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  Discussion on Intermittant Lameness
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theeg1

Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 10:06 pm:

I have a 9 year old Paso Fino mare who has intermittent lameness in her left front leg. The first time she showed a problem was a little over a year ago. The symptom was a Grade 2 limp on her left front when she was circled at a corto (her version of a trot) turning to the right. She showed no lameness straight on or to the left. This would last a couple of days, and then go away. Her episodes occurred about once a month for several months.

In May of last year the limp became quite pronounced. The vet felt that she might have gravel foot. We soaked her foot daily and kept her confined for about 10 days. At the end of the 10 days the farrier came and gave her a trim. After the treatment and the farrier she was totally sound, although there never was any indication that she actually had gravel foot. There was never any visible abscess.

I should probably explain that she is and has always been barefoot. Her feet are trimmed every 8 weeks. She is turned out on about 50 acres with her herd whenever I am not there. We are in Pennsylvania and the acreage is all grassy hills. In the summer she gets no grain as the rich grass is more than enough. She has excellent conformation and had no history of any kind of problem before last spring. She still lives on the farm where she was born so we do know her entire history.

After the episodes last spring she stayed totally sound all summer and fall. In February we did an Open House and demonstrations. I was free lunging her in the indoor arena, and she got over excited and reared up to spin. Her feet slipped and she came down hard on her front feet. She started limping that evening in the same way she had in the spring. This lasted about a week, and then she was fine again.

Towards the end of March she started again with the intermittent limping. Again displaying it most clearly at a corto turning toward the right. No limp at a walk, and no tenderness shown when she is taken on gravel or hard surfaces. The pattern of limping for a day or two, and then being fine for two or three weeks seemed to be repeating itself. Then about three weeks ago she came in from the field with a swollen abrasion on her neck and a bump on the right rear hip. The vet came that day and diagnosed her problem as a tussle with another horse. Thought the swelling was a bite, and the bump on her hip was a kick. I don't know if that was relevant but want to include everything I can. Both healed up within a couple of weeks.

Since then she has been limping more frequently - again showing the same symptoms as before. Two weeks ago I found a separation in the heel area of the hoof wall of her left front foot which had not been there the previous week. The separation is about 3/4 inch long, about the width of the hoof pick, and about 1/4 inch deep. I cleaned it out really well, was able to get down to healthy white line, and treated it with iodine. She is having it cleaned out and treated with iodine regularly. The farrier came a few days later and trimmed her.He thought the separation might be white line disease. He tested her foot very thoroughly for sensitivity but got no reaction at all. Her other feet all seemed fine, and her limp was grade 1, only showing at a corto turning to her right. No tenderness on gravel and no limp in a straight line.

Last Tuesday the vet came out and examined her and x-rayed her front feet and legs. The separation on her left front foot showed on the x-rays as no deeper or extensive than what was visible from the outside. It is well short of any bones or the coronet. There was no separation or evidence of white line in any of her other feet. All of the bones are clean and show no deformities, degradation, or any other problem. The vet was actually very impressed with how clean the bones are on all of her feet and legs.Tuesday when we moved her for the vet she showed almost no lameness. I could tell she was "off" a little bit lunging to the right, but there was no head bob even at a corto and the limp was very slight. The vet felt that it was slight soreness from the separation in the hoof wall. That was healing well, starting to grow back in, and there is no black at all. The vet told me to just continue to keep it clean and treating it with iodine to prevent any infection from getting into it.

Today I went out and when I moved her she was worse than Tuesday. I would say her lameness is a little more than a grade 2 today. Still no lameness at a walk, still hard to see in a straight line, but visible turning in both directions, and very clear to the right. Head bobs at a corto with the head coming up when her left foot is down.

She has no swelling, no digital pulse, shows no sensitivity to hard surfaces or gravel even today. Her separation is still totally white and she is not sensitive to it. I cleaned it out and treated it with iodine again today, and it was clearly less deep than it was Tuesday. The farrier had trimmed out her hoof wall enough that it is not hitting the ground where it is separated, and she is not showing ouchy feet, she just limps, even on soft surfaces, when doing a corto.

Now we are wondering if the hoof wall was just a coincidence and maybe not the problem at all. My trainer is also her breeder and has had horses for 50 years. She has no clue at this point. The vet doesn't know what is going on, she can't find anything wrong with her, and we are very frustrated. Part of the problem is that she goes from clearly limping, even though low grade, to fine and then back again so quickly that it is hard to even get the vet out when she is actually limping. Whenever I let her out in the fields she feels good enough to take off to join the herd in a full gallop and shows no lameness at all then.

We have an excellent clinic about 4 hours away at Ohio State that I can send her to for a full analysis if I need to. Part of my question is whether they will be likely to be able to diagnose her if she is fine when they see her.

I need advice. Any suggestions you may have would be welcome. I can also answer any additional questions. There is a picture of Hurricane and I in my profile that was taken last summer. Thanks for reading this long history.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 9:57 pm:

Hello Gwen,
If there is no lameness when they examine the horse, they will not be able to diagnose the cause but often such lameness has not completely resolved just become very hard to see. There is nothing in your post that allows us to guess at the problem but it is also not clear you have done some of the simple things that can be done at your farm. For more on this see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Localizing Lameness in the Horse.
DrO
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