anyone else sometimes 'lame' on hard ground?

[Alameda]

but then sound again after a day or so of rest?

yup - frequently.

My horse is 20, and has navicular. She can't cope with hard 'uneven' ground, but is fine with roads. she goes lame when her foot has twisted due to a hard rut or something. Sometimes even just a small ridge can do it. I have to be extremely careful where I hack when it's very dry or frozen.

She has been on Navlox for months now. at first high doses, but now just 1/2 a scoop a day + 1 bute. I CAN NOT run out of Navilox or we have weeks of lameness.

that sounds difficult to manage, what about in the field (where I suspect horse has been bombing around and making himself lame as he hasn't cantered on hard ground with a rider for ages), is she sensible?

hah - actually yes - this sets it off too. In fact EXACTLY that scenario happened yesterday. Charging about because of the flies and she is still lame today.

It is hard to manage and a real pain in the neck as I have had to give up on sharers as people don't want to share a horse who has to be wrapped up in cotton wool as much as she does when it comes down to what you can do with her. No jumping, no cantering unless ground is PERFECT, no trotting on uneven ground. Sometimes she can go lame at walk, so her buggering about in the field will set it off easily.

Since kids I don't have very much time to ride anyway & don't compete any more so I have just had to get used to the fact that she may well be lame when I want to ride. Sometimes I don't ride for weeks on end, but the Navilox has been good so thelast few momths have not been too bad.

Tell me more about the Navilox please marge?

Mine has arthritis in her off-fore fetlock and whilst she's had injections in to the joint, much in the way marge says - sometimes I'll turn up and she's lame, and there's not a buggering thing I can do about it. And am too soft to send her away for sausages. :(

I'm supposed to be taking it easy on her right now but I hacked out on Sunday and she really wanted to run... I just let her have 20 strides of buckaroo canter then back to trot. The treatment she's had so far has obviously taken years off how she feels physically...

I don't know if he is lame or just a bit stiff? He looked bad this morning but better now - maybe will trot him up this evening. Please can someone take the matter out of my hands? Neurotic.

Alameda - sounds like he's just a bit foot sore - is he unshod? Alot of horses are foot sore/bruised feet atm (according to my farrier) because the ground has been so wet their frogs/ heels have gone soft.
Bit of decent hoof hardener on the hoofs inside & out helps, but takes time, and no hard riding on uneven/ hard ground

he's shod in front, stiffness is in off hind so maybe? he is definitely not sound to ride at the moment

yes very much sounds like he's foot sore then. When are you due the farrier? they will be able to tell if he's got bruised soles or soft feet from the wet weather

he was shod about a week ago, not due until September anyway - grrrrr, why, just before I go on holiday

will just grab any passing vet or farrier tomorrow and ask them to have a look

Did the farrier trim the backs? I used to find with my welsh D he'd sometimes be foot sore for a week or so (on hard ground, especially roads) after the backs had just been trimmed. Ended up shoing him on all 4 feet in the end.

I wish I could remember! I only remember asking if he would still be my farrier if I moved to Sicily and how enthusiastic he was, given that he has customers in France. Long way to go for a pair of fronts and occasional trim of six other hooves!

You have reminded me that one hot summer they both had to be shod all round because the field was like a car park and their feet looked like twenty pence pieces. Maybe should call him out for another look if not better soon. Thanks.

If it's a joint problem, shoeing will destroy it further and shorten his lifespan considerably.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but my vet told me arthritis is rife these days, or perhaps the diagnosis is just better and more thorough iyswim. :(

Wet feet are good feet btw, healthy corn draws water through it. Do you remember "xylem" in biology? Same principle. ;)

Chips are just cosmetic but they do make a lot of people gasp... You know, compared to driving nails in. ;)

Alameda, Navilox is a vasodilator, so it improves the circulation in the feet, and my old vet told me it works in 'synergie' with bute, so he tends to prescribe them together for navicular.

around a year or so ago a different vet at the practice ( old one had retired) said they tend not to prescribe it any more but they now tend to give an injection of something which is best described as synthetic joint fluid, with some steroids, directly into the foot, into a tiny (something like 1 or 2 mm) space between the bones. So I went ahead and got him to do the injection, which they did at the surgery under heavy sedation while loads of X-rays were taken with the BIG needle in place through the back of her heel about 4 inches into the foot itself to make sure it was in the right spot before they injected the stuff. We had to wait two months or so to see if it would work. It didn't at all. In fact she was much worse afterwards, so we reverted back to bute and Navilox and she got better fairly quickly.

A pot costs something like £57 and on the very low dose she is on now ( 1/2 a scoop a day) we get through something like 1 pot every 6 weeks.

BUT I also have to get her shod something like every 5 weeks depending on the time of year, because she gets sore when her fet get longer, so if I leave it much longer that the 5 weeksshe will go lame until she is shod. She has natural balance shoes in front and normal on the back.

Bloody expensive creatures!

That's interesting, thank you. I've had the HA injection and 2 steroid injections directly into the joint. Thankfully because it's much easier to get at than the coffin bone, the first time was under nerve block and last time unsedated and she didn't flinch! I'm very much at the wait and see stage but I think she's going to need bute. :( it's definitely helped, but she's not sound. She's a lot different under saddle though so I guess she's feeling better and I've seen her galloping downhill in the field. The clot!

If it helps, the vet did say my horse was the lamest 'in a straight line' he had tried the injection with. Which I did wish he had told me before we went ahead with the injection as it was flipping expensive for something that was a total failure). He said it worked with 'most' cases.

She had steroid injections in one of her hocks a few years back as she was getting stiff when turning and was diagnosed with a touch of arthritis. That worked very well and she hasn't had any problems in her hocks since.

thanks both

thought I responded to this thread this morning but must have imagined it did ask the farrier about whether the hinds were ok because on rare occasions, well once, horse has had to be shod all round and even pony had to be shod too but he thought there was no need - obviously nobody wants to shoe unnecessarily, but so much the better if it would make matters worse

I do wonder if the fronts could ever come off, if he wasn't being ridden at all or whether he would still scrape/paw until they bled?

:( vet tomorrow, he is just not happy (horse not vet, vet is a she)

not sure what to do, as have just poulticed and am wondering whether to risk stabling, try a tiny pen in field or just chuck him out and do the poultice again tonight. vet thinks he is pretty arthritic generally but that is not the cause of current lameness.

There's a visible bruise on that sole and nerve blocking the foot made him 100% sound but doesn't really tell me what it is does it? I suppose a poultice is therapeutic whether it is bruising or abscess? Will just keep this up for a few days then see on Monday, maybe some gunk will come out. Worried it is fractured pedal bone or something

Oh no! Foot problems always send me into a panic.Can you turn him out with a hoof boot?

have sedated him and keeping him in overnight or whole weekend if he isn't too agitated - why did this happen just before I go away? :(

Animals are of course known for their timing. I have a first aid cupboard full right now so none of them will injure themselves. A horse will always break the last leadrope.

Can you dare go for x-rays? If he's arthritis perhaps it's also coffin bone. :(

Bruised soles tend to heal up really quickly and some absesses don't even cause lameness and even the big ones pop eventually bringing immediate relief.

My vet has a mobile x-ray machine and charged 25 euros per picture, or 5 for 100 which actually was far more acceptable than I ever envisaged.

(sadly not good news for my nag, she's not responded to the HA+ two cortisone injections and she's too expensive to have as an ornament, so I need to make arrangements next week. :( )

Oh no, am very sorry to hear that - especially as it was looking so promising recently? :(

Alpine how awful for you

Almeda yes, after the first shot I had one glorious ride where it was "all better", but unfortunately she regressed and a second shot didn't do it either. :(

I think we're going to take a year's break (we have 2 boys under 2.1!) And then look at something smaller and hardier and hopefully more suitable for the entire family.

Oh Alpine I'm so sorry to read that.Bloomin' horses,if they aren't breaking your bank balance they are breaking your heart.