Thoughts on lameness please....

[frostyfingers]

My horse has now been lame for 3 weeks - the first week was box rest, ice packs and bandages. After the vet revisited he said to put him out, which I did but being an idiot TB horse galloped about so I put him back in then he spent the next 2 days in small grassy pen with hay, and in at night. Then I eased him to out all day and in at night, and then out all the time.

At all 3 visits the vet has said he really doesn't think it's a tendon, but I can't help thinking the worst.

He's now lame again - not hugely, but enough although the original swelling has gone and there's no heat (it was on the inside of his front leg, just below the knee).

I have booked a scan which can't be done until Thursday so what do I do with him now - back in all the time, back in at night or during the day, or back in a confined yard.....? My regular vet is away and the chap I spoke to said to leave him out, but surely if he's lame and it's got worse not better then leaving him is not going to help? I hate having him in as he makes such a mess (lazy of me I know), and it means horrible dry feed just when he really needs nice spring grass. When he was box rested I grazed him in hand every day, but it was difficult as he was so pleased to be outside!

Wise suggestions required please!

You say your Vet doesn't think its a tendon injury, did he mention what else he thinks it might be?
I'm not great with lameness, I tend to just go with the Vets advice but I can't think of many incidents where I think it would be a good idea to turn out a horse with possible 'strain' type injuries - tendons, ligaments etc, all will improve much better with box rest. So, if I was you I would put him on box rest with hand grazing (if you can manage) until you can get a definite diagnosis on Thursday. If you leave him out for the next week and it is the type of injury that will worsen with exercise you could end up with him on box rest even longer than you will if you start straight anyway.
Best of luck for Thursday and hope it turns out to be nothing serious.

I haven't had much experience with lameness, but if a human pulled something or hurt themselves, the advice is often to try and keep moving so it doesn't seize up. I do often wonder whether box rest is a good idea really. It can also be incredibly stressful for horses, and I would have thought that stressed out box walking in a confined space would be bad too in the long run. I think the small enclosure with hay might be better.

Conflicting advice there - I too am one of the "keep it moving" people. When I had a big ankle injury myself I forced myself to keep moving because I knew that sitting with my foot up was not going to do me any favours. I believe medical advise for humans these days for strains is to get moving on it.

I always figure they'll run as much as they want/can. If they're in pain they'll walk very little.

Could it be something daft like a kick from another in the field? It's not always doom & gloom.

Went to catch mine last week and they were all galloping around the field like a bunch of asshats. By the time I caught her she'd been kicked on the muscle between the legs (hoofprint still showing) and a touch of blood drawn. No damage at all though.

I have an enclosed yard so let him out in that, but he went mad, even with company - pawing the ground, rolling and cavorting like an idiot so I've gone for the box rest, with walks.

We did an hour in hand grazing am and pm, and I let him roll as well and then went for a walk down the lane. It's a compromise, but he worried me so much when I let him out that I think I'll stick as we are until Thursday. I'm mystified as there's no heat or swelling....and that he's been lame, sound then lame again!

Within the hoof then.

I won't box rest, did it once with in-hand walking, she went up and left me dangling. Too much energy.

Foot abcess? going down then flaring up again? Has a farrier had a look?

Yep I'd look for an assess, often hard to detect because they can be deep inside but if the horse is shod you might feel heat in an otherwise cold hoof! Do NOT let them gauge out healthy horn, it'll burst on it's own and you can dunk the hoof in a bucket of salty water with a dash of tea tree oil. Assesses can have them going from hopping lame to sound in 24 hours.

I haven't had the farrier yet, but last time out the vet did use the pincers and there was no reaction at all, and there's no heat or pulse.

I'll see what Thursday's scan brings and then go from there - fingers crossed that it is something reasonably simple like an abcess!

Any updated frosty?

The Vet came out this morning, horse trotted up sound on the road with no pain when pincers used but was 1 10th lame after lunging for about 10 minutes so he's coming out a bit later when it's cooled down a bit to scan and we'll take it from there. Really frustrating as it is barely noticeable - you really have to look to see, but something must be wrong somewhere. The vet has asked if I am happy for the horse to go to Liverpool for an MRI if nothing shows up today - gulp - so I'll have lots of thinking to do. He is insured, and I do want him sound as he's only 8, but it's a bit like looking over the edge of a cliff!

What do you want to do with him?

What I mean is, is it really that important? The reason I say that is that my mare is intermittently lame, nobody can find a definitive cause - however, it does improve with regular work which leads us to believe it's possibly muscle-based. I think she's just got a bit of a gammy leg though and no amount of MRIs or scans will fix its gamminess!

But, I am for the best part a pootler, I hack, I school - if I could get my act together I'd do the odd ODE, but for me it's not the end of the world if I turn up and she's having a gammy day.

Well, having had a pootler last time round I was after something I could do a bit more with - not competing, but quite active, and including jumping. What I want to establish is whether something serious is happening or whether as with yours it's just a slightly dodgy limb (I've a couple of those myself and am intermittently lame!) - I would hate to get on and go before knowing exactly what's what, and for him to be sore because of it. I don't want him to breakdown completely because of my impatience, but if it does boil down to just not being level all the time then I can live with that.

How was the injury caused? Could he have an injury in his shoulder/quarters or back as well? I have found this to be the case when they will trot up sound on level concrete but then be lame on turns and a soft surface.

The vet has been again with the scanner and there is nothing there that causes him concern - no scarring from a previous injuryand no sign of any other new injury. Whilst this is inconclusive, it does at least mean that there's nothing horrendous such as a tear. The vet has given him another thorough going over from head (well poll!) to tail - all down his back and his limbs and can find nothing. He also pincered all four feet again, checked for heat and pulse and again nothing. We have decided that we will do another week box rest, then a week with limited turnout (with ACP to keep him quiet) and then re do all the stuff he did yesterday.....

Thistle - he came in on 3 1/2 legs from being out in the field - was sound the night before so it was something overnight, no sign of a kick or blow, with the inside of his front leg swollen, but not hot. He is so nearly sound that we are hoping that time will do it as all the obvious stuff has been checked for. I think if he's not right after the fortnight then we'll think about an MRI at Liverpool. (maybe!).

Meant to say that I'm grazing him in hand for a couple of hours daily, and will also be taking him up and down the lane for a gentle leg stretch so that he doesn't stiffen up too much - he's also bandaged.