Worried - Badly lame in right hind

S

Supanova

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 September 2008
Messages
1,303
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
I came home from work today and my mare is very badly lame in the right hind. She had been in the stable all day so limited opportunities to damage herself and she was definitely ok this morning. She is reluctant to put weight on it and drags her toe when she walks, although she seems to improve the more walking you do. I can't feel anything wrong with her leg or foot but she does seem a bit sensitive in the stifle area. Does anyone have any ideas what it might be? I am pretty worried as it looks quite bad. Will call the vet tomorrow but would really like to hear your views as am going to worry about this all night!!
frown.gif
 
My older horse did something very similar once - we were about to load him to go out for the evening - obviously changed plans - the next day he was completely sound with no sign of previous lameness, but I spent hours in a panic - (I think he must have knocked himself - or was a good actor and wanted the night off!) hopefully it will be the same for you - good luck.
 
Thanks wilde2 - I was about to load to go and do some schooling too so very similar! I really hope she will be better in the morning.....
 
My mare is still badly lame this morning. I definitely now think it is the stifle as it is warm and a bit swollen. The lameness eases with the more walking she does. Vet coming this afternoon. I hope she is ok.
 
Let us know how she goes on- I hope she will be alright. Have you tried putting Radial MR linement on the area where you think it is, it is very warming and may help her. Good luck
 
One of mine once did something similar but it was on the inside of his hind leg, quite high up. He would barely weight bare. Vet suspected a hairline fracture but didn't want to take him up to x-ray that day as he was worried it might destabilise. After two or three days he was much better and the fracture was ruled out. We think he stood on himself when getting up and it was badly bruised. Hopefully yours is also just bad bruising.
 
My old girl was showing very similar symptoms on Tuesday - she had a couple of days box rest, and is pretty much back to normal. I think she slipped in her box and strained something, so I decided that I would give her a couple of days in the box, and if there was no improvement I would call the vet - she was better the next day, and her improvement continued. I let her have a mooch about in the arena last night, and she will do the same today - I will let her out in the field again when the ground is a bit softer.
Hope your girl is getting better
smile.gif
 
Thanks all. The vet doesn't think it is anything too serious - either badly bruised or a strained ligament. She seemed much better (although still lame) on Saturday and Sunday. However, I have to walk her round for 5 mins twice a day and she had been as good as gold but yesterday afternoon she had a bit of a startle and jumped round. This obviously made her a bit sore again and she had a couple of quite lame steps. Now not sure whether to bother with the walking round or not as i don't want to make it worse!!
 
supanova, i have one in the same state at the moment, and i am putting on a saddle and loose-ish side reins before taking her out of the stable, it seriously limits her scope to leap around and makes her much more mindful of me. she can't stare around looking for things to be frightened of either. anything's better than her leaping around, or on top of me, i think. just an idea.
 
Thanks Kerilli that is a great idea! Hadn't thought of doing anything like that!! Will definitely try that later. This forum is so useful with so many knowledgeable and helpful people!!
 
I can see why that would have been a source of inspiration!! Hope you weren't hurt! Don't know how they manage to do some of the things they do - they can be like gymnasts when they want! Not even sure how my mare has injured herself in the first place!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top