“I have a 15 year old Paint pleasure mare that goes lame on the left side after she warms up.”…
She has no swelling or heat in any of her legs. I ran race horses for years and dealt with alot of lameness however I can’t determine what her problem could be. I would appreciate any help you could give.
Dr. Kimberly Gryl’s Answer:
Lisa:
A lameness exam with nerve blocks should be able to localize her problem, and x-rays and/or ultrasound should follow for a deeper “look” into the cause(s) of her lameness. Until then, do not ride her, as this is obviously causing her pain.
“..She started to limp about 8 weeks ago “…
I have an 18yr. old quarter horse/Arabian. She started to limp about 8 weeks ago. I first had the farrier out to check her feet. It is her right front foot. He checked her and found nothing, but went ahead and put shoes on her front feet. I then had the vet out. She has no visual signs, no swelling, no founder, no heat, and no abscesses. The vet said rest and give her some bute. Now it’s two months from the first limp and she still has not improved. Today she was worse than ever. Any suggestions? I’m worried sick.
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Jo,
It sounds as if your horse has a chronic lameness that will require more diagnostic tests in order to determine exactly what the cause is. With the age factor I would suspect something that might be related to an arthritic change in one of the joint areas. Since there was no heat, or swelling it could be very possible that the navicular area might be involved. This is something that causes pain in the heel and can be a very common cause of lameness in horses over 15 years of age. Diagnostic blocking of the involved lame leg followed by x rays would be the method of diagnosis of this or many other possible causes of the lameness. I hope this helps and good luck.
“I have a filly that ran a metal point into her leg and also tore the skin off of an area 4″x6” above the pastern”…
I have been working on proud flesh and helping it to heal. She doesn’t favor it but it swells quite a bit sometimes. I am on my third month and the vet said none of the horses he has would heal till cooler weather. He doesn’t think she will be lame but my concern is how easy it is for her to cause it to swell. Even after it heals over I am concerned that she will always be lame as an adult if I ride her. She is out of a retired racing thoroughbred mare and a quarter paint. So she will always be on the spirited side, which will, I wonder, always cause swelling in this area? Or, when it heals will it gain strength as she ages and not be a lameness issue?
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Robert,
I assume that there has been no diagnosis of any deep bone or tendon damage from the injury. If she does not favor it now it is unlikely that lameness will develop in the future. Once healing is complete there can still be some swelling, although less and less as time goes on. In 9 months to a year, you will probably have no swelling to worry about, the wound contracts as it heals and usually goes back to normal size if there is no bone or tendon damage. I hope this helps and good luck.
“He has had a slight lameness in front”…
I have an 11 yr old warmblood gelding which I use for dressage. He has had a slight lameness in front, and now I have sighted a splint high up next to his knee. Is there anything that can be done to bring him back to soundness?
Please help!!
Dr. Kimberly Gryl’s Answer:
Maarit:
The splint should be x-rayed to define its borders, and possibly a nerve block or other diagnostics to determine if the splint is the cause of the lameness. Usually rest with anti-inflammatories are all that is needed. The sooner you get him checked out, the better. No riding until then.
“I have a 4 yr old gelding that has a bad shoulder. “…
He went down in a trailer when he was a yearling and was never treated. All of the ligaments were torn and the bone was broken. He still has pieces of cartilage floating around in his shoulder and there is no muscling. Is there anything I can do to make it so I can use him?
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Jessica,
Sometimes horses can compensate for lost muscle and mild injuries, and the only way to know if they can be ridden is to try and see if they can handle it. You would want to go easy at first, but it is possible that the initial injury was not severe enough that the horse could be used to a certain extent. I wish I could be of more help than this but it is difficult to evaluate the injury without a proper examination. Your local Vet could examine the injury and give you an educated guess as to whether it would be okay to try and ride him.
“could we be looking at sacroiliac damage?”…
If you have a lame horse whose injury seems to go back and forth from back right leg to back left, could we be looking at sacroiliac damage? If not what, in your experience might it be? He went from really lame, dragging both rear feet to some improvement. However, the improvement does not seem to be consistent but moves back and forth from back left to back right.
Dr. Kimberly Gryl’s Answer:
Leigh:
The lameness could be from bony origin (i.e., arthritis), or from soft tissue injury (i.e., muscle soreness), or it could be neurological. A thorough lameness and neurological examination sound as if they are in order, to eliminate possible causes of lameness. A systematic approach is needed to determine cause. Many neurological diseases have asymmetrical presentation, as you are describing. Most lameness of bony origin is single-sided.
