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  Discussion on Abnormal Canter - Lameness in hocks? ligament?
Author Message
Member:
Jteis

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - 2:12 pm:

Dr. O,

I could really use your advice...

My horse began showing issues on his right lead canter last fall. He was sound at the trot and left lead canter was fine. On the right lead, he would move the back legs almost simultaneously with the outside front left. Also, he tended to let his back legs hang behind a little and a lot of movement over the loin area of the back. Some days it was worse than others and some days it was also very choppy or skippy looking. The vet did flexions and he was 1/5 on the right, 2/5 on left hock. He is bad with needles so blocking was impossible. Xrays showed "very, very mild arthritic changes" according to vet. We put him on IV Legend and he showed improvement.

A couple of months ago the canter issue returned, some days worse than others. The vet came out and found that his right patellar ligament was very tender where it inserts into the tibia on the inside of his leg. He was prescribed 2 bute/day and 15 minutes handwalking. A month later, the vet returned and this area was still tender. She felt I should take him to the respected local vet hospital and perhaps have his hocks injected and examine the patella ligament issue.

The next week, I took him to the vet clinic. This vet did a lameness exam, blocks were not possible. Vet thought right lead canter looked fine. Noted lots of movement in loin area. Hock flexion slightly positive both sides. Vet did not think the patellar ligament was tender but did note "fill" in the stifles on both sides and said the ligaments seemed larger than average horses. Xrayed right stifle - looked perfect. Injected hocks.

I followed the clinic vet's instructions per 3 days rest then return to light work. Yesterday, cantered on the lunge line and I still see the canter is not 100%. Trot looks great. Still moving those 3 legs almost simultaneously at the canter though. I palpitated the patellar ligament on the tibia area and there was an extreme reaction on the right side, no reaction on the left.

Not sure what you think of horse chiro but throughout this chiro visits always turned up lumbar region out of alignment and right hip always higher than left.

What should I do next? Should I work him at the trot only? Go back to stall rest/handwalking? More diagnostic tests? I'd like your suggestions.

Thanks,
Jennifer
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - 9:06 pm:

The problem I have Jennifer is the two conflicting opinions you offer: you say the canter looks odd and the vet says the canter looks fine. Everyone seems to agree there is no lameness at the trot. Without lameness at the trot the problem is not likely to be lameness in the legs, at least not a painful one, and think it is possible that something has sensitized you to the horses gaits and there may not be a problem. All things considered based on the information you post here, I believe I would either continue to ride the horse normally until the problem gets easier to identify or get a referral for a third opinion to resolve the conflict. Perhaps watching the horse under saddle may help as some back problems are more obvious under saddle, in particular, recently there has been alot written about sacroiliac subluxation that may present like your horse does. For more on this see, Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Spine, Back & Pelvis » Lower Back Pain in Horses.
DrO
Member:
Jteis

Posted on Thursday, Apr 14, 2005 - 1:49 pm:

Hi Dr. O,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have wondered if it just me being hypersensitive and even pulled out some old videos to compare his old canter vs. canter now. Comparing the 2 videos shows a definite difference. I'll read the articles on sacroiliac subluxation and when my vet comes out next weekend I will lunge and ride him for her.

Jennifer
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