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  Discussion on Lameness in older pony
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Member:
dxangel

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010 - 5:36 pm:

Hi Dr O,

Me again, this time i am writing in regards to my 24 year old Welsh Pony.

History/Management:
Laminitis, in the distant past, no laminitis since she has been in my care.
barefoot.
Fed hay and a chaff mix in winter. Strip grazed/restricted grazing in spring/summer to prevent any further lammi episodes. So far this regime has worked very well.
stabled overnight in winter, out 24x7 in summer.
Stiffness expected in a horse of her age, does not track up, but loosens up after 15 minutes or so, trotting work. Probably has some arthritis in her hocks, as sometimes has issues with canter leads, however copes very well with supplement and work improves her way of going.

Workload: W/T/C with 8 year old novice rider 1-2 times a week in winter, 3 times a week in summer. Some work on lunge with rider.

has been coping admirably this winter so far.

10 days ago -
2 weeks after last trim
Would not walk out of her stable in the morning. Did not want to walk out at all. Noticeably lame in a straight line, stumbling.
- Slight Digital Pulse LF
- No heat
- No swelling

Farrier came straight out - hoof testers positive LF Lateral near heel. Dug for abcess, nothing.

- gave painkiller, box rested, poulticed for 3 days (2x wet, 1x dry )
Farrier returned, had another look, still couldnt find anything. Advised poss bruise? But theres really nothing she could bruised herself on. her field is a mudbath right now.

- Box rested without painkillers for 3 days, then turnout. Bolted up the field. Coming in and out as normal, a bit stiff in the mornings, but as expected for her.

- +7 days, put on circle on soft ground, after hacking out sound, lame LF on circle in trot.

Obviously vet is the next point of call, but just wondering if there is anything else i can do to pinpoint the lameness. I have read the above article.

So far, lammi ( no sign, and not bilateral ) and abcess ( would have gotten worse, she got better ) have been ruled out.

That leaves some kind of pedal/sidebone fracture ( need radiographs ) a bad bruise ( doubtful ) navicular ( oh dear )... what else could it be?

Would like to keep her in work as she loves having job and it seems to keep her supple, but also need to be realistic.

Would love your input.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 - 7:09 am:

The recommendations in the article are the basis of localizing pain in the foot once the foot has been shown to be a problem with a PDN/ring block. As it starts with evaluating the history of the lameness, proceeds to the details of a basic hands on exam, and then is a step wise fashion takes you through advanced diagnostic techniques all the way up to magnetic imaging, I am not sure what I can add to it.

Remember the basic point of the lameness diagnosis articles is that you do not start with trying to guess what it is you start with the question of where is the pain coming from, out of that localization comes the possible causes. If you are not certain the pain is in the hoof check out Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Localizing Lameness in the Horse.

I should note that bruises can certainly be painful for longer than 10 days. And your post seems to intimate that things are steadily improving, it may be that a bit more time is needed but that depends on the cause.
DrO
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