“short, choppy stride on left hind, and elongated on the right hind, the right hind from the hock down seems peg-legged, or stiff. “…
His symptoms are — short, choppy stride on left hind, and elongated on the right hind, the right hind from the hock down seems peg-legged, or stiff. There is no sign of pain in the hip, or leg areas, I have rubbed, pushed, and poked, he doesn’t flinch. The right hind foot, the shoer checked out found a number of holes in the hoof lining between the inner and outer walls. Hard pressure on the biggest of holes oozed clear fluid, and a small flinch, but he didn’t pull the foot out of his hands. The holes run along the white line in the sole of the hoof and vary from pen head size to pencil eraser. Also found were grooves in the sole. The limping started after four days of 45 minute work outs and afer I started riding 10 to 15 minutes of the workout, and really got bad after I started trot while on. The ride was terribly rough, as we progessed at the trot, you felt like you would fall off the right hip, because you dripped so low. The lady I got him from said he had some growth problems as a colt and he was just turned out and left. He is now 5 years old and I have started breaking him. He has been sound until now when I am working him. Can this be something from years ago? My farrier said he has never seen anything like it. Please help. Karmen
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Karmen,
It does sound as if your horse is suffering from white line disease, which is a condition where the white line separates and allows infection up into the foot. This can get bad enough to cause a pretty severe lameness. Soaking in warm Epsom salts water and following up with Betadine and sugar mixed together and applied around the bottom of the foot and covered with a foot bandage or boot will help clear up this infection and white line problem. I also suspect that the horse may have some hock problems. A Veterinarian could x-ray the hocks after a lameness exam and determine if their may be something else involved . I hope this helps and good luck.
