[RC] Lameness Problems, long - Stephanie E Caldwell
I'm having some problems with Star, and my vet and I are at a loss for what's
wrong. I'm open to any kind of sugestions or ideas for what might be wrong.
Star's around 6, spanish mustang mare. She's been barefoot for most of her life,
I shoe her about once a year. She's been eating the same 10% protien/3% fat
sweet feed for a year and a half, beet pulp with molasses for two years. Right
now she's getting some supplements, Tri-Min minerals, Accel, MSM, Garlic, Vit
E/Sel, Apple E Lytes (off brand) and InflameAwayEQ.
About six weeks ago I started her on NOMS from ABC for daily wormer. The same
weekend she took a fall in a creek and my riding buddy's horse fell against her.
She seemed fine and I didn't see any swelling or lameness from the fall. The
same weekend she also got attacked by dogs, one of which was rabid, but we don't
think she got bit
The following Thursday I rode her lightly and she didn't feel right. She felt
very short strided, like she was afraid the earth was going to fall out from
under her. Figured it was just a bad expierience and did some inhand
despooking.
A week later she got hives. My vet came out revaccinated her, did a lameness
exam, and gave her Benedryl. He said she pulled somethign in her right shoulder.
Give her two months of light work and it'll get better. No stall rest or
anything, double her MSM.
So, Over the next two weeks I worked her lightly bareback so I would have a
better feel of what was going on with her shoulders. She seemed to feel tons
better, but I noticed her sweating much worse than usual. She started coughing
and having some breathing problems. She had no temperature, and hadn't been
exposed to any horses outside my two friends horses who hadn't been exposed to
any horses outside mine. So, they weren't sick, after alot of thought I figured
it was the NOMS and the DE in the NOMS. She was removed from the NOMS and fed a
very wet diet of hay and beet pulp, no grain.
I continued to lightly work her, but she never seemed right. Instead of being
happy to go riding her ears stay pinned the entire ride. She was no longer
energetic and happy on the trail, she was lethargic. I started having some
refusals to go over water, mud, trees, etc... I chalked it up to her shoulder
and figured she'd get better as her shoulder healed.
Weekend before last I rode her in my friends Wintec Endurance Pro with the
X-wide gullet in it. The saddle was a hair narrow, but she didn't seem to mind
it. We rode about 8 - 10 miles of moderate terrain. Several times Star just
stopped on the trail and refused to go forward. After about 400' of moderate
uphill climb, steping over fallen logs on the way up she got a cramp over her
haunches. The entire ride she wasn't her entergetic self, she just seemed
tired.
Rode her Friday, made it about 2 miles of flat terrain and she got cramps
again. This time her hind leg was stickign out strait and she couldn't move at
all. I massaged her and got her where she could walk home, loosened her girth
and her breastcollar. My riding buddy commented how strange she was acting. She
would let Pat's horse get way out of sight and not try to catch up. I was
constantly nagging her for going too slow.
Saturday I rode with another friend and she all out refused to go down the
trail. I ended up walking and running most of the 8 miles loop around the barn.
She would rear at any hill, however slight and not want to go into it. I just
purchased a saddle that fits her, it's a bit wide, but I've got a riser pad.
Throught my ride Saturday I tried three different pads, with the riser pad, half
the riser pad, and just my Skito, nothing helped. I finally dumped my saddle at
a neighbors about 2 miles from the barn and rode her the final leg bareback. She
moved better bareback and seemed to be in less pain.
I decided that since my vet said she might have broken something and I might
want to think about taking her to NC State to have her shoulders X-rayed that
I'd give her at least a week stall rest. I went last night and handwalked her in
her bridle, we made it 3/10 of a mile before she got a major cramp in her neck
and it drew her neck back to the point she couldn't breath. Thankfully it only
lasted about ten seconds (longest ten seconds of my life!) and she got over it.
We walked about 1.1 miles total at a slow pace, took us 20 minutes! When I tried
to get her to pick up the pace she ended up dragging her right front foot and
not being able to hold an extended walk.
My thoughts at this point is that it's not EPM or other neuro problems, she's
sound neurologically as far as I can tell with the few neuro tests I know. I
think it's back/shoulders/hips, I don't think it's a lower leg problem because
there's no heat or swelling. The cramping I'm clueless about. I'm not keen on
taking ehr to a lameness specialist, she's a tough horse on vets and I don't
like putting her through that. But, does anyone know a good lameness vet in teh
Charlotte, NC area?
