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  Discussion on Possible ringbone
Author Message
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Saturday, Aug 12, 2006 - 11:59 am:

Dr.O
I have a 7 year old quarter horse that I show in the Hunter Under class @AQHA shows. He really requires very little riding to keep him tuned up. He came up very lame on his left hind pretty close to his last shoeing I thought due to hock issue's that he was just needing his Legend so I gave him a legend and Adequan this in the past has made him feel great but this time there was no change so 10 days later I repeated the Legend and Adequan again no response. He would walk out of the stall only wanting to put his toe on the hind left down and would be better in soft footing he actually looks better when he has a more forward gait and more lame at the walk also he is much lamer with the affected leg to the outside of the circle when lunged and looks less lame with the affected leg to the inside of a circle. The vet blocked his hock first and he was still very lame so he then blocked out his foot and he was sound very quickly. The xrays showed slight ringbone equal in both hind legs I was completely devasted to hear this news. The vet realy does not think this is the cause of his lameness and thinks just because it is on the films does not mean that is what is making him lame. They pulled the shoe and I am going to poltice the foot for a week and then have a new shoe put on and a re-check in 3 weeks. He is suppose to be on 3 weks stall rest with bute for 7 days. He had no increased pulse and was negative to hoof testers. I was at a large Equine Hospital for this exam and I left 2 of the best vets in the area scratching their heads. Do you think this could have been a hot nail or possible an abscess even though he was negative to hoof testers and had no pulse in the foot? I hate to give him bute and slow down the process of an abscess if that is what it is. If it were a bad nail how long after the shoe is pulled before he would be more comfortable? He had that shoe on for over 3 weeks.

Thanks,
Melody
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 - 6:32 pm:

Melody, there is no way I can guess at what may be wrong and the history neither rules in or out a hot nail as they can be very variable in how they behave. Lack of response to hoof testors over the old nail holes does rule out pain from this cause however.

The foot is a complicated structure and simply blocking it out in the foot leaves many possibilities. Further diagnostics are expensive. Bute will not slow an abscess and along with rest would help with many other inflammatory conditions that occur in the foot.
DrO
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Monday, Aug 14, 2006 - 11:15 am:

Dr.O

Well, 2 days after the shoe was removed he is about 50% better. I did an Icthmol wrap and he is much more willing to put weight on the heel rather than just touching the toe down.When I was trying to clean the foot with a hoofpick he was very sensitive in the sulcus of the frog I really felt badly for him as he seemed in so much pain. I was hoping it had something to do with the shoe but everyone seems to think not due to his lack of response to hoof testers, however he is better just from having the shoe pulled I have not buted him because I wanted to see if he was getting better from the shoe removal. Could this be a bad bruise?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 - 6:42 am:

If it is a bad bruise of the sole you should be able to locate it with the hoof testers Melody.
DrO
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006 - 11:39 am:

Dr.O

I spoke with the vet this morning He said my horse has slight to moderate high ringbone and that the block he did in the foot would have gotten everything from the pastern joint down so there is a slight possiblity that his lameness is due to the ringbone. He did say he has never seen such a weird gait due to ringbone lameness. The plan is 3 weeks stall rest with poltice and have the shoe put on with half rounds in 3 weeks they will block the fetlock joint to see if that resolves the lameness and go from there.}}
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