Riding a lame horse? opinions p[lease.

Cazie

Cazie

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Feb 18, 2008
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I believe that my horse suffered an injury before I had him, I have had him a year now. He has never been quite right in his movement but passed as sound.

Sometimes he just doesn't "feel" right.

My yard manager rides him and he says he never feels quite right to start with but looses that "not right" feeling after warming up.

I have had the vet look at him a few times when he doesn't feel particularly right and although she agrees that he isn't right, she also says he isn't bad enough or it isn't visible enough to warrant nerve block X rays etc.

This time she has suggested that I keep riding him while lame, keep working him and try and bring the "not quite right" lameness to something that can be seen and not just felt.

Well he had the back lady out yesterday, he has been having treatment to help him in all areas regularly, and she has said he is 3/10ths in his front right and 2/10ths in his back left lame. She agreed with the vet and said instead of more time off, keep working him.


So what should I do, make it worse so they can see what they are treating or rest him until it goes away.
 
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I think you should work him so they can find a solution.
Or you should not ride and keep him as a companion horse.
 
Guest2 said:
I think you should work him so they can find a solution.
Or you should not ride and keep him as a companion horse.
Click to expand...


He is never lame enough to be a companion horse, and he is only 9. He doesn't work that hard, it is just frustrating when you know there is a problem but not even the vets have a solution.
 
It must be very difficult for you, as I'm sure you don't want to cause lameness by working your horse. But maybe, on the vet and back lady's advice, a change of tactics is needed.
By working him a little more it will do 1 of 2 things. Either improve his situation now by building a little muscle to take the strain off his joints. Or, he will deteriorate, hopefully giving the vet something to look at will help to find out the problem, then the treatment.
May not be your first choice of action but at least you could try. Maybe keep a diary of exactly what work you have done and any changes in lameness as you go?
Good luck
 
This is so frustrating... I didn't ride tonight as it was very windy and my horse doesn't do wind to good.. so lunged him, he didn't seem in the least bit lame to me today, nor when I put him out for the night, galloping off like a right loon!

When I got home I had a message on the answer phone from the back lady, letting me know that she has spoken to the vet about his lameness and the vet is now awaiting my call !!!!

I know it will be the same old story should I get the vet out. Horse not lame enough.

I wonder if the power of suggestion to the back lady could have made her see something that wasn't there any more.

Thanks for the replies guys, I knew I could rely on you lot :-)
 
My old horse had somethign wrong wiht his hoof (it looked like it was half chopped off and stuck back on again) and he always looked lame but he never felt it, i was told that i wasnt allowed to ride him in one lesson because he was so "lame" but it was just how he moved after whatever happend.
 
Cazie said:
Well he had the back lady out yesterday, he has been having treatment to help him in all areas regularly, and she has said he is 3/10ths in his front right and 2/10ths in his back left lame. She agreed with the vet and said instead of more time off, keep working him.
Click to expand...

When you say 'back lady' what exactly does she do? There are quite a few different sorts out there. :)
 
hi,

i can sympathise with how frustrating things like this are. my horse was sent to the vet school originally for an ecg as his heart rate was irregular when he was lunged to assess his poor performance - it felt like after 15mins his legs just stopped working?

they found nothing wrong with his heart (apart from low grade murmers) but an osteopath had found him to be slightly lame on his right side.

his performance is still poor - since he's been living out the "lameness feeling" i had before has gone away (as he's a chronic box walker i think this could of been taking its toll on his body) but now he feels reluctant to move through his back but when examining his saddle/back he doesnt seem sore?

anyway enough about me:o my suggestion to you would be what we did with jerry - do a bute trial. one week of normal work & feeding, then one week of normal work & add bute to his feed, then one week of normal work & feed again (no bute). if this lameness feeling goes away then you know there's pain and you can go from there. obviously this needs discussed with your vet - can you get an osteopath to look at him? it really does make a difference - jerrys lameness is only slight and it took a specialist to pin point it. you could always also just insist upon nerve blocks but i do think the bute trial would be a help

good luck:)
 
KazRider said:
When you say 'back lady' what exactly does she do? There are quite a few different sorts out there. :)
Click to expand...

Just googled her, she is highly thought of in the competition world around here.
She is a Physiotherapist. She does a lot of that manipulation and sudden hitting on certain areas.,
 
well shoot me if i'm wrong lol but nerve blocks are inserted to different areas and when the horse appears sound you find out the area of pain? So if your horse is showing to be lame or even just not quite right then i'm sure you can get nerve blocks done, i suggest you tell your vet your sick of paying call outs and having a horse which is in discomfort and you wish to find answers now if they are less than helpful change vets they are too expensive to keep calling out. Saying that though when i first got mine at 8yo he was lame 2 block tests later they couldn't find an exact problem. I put him off work from june was told he'd never be ridden again and then in october in a last ditch attempt i had a physio look at him and she said hes sound and didn't do a thing. If your horse is 3/10 lame and lame on 2 legs i'd be pretty concerned and if you don't know if its ligaments etc there is no point putting more strain on. I would definately not lunge a horse i thought to be lame even if trying to ride through it, i would do straight long low work so as to not make the situation any worse. How long has your horse been lame? Has it been intermittent? Is it definately the legs because they can appear lame from shoulder injuried? Has your horse or is there a possibility it has been kicked and there is soft tissue damage? Is there muscular atrophy? Is the horse shod? What are its feet like look into the amount of trouble something like a corn can cause it could be something minor.... Sorry if im spitting out the usual lines but i have been in the mystery lameness situation and it is horrible!
 
Intermittent Blueroan. Some people can't see it, including vets, others make a big deal about it.
He does have scaring on his right leg knee joint and some other scars on that leg, hence I believe it is an old injury that flares up from time to time. He is never really badly lame, always just that niggling not quite right feel.
He has a collapsed hoof on that right front. Great farrier and he has done a fab job getting him right after a year of owning him.. the horse not the farrier :p

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him tonight!

Head and brick wall comes to mind frequently here :-(

If the vet can't see he is lame then her argument is how can she see the difference if she nerve blocks, and where should she block. I guess that is why she suggested working him to make him even more lame.
 
I'd try a different vet then, my vet used to say he could hear lameness, Could it be arthritus have you tried any arthritus/ stiffness supplements as you say he can feel better after a warm up i know he's young but its worth trying. If that works i think you can get injections to ease it. It sounds a possibility because you say his knee area has an injury.


eta: Have you ever tried him on bute? Some horses if they are used to having an injury psycologically still behave like they have one so if you remove any pain then you can see if he is still behaving like that. What breed is your horse?

ETA2: I just remembered i did a course of bute with mine not for the above reason dunno why but it is an option.
 
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Another person here with a troublesome horse! I sympathise :)

If you can afford it or he is insured, it could be worth having x-rays done now. They may reveal a problem immediately, without the need to nerve block. If they don't reveal anything, they are a permanent record of his hooves/lower limbs as they are now, which will help greatly for comparison x-rays (against a second set taken after he has been worked to highlight the problem).

It could also be worth getting another farrier to look at his hooves, and another therapist from a different discipline to check him over physically. Your current people sound as though they are doing a great job :) but my horse's therapist always encourages me to get input from other people where appropriate, as a fresh pair of eyes and different areas of expertise/training/specialism can sometimes spot something that would otherwise go un-noticed.

For example, recently I have found that my horse may have TMJ issues. His therapist is wonderful - she is a McTimony chiropractor and is also trained in something like 7 different soft tissue therapies (!) - but straight away she recommended getting a cranio-sacral specialist out to look at him as TMJ and facial work are not her areas of expertise.

Good luck with this - I know how frustrating it can be so I hope you can resolve this soon :)
 
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