This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Spine, Back & Pelvis » Pelvic Fractures »
  Discussion on Recovery approach to pelvis pain in horses
Author Message
New Member:
joannr24

Posted on Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 - 11:09 pm:

Hello,

I was wondering if someone can give me guidance with a situation I have with my four year old paint. Keep in mind this will be long : )
I bought this horse when he was 3 months old. We moved him to a stall when he was six months old and between six months and 18 months he cast himself a number of times. A chiropractor looked at him at 18 months and mentioned that his pelvis seemed out of joint. She did some work on him and I figured he was ok. When we started him under saddle at 3 years old he did quite well but he struggled with his left lead canter. His right lead canter was fine. I was advised by vets and trainers that this was normal development for a young horse and it would improve as he built strength. He was being trained for dressage. After a few months I noticed that his left lead canter did improve. I also got rid of his dressage saddle which we found was hurting him and ordered him a custom saddle. About mid-April of this year his left lead canter started to fall apart again. He could barely canter under saddle or on a longe line to the left. I was told he was just being lazy because I was asking him to work but after he started trying to run away with me I knew there was a problem because anyone who owns a paint knows... they are not of the mindset to run away.

I had my chiropractor look at him and he adjusted him and the horse literally fell down when he adjusted his pelvis. I about died. The chiropractor didn't seem fazed by this and said his pelvis was subluxated and that I should trot him every day for 30 minutes to build up his muscle along his top line to support his pelvis so it wouldn't subluxate again.

I went along with that for a day or so and then just didn't feel comfortable with that diagnosis. So that week I had my regular vet come out and he said he was very sore in the right gluteal and he was lame behind. He suggested 3 months stall rest. I said ok because he's only four and I didn't want to ruin him. Also, at that time his right hip was higher than his left. Today, it is no longer higher but if you feel down his spine it seems like his sacroiliac area is off center. You can feel more of that part of the spine on the right side than on the left. That started in mid-June. The horse was ok with the stall rest and the two five minute hand walks he got each day but as he felt better he began to party in his stall. I talked to my vet about this and after coming out to check him and seeing he was sound again he said try trotting him on the longe line for five minutes and add a minute each day as he does better. I have been doing that for a month now. Some days he comes out and he looks great and other days he is a little more stiff. He always has to roll which I like because when he was hurt he stopped rolling which is unlike him. So I always use the roll to see if he is feeling ok. I feel like when he goes to the right which is the side that has always had the trouble he will look like he is stabbing with his hoof. Sometimes he will swing his tail and other times he won't. My regular vet also felt his hind feet which are barefoot were growing weird and they were contributing to his pelvic issues. He and the farrier did a major overhaul on his trimmed feet.

Today the custom saddle fitter who is from Canada came out to check the saddle fit. He watched him go and said he started out lame at the trot ( today was the first day I trotted him since mid-June) and then he just looked stiff but not lame. Also, he noted the horse was very back sore in the saddle area which made no sense to me since he hasn't been ridden in two months. His opinion was that the stall rest was not a great idea because now the horse is dealing with atrophy which is causing the sore back and weak hind end. He felt I needed to get back on this horse and start trotting him for five minutes each day to start building the muscles back up in his hind end and back which is what the chiropractor said too.

Here is my question: Which way is the right way for these injuries? Should I keep the horse on stall rest until his trot on the longe is perfect.... or do I start working him again under saddle to build up his atrophied muscles? I am very worried that if I choose the wrong option I will end up really hurting this horse in the future? Also, would putting hind shoes on this horse remedy these pelvis issues? I noticed with the new trim that now a few days before he is due again he has a lot of flair on the inside hooves?

Human athletes would let their injury heal and then go back to work and work through the pain but I am not sure if I should do that with this horse or not?

Sorry for the novel but I would appreciate any advice or hear from anyone who went through this too?
Member:
juliem

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 12:36 am:

Welcome to the site JoAnn. I wish I had some help to offer you, but others no doubt will and Dr. O will help you get a better handle on a diagnosis so you can actually find out what you're dealing with. Only then will you know how to treat. Was there a reason this horse was stalled from 6 months old to 18 months?
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 10:34 am:

Hi JoAnn and welcome.

DrO is the expert, but I guess my feedback is that you don't seem actually to have a diagnosis on this horse, so it would be difficult to suggest a course of action. Have you had a full physical and lameness exam on him recently? What were the exact findings? If you have not had a recent exam, that would be the place to start.

It is true that long confinement can cause stiffness, atrophy, etc.. But so can lots of other things.

Good luck with your guy, and let us know what you find, and what your vet recommends.
New Member:
joannr24

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 11:05 am:

Thanks for your responses. When my vet did the last lameness exam a month ago before I got the ok to trot him on the longe line he was no longer lame and just had very mild soreness in his right gluteal. The vets recommendation was to start trotting him and ask him to work through the slight pain he might encounter. That is where I am at right now.

To actually have a full exam with the special xrays would require me to trailer him up to Phoenix Arizona. He is insured but my vet and I decided to wait and see how the stall rest went before we went off to do the big diagnostics.

Also, have any of you ever heard of shoeing the front feet only causing a horse to be unbalanced. Blaze is only shod up front and I read an article by a pretty prominent farrier saying he believed that was problematic. Also, Blaze is blessed with tiny paint feet. He wears a 0 up front and he is 16 hands. He has wedge pads and gel to force his heal to spread to prevent navicular from starting. I mention this because his front feet are really picked up with the pad so it makes me wonder if that is throwing off his hind end and causing the stabbing with the hind feet.

My friend watched him trot yesterday and she said he moves like his hind feet hurt. He is not smooth but choppy.

Thanks again for listening to my saga. I am so glad I joined this site because it is so full of information.
New Member:
joannr24

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 9:50 pm:

You know today I had a friend tape him trotting on the longe line and compared it to other videos of him taken earlier this year and last year. He actually is not lame. He just won't move his hind end nearly as much as he used to. The horse is very lazy so I have to consider that and he gets bored very easily so perhaps longing is not exactly exciting. This afternoon I saddled him up and we went for a 20 minute walk where I asked him to go long and low for a couple minutes then let him walk on a loose rein and repeated that several times. He was really moving out in the walk just like he used to. When I felt him get a little tired I walked him back to the barn and he even tried to trot. I am starting to think that maybe he does need to start going back to very easy work and start limbering up those muscles. Each day I ride him I will monitor him to make sure I don't see signs of increased soreness. I figured at the walk I could probably get on him about five times a week. If this is overkill please let me know.
Thanks,

joAnn
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 2, 2008 - 9:17 am:

Welcome joAnn,
If I understand your posts correctly: The horse is currently not lame and you are slowly increasing the exercise. There are some changes in the gait but you believe these may be do to lameness and being our of shape.

Given the above information this sounds like a sensible plan.
DrO
New Member:
joannr24

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 3, 2008 - 11:05 am:

Dr. O,

Thanks so much for your response. I feel like I am doing the right thing. I did have one other question though.

On Blaze's front feet he has natural balance steel shoes, full wedge pads with frog support and vet tech CS gel injected. This was created by my vet because he has small feet and his heels were contracting making him walk on his toes. This shoeing change has helped his front end immensely.

On his hind end, the vet felt his hooves were growing incorrectly and this was contributing to his pelvis issue. He is barefoot behind. A month and a half ago the vet had the farrier pull his toes very far back on his hind feet and trim the heels down to the widest part of the frog. He wanted to line his bones up with his hairline ?? - not being a vet I didn't understand that part.

Blaze is due for shoes this weekend and his hind feet have flared on the outside which is to be expected I am told.

Here is my question: Could the major shoeing up front and the barefeet behind be causing the horse to be unbalanced and hurting his ability to come underneath himself? Should I consider putting shoes on his hind feet? I read somewhere that some farriers feel if you shoe in front you should shoe in back or they can be unbalanced and because Blaze is in wedge pads up front I was concerned that could be affecting him?

If you could let me know I would appreciate it. If I am way off base I would like to know so I don't consider putting shoes on his hind feet.

Thanks again for your help.

joAnn
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 - 8:21 am:

joAnn if his hind feet are painful it certainly will shorten his stride. However there is no need to shoe the back just because the front is shod. I have several horses shod this way for riding on tough surfaces like gravel roads.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC