Oh bugger, I was just catching up and read she looked better, then got to this and my heart sank for you. I'm sure its going to be a very long 3 weeks for you all 
Ginny is going for a bone scan
- Thread starter KP nut
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Thanks - My own vet wants to see her again in a week to inject again. Then Leahurst is on 6th Sept. I just don't know what to think really. The lack of any obvious pathology is good news but the lack of improvement in a very young horse who has had a shed-load of steroids, anti inflammatories, heart bar shoes and rest is bad news. They were planning to re-block on 6th to see if she was sound which seems highly unlikely given that the lameness is more obvious now. I would have hoped for her to be paddock sound by now. And she's still on meds. She's got another 2 days of those. Looking at the clinical report from Leahurst they were hoping I could start some in-hand rehab after 2 weeks but only if she was clearly making progress. Which she isn't.
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Have you or the vet thought about turning away with no shoes?
That might just give the hoof the option to grow in a way it needs to, to support what's happening above it just now.
Two horses here were turned away without shoes, one for three months, the other six. then they went back on and touch wood both came sound.
Probably an outdated method but that's what I remember happening years ago, you left it nature do it's job. Lotions and potions weren't around.
That might just give the hoof the option to grow in a way it needs to, to support what's happening above it just now.
Two horses here were turned away without shoes, one for three months, the other six. then they went back on and touch wood both came sound.
Probably an outdated method but that's what I remember happening years ago, you left it nature do it's job. Lotions and potions weren't around.
I'm going to contact Rockley Farm and read up on barefoot rehab. At the moment I am in the middle of an active treatment phase and will continue with that for now. They are the experts, they are the ones who have seen and assessed the pony and I trust their expertise. But in the meantime I will do my research for plan B.
I was on a yard who's 18ish year old TB mare had been retired with navicular. Shoes were pulled and she was turned away. Two years later her owner started noticing a difference in her movement so tried a gentle walk hack....sound as a pound! AND shoeless. Mare could then be ridden at all paces. I'm no longer on that yard but we drove past the pair of them hacking out a few weeks back. She's still shoeless. This was about 8 years ago so the mare must be at least 26 now.
I think that you are right in following your vet at this stage. You are in the middle of a treatment plan and you do have faith in your vets and need to trust them. My only concern is that things are happening very quickly. I know the injuries are not identical, but when Ben came back from the bone scan after having injections in his stifle, he was given 5 weeks off field rest for the injections to kick in and his body to recover. His back was very, very sore and he needed 5 physio sessions, 2 under sedation, for an improvement to be found. This all takes time. If Ginny has an equally sore back, she may just need time for her muscles to build in the correct place and for her to carry herself correctly. If her back is still sore, this could surely explain the front end lameness? Ben’s sore back caused 2 active splints in his front legs. Perhaps more time resting before more injections may be worth thinking about, particularly if a serious issue has not been identified.
But as you know, I am a huge fan of barefoot rehab. I have followed their advice to the letter and the improvements to Ben’s feet and movement are just amazing. I will never shoe any horse in the future and I will never trim routinely unless there is a reason to trim. Is it possible that Ginny has reacted badly to the remedial shoeing and this has actually made the front lameness worse? When you start reading more about the Rockley approach, you will see time and time again about how horses have been written off by vets and Farrier’s because the remedial treatments did not work, but when the horse is given time, appropriate diet and conditions to grow and shape their own feet to support their own way of going, they became sound. This seems to be happening to my horse and although progress is slow, I know he is feeling better.
I don’t envy your situation. I hope she improves soon.xx
Making assumptions here, but if she was equally lame on all legs and the lameness is now obvious, that would suggest to me she has made progress in at least 1 leg/pair of legs for the lameness to now show. So perhaps its better news than her not changing at all or the lameness still being difficult to pick up on. And hopefully a more obvious lameness might make their job of diagnosing the issue, and therefore treatment, easier. I got very good at looking for silver linings when Jess was lame, staying positive is half the battle x
Hi yes I know it is early days and I am not panicking yet. It was my vet who used the phrase 'disconcerting' and then said 'but look it's early days so....'
Reading between the lines I think they hoped and expected to see improvements pretty quickly in view of the fact that they found no significant pathology. I have ordered a book on barefoot (Nic's book) just to widen my knowlege in an area I know little about but obviously I will be following thr Leahurst plan to the letter in th meantime and waiting to see what they say in the 6th.
Thanks for the positive lining @Jessey - I like a positive lining!!
Reading between the lines I think they hoped and expected to see improvements pretty quickly in view of the fact that they found no significant pathology. I have ordered a book on barefoot (Nic's book) just to widen my knowlege in an area I know little about but obviously I will be following thr Leahurst plan to the letter in th meantime and waiting to see what they say in the 6th.
Thanks for the positive lining @Jessey - I like a positive lining!!
Hmmm, is she on oral pain meds? if so I would leave her on lower dose/off them so she can feel what's going on, with it hidden they do silly stuff. I used a calmer to keep jess quiet in the field when she was bad, used wendals 'calmer' and it worked well
If I could I would keep her in sick paddock but if not I would put her out and leave her out, they tend to do more silly stuff if they only get limited turnout.
I would err on the side of caution and leave her in, at least until you have spoken to the vet. Jumping a 5 bar gate is not going to do her any favours in the long run.
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