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  Discussion on Sore back?
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Member:
Lindi

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 3, 2004 - 9:36 pm:

Dear Dr. O.,

I have a 2 year old Standardbred filly who was in harness training up until one month ago when the owner decided that she wasn't a good candidate for racing. She had no history of injuries. She is very frisky and interested in everything, which means that she is super active with the other 6 horses she is pastured with. I've seen her fall down a few times as she is running and kicking her feet in the air. She never seemed to be injured when she would pick herself up. A couple of days ago I noticed that she was walking funny, in that she is holding her tail tight to her bum and she seems to almost be arching her back. She was not limping but she was picking up her back feet and placing them down in a gingerly manner. When she would stand and eat she was placing her hind feet as though she was going to lie down, but she would remain standing. It looked like pain to me, so I gave her some Bute. The next day she looks much better so I didn't give her any more. Three days later now, she is still about the same, although she can certainly gallop when she wants to and it doesn't stop her from going where she wants to. My question is is if this could just be from a fall that I didn't see happen, a kick from another horse (although I checked to see if there were any signs of physical injury and there weren't), or if it sounds like the start of something more serious. Should I treat her with a few days of Bute and see how she is? We live in an isolated area (on a small island) and there is no local vet. Any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Lindi

Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 4, 2004 - 6:20 am:

Goodness Linda, you have been around long enough to know there is no way anyone could quess by looking at their computer screen which of the above is occurring. All 3 are possible. It is unusual to see a 2 yr old fall down a few times unless the footing is very poor so I do wonder if there is something serious causing incoordination. I would get my vet involved right now.
DrO
Member:
Lindi

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 4, 2004 - 8:46 pm:

Dear Dr. O.,

Yes, I have been around long enough to know that all no one can diagnose a problem over a computer screen, but I don't have a vet at my disposal. Our vet visits our island about once a month to two months on request, and that is why I was trying to get an idea of what I might be able to do for my filly until she can be seen. I certainly don't expect you to diagnose over the computer screen but I was hoping you might make some suggestions, like I see you do for so many other people with questions. I feel pretty dumb for posing those questions to you, but sometimes us horse owners are just grasping at straws and are looking for any crumb of information that might ease our minds.

I did manage to get in touch with our vet but she won't be able to come over for about one month. Her first impression was that it could likely be that the horse is not getting enough by way of minerals and vitamins. She suggested that this horse has had a bout of tying up and that supplements with the correct amount of selenium was worth trying. Currently the horses are not getting anything extra in their feed. She said she has seen quite a few horses with that condition and that I had to get her onto the right supplement asap, which I am doing. She said that that was the first thing to rule out and if we didn't see the horse start to improve, she would look at other things.

Thank you for your advice.

Linda
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 5, 2004 - 6:48 am:

We seemed to have cross wires here. Your question in the first post was not "why might my horse be stiff" but "could my horse have fallen or have been kicked or etc?" Which is the reason for my response. Yes tying up could look like this, but so could founder, or trauma to the neck or body. Also considering your description, the breed and age I am concerned about a possible Wobblers. I don't see the basis for diffentiating them in your post but perhaps on the phone and a familiarity with conditions locally the vet may be able to make a better guess than we could.

Though I can sympathize with your situation, I am afraid your problem is one of those that requires an experienced eye to actually look and make a judgement: pain or incoordination? To just guess at this, and guess wrongly, could very easily do more harm than good. We do have some descriptions of some of the observations and techniques used to differentiate the two Equine Diseases » Nervous System » Diagnosing Vertebral Disease and I would also review the article Equine Diseases » Lameness » The Diagnosis of Lameness in the Horse. However even vets are occasionally faced with cases where differentiating them is difficult.
DrO
Member:
Lindi

Posted on Thursday, Feb 5, 2004 - 11:57 am:

Dear Dr. O.,

Your first response was just fine. I realize how hard it must be to figure out what people mean in their email sometimes. Telling me to talk to my vet asap was good advice, I think! In talking on the phone she was able to ask me questions that I didn't give you information on, which I guess is the difference between trying to communicate in and email versus the telephone.

I will read the information you have directed me to as I am certain it will be very helpful. Information that you have on this site has helped me a lot in the past.

The horse has fallen as I said but those were times there I am sure it was the navigation through rocks, and over a snowy surface, with another horse right behind her, which caused the accident. I have never seen any movements in her that look like she is not coordinated. She came from training in harness racing and the only thing that they said that was negavite about the way she moves is that her front feet paddle outward when she paces. Watching her, I could see that she does that but even her paddling isn't that significant.

Hopefully this will be fairly easy to get under control, and if my local vet does find something different, I'll post it here again.

Thanks so much for your kindness and for being so patient when I know it must be frustrating!

Linda
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