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Discussion on Help!! Is she lame or isn't she??
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Member:
Nonie
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 - 7:29 pm:
My 15-year-old Connemara/TB mare is on-again-off-again "iffy" on her left fore, at the trot only, and only intermittently. This started about a week ago. When I first take her out (lungeing or under saddle) she has a definite but not severe head bob. Generally she will work out of it in about five minutes. After that she is either completely sound for the rest of our ride, or the bobbing crops up again, five steps bobbing, then sound, then a bob, then sound again for another ten minutes.
This occurs whether I ride her in the ring (sand footing) or take her out on the trails and roads (she's an endurance horse). When we do our endurance "power trot," she is entirely sound and even. Trotting on the roads (hard surface) she is sometimes completely sound, sometimes bobbing.
I've also noticed that she's tripped on her left fore frequently when we've been out on the trails. She is not the most careful stepper, and she will stumble naturally, but it seems to me she is stumbling more now on the left fore. Of course, the trails are in somewhat rough shape, and a lot of the horses are stumblng.
I've checked her carefully before and after every ride and she has no heat, no swelling, no digital pulse, no response to pinching all her tendons hard enough to make my fingers sore, no response to pulling the front of her toe back towards her elbow--in other words, no discernible symptoms other than the intermittent head bobbing and stumbling.
My farrier comes out next Tuesday and he is excellent. I have pretty much decided to wait and see what he says and then go for a full vet exam if he is stumped. But in the meantime, does anyone (Dr. O??) have any ideas/suggestions?
(I am thinking that it almost feels to me as if she has a stone or some irritant in her shoe that bothers her only when pressured in a certain way, the way it would do one of us if we had the same thing. ????)
Zoe
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 - 10:39 pm:
I am afraid Zoe we only know what you tell us so we remain uncertain too. There is nothing in your post to hang a hat on and for more on clear signs of lameness see, Diseases of Horses » Localizing Lameness in the Horse.
DrO
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 - 11:17 pm:
OK...I will ask a silly question. What is an endurance "Power Trot"?
The idea that I have is that; tripping could be suggestive of being sensitive in the heel area.
The suggestion that I have is; your farrier is coming out next Tuesday,could your vet be there at the same time to start with an examination.
Another question that I have is; are the other horses that are stumbling on the trail serviced by the same farrier as you?
Keep going  .
Susan B.
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Member:
Sunny66
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 - 11:34 pm:
hmmmm.... my guess...Gravel?
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Member:
Nonie
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 - 6:53 am:
Dr. O, the article is great, thanks. I did read it, still remain stumped.  Susan, "power trot" is just my term for that huge ground covering extended trot that we do in endurance to eat up the miles. My horse loves it when she gets a chance to travel that way, and the fact that she is sound when she does it makes me hope her lameness can't be too serious. But I am not going to ride her out again until the farrier sees her.
Like I said, my farrier is excellent, and no, I am the only one at the barn who uses him. I will wait to get the vet out afterwards, as I would like to hear what he says privately first. Aileen, I am thinking gravel, too, kind of hoping that is it.
Will keep you all posted.
Zoe
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 - 9:40 am:
Does your horse possess any of the clear signs of lameness described in the article Zoe? It sounds like she does so there is pain, but it is intermittent and she warms out of it. Using the article yOu should be able to pick which leg and do a examination to try and further localize it. Note that a unerupted abscess (a developing gravel) usually causes severe ongoing lameness. Lastly for first aid on a lame horse where the cause is not known is given at, Diseases of Horses » Lameness » First Aid for the Lame Horse.
DrO
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Member:
Alden
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 - 10:12 am:
Hi Zoe,
I'm thinking a little different about your post and DrO may correct me for being completely off base.
I thinking a 15 year old TB endurance horse isn't a spring chicken any longer and may just require an evolving management program. I know I don't jump out of bed in the morning, like I did 10 years ago, without a few kinks and stiffness that needs worked out . Is it possible your horse is just telling you he needs a little more warm-up/cool down and possibly a review of your training and conditioning program? Maybe some massage therapy looking for sore muscles?
I'm not suggesting we don't investigate lameness or attempt to treat problems as they develop, but I think sometimes many problems are less medical as management. I'm often correct by my wife when I tell someone how old one of my horses is, the years tend to run together for us and we forget our equine partners are getting older along with us and will have different requirements than when they were youngsters.
Good day,
Alden
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Member:
Cpacer
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 - 3:30 pm:
Alden, how would you describe a good warm-up?
I used to be under the impression that walking and trotting for a while was required before cantering, but found my horse really only warmed up after a little canter. My trainer told me that cantering loosens up the back muscles so I've started cantering much sooner than I used to.
You think that's okay, or would a good warm-up involve more stretching, and maybe extended moves at slower paces? Just curious what would be considered a good warm-up?
You're right though, 10-years of endurance could be taking it's toll. I know 10-years of snowboarding certainly took it's toll on me!
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Member:
Nonie
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 9:31 am:
Your articles are excellent, Dr. O--I always go to them first when there is a problem. I've identified the leg pretty much for certain as the left fore. I've done all the tests you suggest (for several days) and can find NO evidence of pain, swelling, heat, pulse, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary, sound at the walk, just an intermittent head bob at the trot and occasional stumbling.
As I said, my farrier comes Tuesday so I will wait and see what he says, then get the vets out for a thorough workup if he is stumped. In the meantime, I have put her on 1 g of bute twice a day for three days to see if that solves the problem, and then see what happens when I discontinue the bute. I figure the more info I have for the farrier/vet, the better.
Aiden, you make some excellent points. But I should clarify one thing--we are NOT a seasoned endurance team! We have done one 30 miler last summer and a 50 miler this spring, with no ill effects, but that's it. Molly has had quite an easy life, ridden only half a dozen times in the first seven years of her life, and done everything at a very elementary level since then, owing to the fact that I am a low-level rider, not to do with anything regarding her potential, which is considerable. LOL.
So I am hoping for a stone bruise or an abscess. Just FYI, last month she blew an abscess through the coronary band on her right fore, and she was never lame a single step--it totally caught me by surprise.
Connemaras are incredibly stoic. :-)
Zoe
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 10:28 am:
I have heard before of occult gravels but never seen one Zoe. I think most of these are minor injuries to the coronet: was their puss and foul smell? Alden's points are good and apply to the chronic lameness usually do to degenerative joint disease. This may go that way but I hope for a stone bruise too.
DrO
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Member:
Nonie
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 24, 2006 - 8:51 pm:
A little update:
I put her on a gram of bute twice a day for the last three days and when I went out to ride her today she was very very very slightly off for the first few minutes of our ride, and then absolutely sound for the rest of it. I've discontinued the bute and we'll see what she's like tomorrow. Tuesday the farrier comes.
It doesn't help, of course, that it is POURING rain here, and we have no indoor. 
Zoe
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Member:
Nonie
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 8:23 pm:
Just to put a happy closure on this--my farrier was out yesterday and yes, she has a crescent of bruises on her sole. The ground has been very hard, and after he trimmed and reshod her she was perfectly sound. He says if she goes lame again he will consider putting pads on her. But thankfully it's just a bruise, or a couple of bruises, and not some horrible tendon injury.
Zo
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2006 - 6:36 am:
Delighted to hear it Zoe.
DrO
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