Walking a lame horse sound...

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Christmas Crumpet

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After my post about the mare yesterday who went pretty lame out hunting then got a bit better then by the time she was home was sound I'm quite interested to know about walking lame horses sound.

Her legs are fine this morning after cold hosing and bandaging over night.

We were dreading going out to do the horses in case her leg was up like a balloon indicating she'd done something horrible.

If she had done something to a ligament/tendon in her leg then would she have gone lame then gone sound again on the way home? Is it possible to walk the pain of something major like that off?
 
never underestimate the power of adrenalin... a friend had an ace hunter who was pretty lame until he heard hounds, then went 100% sound all day (including jumping... he used to whip-in off him so it wasn't an easy day, ever!) then started limping on the way home. (i don't advocate this, btw. i wouldn't have ridden him.)
unless it is purely stiffness, i would never try to exercise a lame horse sound. pain = the body saying that there is damage, which to me means it needs rest and treatment. sorry!
it is was a tendon it would just get worse and worse with the work, i'm sure, and show up once you turned for home and the adrenalin levels lowered. no idea about ligaments but i would think it would be the same.
glad the mare's leg looks okay.
 
I've always found box rest the best cure - even if it is terribly boring for them.

Having just fractured my ankle I am starting to understand both the pain and exhaustion of trying to hobble about in plaster getting essential jobs done and also the pain of being 'box' rested on the sofa....leg raised etc...
At least we have TV and the internet and books!
 
What I meant was that the mare obviously hurt herself at the time and was quite lame. There wasn't an option of putting her in the trailer to take her home so we walked home down the road. She had gone from being pretty lame to being pretty much sound. Would she still be lame today if we'd boxed her straight home or would the long walk down the road home have eased the pain and she essentially "walked it off?".
 
My horse did something similar when out on the common - I had to walk him on foot the 25min walk home as I was too scared to stay on board as he was obviously lame. No choice to box as in the middle of nowhere. By the time we made it home he was pretty much sound and fine the next morning. However he is prone to bruised soles so we think he stood on a sharp flint hence the extreme lameness but it was short lived. However, if I had the choice I'd never risk trying to walk off lameness.
 
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