lameness frustration

[Cymraes]

My 16 year old Cob gelding came up lame on his left front. He is sound except when we work to the left, turn on the forehand or go down a hill. I took him to my vet who first told me there was nothing wrong - flexion tests were good. I asked them to lunge him to the left ( I had to leave him there as I was at work), which they did and the lameness was then obvious. He then blocked him and isolated it to his left front heel. Took x-rays which did not show anything obvious. Thinks it's probably soft tissue. He told me to just give him bute before we ride and it might go away or get worse! I was a little surprised and didn't say anything at the time, but I feel I would be doing more damage by riding him. I'm at a loss of what to do. I really can't afford an MRI. Not sure what advice I'm looking for, but what would you do?

[Flight]

How long has he been lame for? If it's only a short time, I would rest for a week or two and then reassess. Maybe give him bute in that time if the vet suggests it's an inflammation somewhere? But I personally wouldn't ride.
;

[Tsavo]

Stone bruise? My horse had intermittent lameness depending on where the leg was on a line of travel sort of like you are describing. The thought was that it was a stone bruise. It resolved. I would rest him for a few days and see what you have.

Good luck.

[Cymraes]

It's been going on for over a month now. If I keep him on bute he seems sound, but as soon as he's off it for a few days he's lame again. Giving him bute an hour before I ride, as the vet recommended doesn't help. He wears shoes on the front feet only.

[Moutaineer]

Is there any correlation between when your farrier last saw him and him going lame? Or has your farrier seen him since he has been lame?

Wondering if it could be farriery or balance related.

[musical comedy]

Wondering if it could be farriery or balance related.

Along those lines. Sounds like it could be navicular 'syndrome', which is what they call it these days. I had a young mare that moved funky and blocked positive on both heels. Nothing showed up on xrays with her either. She had some bad hooves/conformation in general. It's not common to have a navicular problem on just one hoof, but it is possible. I don't know what I'd do in your case except to say I would be a basket case, as I am with any horse problem. I would probably not get an MRI even if I had the money to do so. I don't like the idea of general anesthesia and also if they find something, the r/x is always long term rest anyway. So, you could continue to ride him and if it is soft tissue it will get worse...or...you could do rest and see if it resolves. The problem with rest is that it may seem to resolve initially, and then after riding for a while it may return.

One question is how much trust do you have in your vet? I might get another opinion, depending on the answer to that. It concerns me a bit that you had to ask him to lunge to the left.

[Cymraes]

He went lame in between farrier visits. Although that has been on my mind, if it could be related. My farrier has seen him since the lameness began, put new shoes on 2 weeks ago with no change. I've used this vet quite a bit and felt confident, and he is "supposedly" one of the better lameness vets in my area, but as you said, that I had to tell him to lunge him after he called me to tell me he was sound, threw up some red flags, as did the advice to keep riding him with bute. I think I will just give him pasture rest and see what happens. Would you pull his shoes?

[NancyP]

Find a new Vet and get a second opinion.
Any Vet who says to give your lame horse bute and keep on riding him is not a very good diagnostic Vet.

[texsuze]

I would not pull shoes since it would be complicating an already complicated situation. It is possible that a modification in the type of shoe and/or trim would help, but I would want a vet's opinion on that first. I would get a second opinion, even if it means the inconvenience of trailering to another town. If it means a second set of x-rays, with a second set of eyes, I would be inclined to do that. As mentioned by others, I would not ride a lame horse. Mystery lameness is so frustrating. Best of luck.

[Cymraes]

Thanks everyone. It just seemed wrong to medicate a lame horse and possibly do irreparable damage by continuing to work him. I hauled 75 miles to go to this guy who supposedly was a lameness expert. My local vet that I had used previously retired last fall and I've had a hell of a time finding anyone else I like or is competent. Maybe it's my pony complex but I felt that he thought "oh this is just a 14 hand pony so it doesn't really matter".

[musical comedy]

Thanks everyone. It just seemed wrong to medicate a lame horse and possibly do irreparable damage by continuing to work him. I hauled 75 miles to go to this guy who supposedly was a lameness expert. My local vet that I had used previously retired last fall and I've had a hell of a time finding anyone else I like or is competent. Maybe it's my pony complex but I felt that he thought "oh this is just a 14 hand pony so it doesn't really matter".

I hope that's not true about this vet thinking a pony isn't worthy of a first class diagnosis.
Reading posts like yours make me thankful that I am only 2 miles from a top clinic and less than 20 miles from 2 others.
When you have the benefit of using the same vet for years and he/she knows your horse, it makes diagnosing things a little easier I think.

I just read a thread on coth from a person whose horse was lame on both heels. She got an MRI. I am going to provide the link for you, not because I think that is what your horse has, but only to give you an idea of what kind of things it could be. It is possible that you do have some kind of a trauma to the navicular area that doesn't show up on X-ray. But sadly, if you don't have a regular vet close by that is interested in helping you sort this out, you are between a rock and a hard place.

My gut feeling (based on nothing) is that this may be solvable if you can get a vet/farrier team willing to go the extra mile for you.

Here's the link: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showt ... ce-is-hard

[Tsavo]

I agree with MC. A vet came out to my barn today for some heel pain on the fronts on a DWB (third level). He took a very careful and detailed history before he started the exam. It was interesting that the horse seemed to have more reaction to hoof testers on the one front heel a few months ago but now had more reaction on the other front heel. The issue seemed to worsen after going to a show and traveling on different footing. And he noticed a prominent band on just the one front hoof that he thought might be some trauma about 4 months ago. So he combined the history with the observations and decided that they would try a pour-in pad to see if that would help. He didn't want to change too much else, at least at first.

A longer while ago, this horse had some issues on the back. She said is was getting heavier of late. I think the horse was protected the hinds as much as possible and over-weighting the fronts which are now sore. And I think the "worse" heel pain will continually shift between the front two feet until it resolves as the horse protects each hoof.

It was pretty interesting how the vet used all the information to come up with a plan in association with the owner and farrier.

[musical comedy]

Ditto Tsavo. Op, another thought. You weren't there when he lunged and blocked the horse, right? I am wondering if once he blocked the lame foot if the other foot showed up a little gimpy. That happens a lot. Both feet are sore in the heel, but one more than the other and the lesser sore hoof only shows up after the worst one is blocked. I hope that this is the case, because then you are probably dealing with a navicular syndrome rather than some kind of soft tissue in the foot.

[Dapple Field]

You can get a standing MRI done so that the horse does not have to go under. I don't know where you are but it wouldn't hurt to investigate that route.

[Quelah]

Cob as in Welsh Cob or Gypsy Cob? Anyway, you're Sierra Foothills as in Gold Country? If you want, you can PM me a better idea of where you are (it's a big area ) and what vet you saw if you care to share and I may have thoughts for you as I'm familiar with most of the vets in that area.

[Cymraes]

Ditto Tsavo. Op, another thought. You weren't there when he lunged and blocked the horse, right? I am wondering if once he blocked the lame foot if the other foot showed up a little gimpy. That happens a lot. Both feet are sore in the heel, but one more than the other and the lesser sore hoof only shows up after the worst one is blocked. I hope that this is the case, because then you are probably dealing with a navicular syndrome rather than some kind of soft tissue in the foot.

He didn't mention the other foot showing anything. He used some electronic gadget called a lameness locator which showed the lameness on the left. My gut tells me that since I wasn't there he blew threw the exam.

[Cymraes]

Cob as in Welsh Cob or Gypsy Cob? Anyway, you're Sierra Foothills as in Gold Country? If you want, you can PM me a better idea of where you are (it's a big area ) and what vet you saw if you care to share and I may have thoughts for you as I'm familiar with most of the vets in that area.

PM'd you. My gelding is a Welsh Cob.

[Quelah]

I don't have a PM from you, can you resend it?

[Cymraes]

I don't have a PM from you, can you resend it?

The PM is in my out box......can't seem to get it to send...not sure what I'm doing wrong?

[Quelah]

Got it, PMing you back

[Rhianon]

Ditto Tsavo. Op, another thought. You weren't there when he lunged and blocked the horse, right? I am wondering if once he blocked the lame foot if the other foot showed up a little gimpy. That happens a lot. Both feet are sore in the heel, but one more than the other and the lesser sore hoof only shows up after the worst one is blocked. I hope that this is the case, because then you are probably dealing with a navicular syndrome rather than some kind of soft tissue in the foot.

Yup. This is what would happen with Apollo (navicular syndrome). When blocked the "worst" one it was clear he wasn't good on the other either. He was always much worse on the near fore.

I would be very interested to know about this lameness gadget. If it can diagnose without doing blocks, it sure would have saved Apollo a lot of crummy exams.

[Cymraes]

Ditto Tsavo. Op, another thought. You weren't there when he lunged and blocked the horse, right? I am wondering if once he blocked the lame foot if the other foot showed up a little gimpy. That happens a lot. Both feet are sore in the heel, but one more than the other and the

Yup. This is what would happen with Apollo (navicular syndrome). When blocked the "worst" one it was clear he wasn't good on the other either. He was always much worse on the near fore.

I would be very interested to know about this lameness gadget. If it can diagnose without doing blocks, it sure would have saved Apollo a lot of crummy exams.

The vet said he was still sound on the right when the left was blocked. I believe all the lameness locator told them was that he was lame on the left front, which I could see with my eyes, without spending $175 for the use of this gadget! He still had to block to limit it to the heel.

[Koolkat]

Ditto Tsavo. Op, another thought. You weren't there when he lunged and blocked the horse, right? I am wondering if once he blocked the lame foot if the other foot showed up a little gimpy. That happens a lot. Both feet are sore in the heel, but one more than the other and the lesser sore hoof only shows up after the worst one is blocked. I hope that this is the case, because then you are probably dealing with a navicular syndrome rather than some kind of soft tissue in the foot.

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post, but navicular syndrome (vs. disease which is about the navicular bone) is often a soft tissue issue. The impar ligament is often the source of the problem. For a horse to go off in the other front foot when one is blocked is a classic navicular syndrome presentation.

It's very important to get a correct diagnosis (duh, I know). If this is a soft tissue injury, the horse needs to be treated accordingly. In can be very tough to diagnose what's going on in the foot, MRI is really the best option if it's not otherwise apparent.