the lesson. We thought it may be the shoeing but she was not warm or had a high pulse so we let her rest for a couple of days while waiting for the farrier. The farrier came and didn't find anything wrong with her hooves, so I had our home vet out. I lunged her for him on a soft ground and she was 0,5/5 lame. Then lunged on hard ground and she was 3/5 lame so very obvious. The vet didn't have time to do nerve block so we took her to the clinic where they have everything.
At the clinic we started of lunging and she was 1/5 lame on soft ground and 3/5 lame on hard ground when left fore was the inside leg and 1,5/5 lame when left fore was the outside leg. When trotted on a straight line on hard surface she is sound. The next thing we did was a flexion test. She was sound when flexing the right fore and sound flexing shoulder and upper limb on left fore, but 0,5/5 lame when flexing fetlock and lower limb on left fore. So we started doing nerve blocks. Nerve block in fetlock made no change, nerve blocks in hoof made no change. He then nerve blocked the whole foot from a little under the knee and she showed improvement, but she was not sound. Then he also nerve blocked the whole right foot from a litte under the knee and she came up sound on soft surface and almost sound on hard surface in the lunge. We then took x rays off both front feets from under the knee to the hoof and they were perfect. Then we also took ultrasound on both front feets from under the knee and down and they were also perfect. The vets discussed and recommended next move to be a MRI.
A MRI were booked and was going to take pictures from right under the knee down to the middle of the long pastern bone. The MRI results came back and shows absolutely nothing. By the MRI results were back it had been over a month since we first discovered the lameness and she had under this time only been standing in her stall and going out in a small paddock. I checked her in the lunge from time to time and could not see any improvement at all. The vet at the clinic pointed out she had a bit long toe and her heels were a bit low, but he didn't think that would make her that lame. Because of that we thought why not change the farrier and see if it helps. The new farrier comes and finds out she has a thick false sole on both front feet and some bad thrush. The back feet were also shod uneven. He cleaned up the hooves and gave me something to get rid of the thrush and told me to keep her feet dry and clean.
The day after the farrier gave her new shoes I thought why not see her in the lunge again. To my surprise she came up sound in the lunge og soft surface and was much better on the hard surface. The day after my home vet came for another reason and I asked if she could just see her in the lunge for a second. The vet said she was sound on soft surface and 1/5 on hard surface, so a big improvement. Called the clinic and told them the good news and we came to the agreement that I should start ride her again and in a month do a new checkup. I keep riding her and she gets better and better. I also lunge her once a week to see if she improves. And she does improve. 1 week after the home vet was there she is much better in the lunge on soft and hard surface, 2 weeks after she is even better and 3 weeks after she is completely sound on soft surface and 99% sound on hard surface. I was thrilled and start upping the training. It doesn't go so well. When I start to put her more together to do the harder stuff in dressage she is lame again. Sound when ridden on long reines but lame when I try to collect. I am devastated and don't know what to do now. In the videos I can't see any lameness if I only look at leg legs, they all have the same striding, but when you look at the horse she obviously bobs her head and look dead lame. The only thing I think I see is that she sometimes land toe first. And that's something I think I've seen since the beginning of the lameness. She also do not put left fore down as hard as right fore, it has a slightly lower sound when you listen to her walk on asphalt.
She's going back to the clinic next week, but the vets don't know what do to. So I feel like I have come up with all these theories for the vet to turn down after what fits or not. I don't think it is in the shoulder? But maybe heel pain? In the beginning before the new farrier came she had trouble walking a tight turn to the left and especially on hard surface. Now after getting new shoes I feel like she turns good both ways. And something tells me it's in the heels since it all started right after she got shoed and immediately got better after getting new shoes, but that doesn't add up with here not reacting to nerve block in the hooves?
If you made it this far I really appreciate it and I am so sorry it became this long. But we have done a lot so it's a lot of information
