Would you be happy with this?

Hullabaloo

Hullabaloo

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Basically my horse has been unlevel/slightly lame since Easter. He's been unlevel in front and not quite right behind. The sort of hard to put your finger on lameness! Had saddle checked (fine) and physio (no obvious back problems), nerve block and x-rays which my vet has done on the front leg only. Nothing conclusive - no sign of joint problems and a bit of improvement when nerve blocked the fetlock. Vet gave him a course on danilon for a week which finished on Friday and asked me to trot him up and ring him with what I found. My instructor took a look at him yesterday and thought he was much improved but still not quite right, this time on the off fore, near hind diagonal.
Spoke to the vet this morning who said he doesn't think there's any point in doing anything else at this stage. Just get on and ride him and see what happens. I popinted out he hasn't even looked at the back legs yet but he said now he'd had the danilon there was no point til he went lame again.
We had a similar issue last summer which the vet thought was a tendon problems and with rest it came right until this happened which is why I'm worried about an underlying problem and feel its time we get to the bottom of it. My instructor who knows the horse well agrees with me.
I just wondered if anyone else would be happy with my vets advice? Maybe I'm just getting frustrated and impatient?
I also wondered where I would stand with my insurance if I want to get a second opinion.
Any thoughts?
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I would be perfectly happy with this advice. To me it sounds as though he is suffering some sort of stiffness as a compensatory.. Probably due to box rest and i would see what happened when the horses is worked through it.

As much as you and your instructor know the horse, the vet is the professional and his advice is paramount.

Also, has your horse seen his farrier since he became unlevel.. if not, get his out to have a look, sometimes they can shed light upon it from past experiences.

Lou x
 
If I was in your shoes would ask if you can get a 2nd opinion done,speak to your insurance company or you could keep going round in circles and it's not giving you any answers...Good Luck with it!
 
He's been on field rest rather than box rest (as agreed with vet) so shouldn't be any stiffness. The farrier has seen him twice and apart from a bit of a bruised sole over easter his feet are fine. The vet is also happy with the way she;s been shod.
I agree that the vet is the professional and I want to follow his advice but I don't feel he's listened to me and he hasn't even looked at his back legs, despite the locum agreeing that there is a problem behind as well as in front.
 
NO - I wouldn't be happy with this, it's gone on too long & also from the experience I've just had.
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I would definitely ask for a referral and seriously consider a full bone scan.

I've had similar with my horse. He's on and off lame every 6months or so but with different symptons. Sometimes it's the back then somewhere with the leg, nothing conclusive. This time he wasn't lame at all and was jumping and schooling fine. The only niggle I had was that he was trying to kick me when I put the saddle on and he sometimes went disunited behind. He also passed all the flexion tests!

He's now had the scan and it showed up sacroilliac problems and fetlock problems.
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I would not have had this full diagnosis without the scan.

I sincerely hope yours is not this serious but at least you would know what you were dealing with.
 
He was only diagnosed on Friday so it's early days.

He's had one injection though and he looks loads better already, so I've got my fingers crossed.

Although the diagnosis is not good at I feel a bit better knowing what is wrong & can now work with it. Which is basically steriods for his fetlocks (I think?) and physio and pessoa work for his back.

Best of luck with yours.
 
I also wouldn't be happy with this, like Dixie I too have had a bad experience with a vet with a "can't be arsed" attitude. My horse was intermittently lame for three months (after initial hopping lameness for one day) and my vet took his sweet time booking us in for various diagnosis methods. Eventually she went for MRI at another practice and it turns out she has torn her deep digital flexor tendon with only 30% chance of recovery. If this had been fast-tracked to MRI as it should have done the injury could have been not so bad (2cm tear) as I had been advised to turn her out in a pen daily, which she occasionally jumped out of. As I am now told, it is vital to totally rest tendon injuries within the first three months! Now I am just left hoping that any damage done within the last three months isn't going to be what broke the camel's back as they say, and that my mare will recover to be a dressage pony. My vet then told me there was nothing in the way of treatment that could be done and that I may as well give up (not in so many words). I have just changed vets and been told not to give up if I don't feel it is time, and there are things we can do to help. TBH if I hadn't been so pushy my vet wouldn't have got the MRI booked for another month! Don't forget, you are the one paying the vet's wages and if you're not happy with his opinion you are entitled to ask for a second opinion. This is your horse's health, don't settle for second best. If you can afford to pay for it, get the vet to at *least* look at the hind legs once the Danilon has worn off.
 
That's appauling. Thanks god you went to another vet while your horse still has a chance. I hope your mare recovers.

I also feel my vet can't be arsed. I actually want to give him money (the insurance company's money actually, but still money!) to tell me what's wrong with my horse and he doesn't seem to want to bother! My insurance only covers 50% of MRI scans but at the end of the day if that's what it takes I will find the money. I just feel I'm being fobbed off. Will definately be getting another opinion!
 
If it were me, I would want further investigations done in an attempt to get to the bottom of this- Whether this be a scintigraphy/bone scan, or an MRI or whatever other investigative technique is thought to be appropriate.

I have had problems with my horse's SI in the past - These were only picked up when my horse was sent (by me) to a specialist vet unit (where they did scintigraphy) rather than my local vet who was not doing anything much.

My advice is try to get referred to a more specialist, experienced vet hospital where they have the experts and the equipment you might need.

It is very difficult to know whether treatments/actions are helping or hindering your horse's progress if you don't have a diagnosis.
 
H was nerve blocked etc 3 months box rest etc in his hind, vets found nothing, and was told to carry on. I admit he does have his worse days, mainly in the winter or if it is damp etc. But as long as I give him enough warm up he is eventually ok. He has never been quite right but nothing obvious. He is happy though so have not persued it.

He was proper lame for on and off 6 months before the yard who owned him at the time had it done. One of the reasons I bought him, as I was loanining him and had no control.

Turns out it was his way of saying enough of the riding skool lark get me out And we did !!!
 
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