When your horse is lame & you have no idea why...

itsonlyme

itsonlyme

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...what do you do? No heat, no swelling, no cuts, nothing.

Do you call the vet straight away or give it a few days? If the latter, do you box-rest in the mean time? And do you give anything? Just pondering...

By the way, i don't mean hopping lame or anything horrific - just a noticeable lameness.
 
Have you checked for a stone bruise? My lad came in slightly lame, no heat, so got the farrier, who got me to trot him up, and reckoned from watching him trotting on the concrete that he didn't have a stone bruise, but checked and found one right at the edge of his hoof. He really only noticeable on hard ground, if he hadn't had to come over uneven ground from the field, I might not have noticed it as soon.
 
Oh no - i wasn't really asking for me - just wondering what people do in that situation? I have had it in the past though - arthritis was the culprit. I was just wanting to know how long do you "hope they've tweaked something in the field", before you get the vet/farrier? Straight away or see how they go?
 
No, if have thoroughly checked and find nothing, I wait a day, then re-asses if considerably worse, I call the vet/farrier, if the same/better I wait another two days, then if no improvement after that the vet/farrier is called. I think I give it e few days so I can work out where the problem is coming from, weather it be vet/farrier/back person I call. Obviously in some cases it is hard to tell where lameness originates from, so if in doubt vet would be the way I go then.
 
I would leave pony as normal (out 24/7) and take a look the next day. If it was worse, call the vet but if it was the same wait another couple of days before calling the vet if there was no change.
 
I usually call my farrier pretty much straight away to check his hooves. He's normally got a pretty good idea of what's wrong.. if not then I would ring the vet for advise & he normally says to give it a few days first.. I normally wait 3 days-ish on box rest, if no improvement call the vet out.. I have had it before where i saw my boy whack his leg on the fence & he was lame, spoke to the vet a few times that week as was worried but in the end waited 10 days & then he was sound again.
 
Unless there is something highly visable I always suspect an abscess first and call in my farrier. He will more than likely find an abscess which I can treat myself without having the cost of the vet.
 
mollydollymo said:
...what do you do? No heat, no swelling, no cuts, nothing.

Do you call the vet straight away or give it a few days? If the latter, do you box-rest in the mean time? And do you give anything? Just pondering...

By the way, i don't mean hopping lame or anything horrific - just a noticeable lameness.
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In my case I left it for a few days. Then got the vet who did nerve blocks and isolated pain in the coffin joint. Then x rays with remidial shoeing and now waiting for a referal for an MRI.

Just because you can;t see any obvious signs doesn't mean there isn't a problem and as far as abcesses go, the lameness will get dramatically worse making it obvious that something is wrong but almost instantly better if it is.
 
mollydollymo said:
...what do you do? No heat, no swelling, no cuts, nothing.

Do you call the vet straight away or give it a few days? If the latter, do you box-rest in the mean time? And do you give anything? Just pondering...

By the way, i don't mean hopping lame or anything horrific - just a noticeable lameness.
Click to expand...

Personally I would always call vet if unknown lameness, I know of people who leave it & call T-Touch/ Bowen or back person but IMHO if its lame it needs a vet... Would rather pay call out for nothing than ****** up my horse.

Tendon & Ligament damage is present at 1/10 lame
 
I leave it a few days but reassess it each day. Horse stays out as better to keep moving than shut in a stable - they are out 24/7 and stress if in though.

The youngster was lame and could see nothing so left it and within a day she was slightly better and within 2 days was back to normal. She had just been stepping short with one hind though. The ground had been hard and she was one for hooning about!

Other one a couple of years back had no lameness but some swelling so hosed/soaked hoof in epsom salts. Within a couple of days was fine - months later and a new farrier mentioned an abscess and this fit in at the same period.
 
fidleyspromise said:
I leave it a few days but reassess it each day. Horse stays out as better to keep moving than shut in a stable - they are out 24/7 and stress if in though.

The youngster was lame and could see nothing so left it and within a day she was slightly better and within 2 days was back to normal. She had just been stepping short with one hind though. The ground had been hard and she was one for hooning about!

Other one a couple of years back had no lameness but some swelling so hosed/soaked hoof in epsom salts. Within a couple of days was fine - months later and a new farrier mentioned an abscess and this fit in at the same period.
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One of my youngsters went like that - lame on and off - just an odd step or two but nothing I could really pin point, suspected an abscess but it never got worse. Eventually had the foot xrayed and there just below the coronary band was an abscess - burst a couple of days later. Poulticed and cleaned up within a week.
 
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