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  Discussion on Broken angle in the front leg
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Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2000 - 10:09 am:

I have a thoroughbred mare of 13 years old who a few months ago for no known reason starting limping. We layed her off for a few weeks and she stayed the same. We had her checked at the vet, he put her on bute for 2 weeks thinking she could have sore heals. She did not improve. We had her back into the vet, he radiographed her and found nothing, but concluded that her angle was broken. And that with some corrective shoeing, he had hoped that she would become sound again. That was the only thing that he could find, and that if we raised her heal, and took more off the toe, it would get her realigned again. The shoer came out and did that and rockered her toe at the breakover point. We also left her barefoot. Shoer said her frog was not making contact, therefore giving her no support or cushioning.

Is that a common thing to have a broken angle, and will it make a horse lame in your opinion? If it is corrected with shoeing, how long would it take for the horse to become sound again? It is really frustrating to have a horse go lame and not find out the reason why. It was not real cut and dry that that was the cause of her lameness. We are hoping it will fix her.

Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2000 - 4:39 pm:

Hello Joy,
A broken angle can lead you to hypothesize certain causes of lameness but is not a "diagnosis" and not even a localization. You need to have a thorough exam (which it sounds like you have) and if it does not reveal the painful piece of anatomy, nerve blocks starting at the foot and working up the leg need to be done see, Equine Diseases: Lameness: The Diagnosis of Lameness in the Horse.
DrO
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