Hahira / lameness

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd relate my lameness story from the last couple of rides and
see if you guys can enlighten me or if my experience might help you. 
It's kinda long, but if your horse had something similar, I figure you
wouldn't want me to leave out clues.

After Liberty this Spring, Kaboot was off on the left fore...with a big
girth rub (first ever).  No leg swelling or tenderness (even after a 5
hour haul home) and nothing on hoof testers.  Marked that one up to the
girth rub, started asking girthing questions.

Dawson Forest...won it... looked great in trot out to me, vet scores high
except vet put "grade one left fore on concrete".  Hmm.  He's always
sounded louder when the right strikes, and has a way of traveling that
involves "chugging"  His head chugs right and left as he trots.  I
thought the vet just "heard" it.  There was a point in the ride where the
horses sort of ran away on a very hard surfaced road for a mile or so. 
Had high vet score.

Big South Fork  4th,  and BC.  No hint of lameness.  LOTS of rocks, but
not a particularly fast trail.

Biltmore.  6th (I think) Perfect scores at the 3rd check, totally
surprised me at the finish when he was slightly off left fore.  Now I'm
getting worried.  Still, absolutely NO swelling or sensitivity around
tendons or suspensories..tight, cool.  Nothing on hoof testers.  I
decided to pass on the Liberty 100 and watch him.  Rode him the week
before Witchdance and he felt good.  He'd done three of the rockiest
rides around with no pads so I was hoping it had been a stone bruise. 
Had slight scurfing and swelling from the girth again...(I think I told
ya'll).  Decided that maybe since I used to use booties and shims, then
switched to a pad with no shims maybe it was sliding forward (yes Sharon,
he's built slightly downhill).  I made myself some shims to go on the
pad.

Went to Witchdance.  Vets thought they saw "something" at the vet in.  I
saw nothing but the way he always chugs.  A couple of riders who I
respect saw nothing.  The vets said it was very faint, checked him out
and said go ahead and start.  I seriously considered not starting, but
thought about all the people who get to the point that their horse has "a
way of going" that has to be explained.  Considering that I'm a person
who loves high vet awards I was REALLY hoping this wasn't going to be a
running thing.  I decided to start and ride with easyboots...and pull at
any hint of problem.  I put on easyboots and rode conservatively (felt
like)  I never asked him for speed all day but he was trotting as big as
he's ever trotted in his life and felt perfectly even to me.  The vets
said it never changed so I convinced myself they were fooled by the head
chugging.  The morning after, tight legs, nothing.  Hmm. on circles to
the left maybe *something* but I'd have never thought so if it was
someone else's horse they were lunging so I was perplexed.  No scurfing
or girth problems...maybe the shims helped, maybe it's no longer "that
time of year".

Decided I may have to break down and start considering chiropractic or
massage...all that stuff I've always gotten away without...saddle fit
maybe?.... sweat, fret...

Trotted him out Wednesday before Hahira on pavement, rode him in circles,
felt fine, sounded fine.  I hadn't really seen him "off" since the finish
of Biltmore (with scurfing).  Actually, that and Liberty's girth rub were
the only times he was really "off".  Now what to do?  He looked good, and
there were great vets at this ride who don't miss a thing so I figured
I'd go and see what happened.

Vetted in in the dark and kinda wished they could see him better.  Didn't
want to tell them to "watch the left fore" since that's just putting
ideas in their head.  Ann Stuart made it clear that bobbing "this much"
(one inch) consistently would get you pulled, so I knew if we were really
off we'd be out of there.

Started the ride and he felt great.  Letting me post both diagonals
evenly, and willing to take both leads on command (first horse in my
life...what a thrill!)  We went all the way to about the 46 mile mark and
I felt it there.  I could post the right diagonal and he was fine, left
diagonal and I could feel it.

He got his completion (I was sweating it) with just slight unevenness on
gait.  They thought it looked like he was  a little tight in the
shoulder.   Now, this is the last ride of the year and I wanted to know
what the heck's going on and address the problem this winter.  I'm at the
point with this horse that I'm willing to do what it takes to stick with
him.  If he needs to slow down, or get Adequan, whatever, I want to stay
on him.  Poor horse has had me out in the barn with my Jack Meagher
massage therapy book, figuring that if I don't know where the spasm is
I'll just massage every square inch of his shoulder and hopefully hit it.


 I tried to get the masseuse to come work on him because I wanted to see
if he improved.  He only got there 10 min. before my BC exam and didn't
have time to really work on him very thoroughly.  I really wanted to see
if it made a difference though so I stood him for BC.  Looking back I
guess that looks pretty hypocritical since I'm the one who brought up not
standing lame horses for BC. I guess the image I was trying to convey at
the time was of a horse who was very humped up and sore all over, drawn
and looking sad.  I had a horse who was willing to jump into a big trot
out (leaving me trying to keep up at the end of the lead), and was
looking pretty darned good except for a consistent irregularity....but it
was consistent going straight and to the left as vague as it was.  Not
really evident to the right.  Now what?

If you're still with me...enter the WONDERFUL Duane Barnett and Ann
Stuart.  So many vets after a ride this size wouldn't have given me the
time of day.  They were willing to take my horse and do a lameness exam
complete with nerve blocks to try and give me an idea what to do.  It's
not like you can do a fast 46 miles so your vet at home *might* be able
to see the problem.  Add a few parachuters dropping, and the fact that
Kaboot is pretty spastic anyway (Ann pronounced him officially the 
fidgetiest horse she'd ever dealt with) they came up with the agreement
that it's in the foot and probably deep bruising.  He's definitely a left
sided horse, even though he puts up with me riding both diagonals, I'm
sure he's managed to use the left the most.  Looks like  I can keep my
saddle, put off the Adequan a little longer, and no, the muscles aren't
in spasm (very evenly developed thank you), one leg isn't shorter....they
recommended  a shock absorbing pad and perhaps egg bars when he's going
hard.  As a side note, Duane also took the time to discover a low
shoulder that caused a shoe to need shimmed on a friend's horse and that
30 minutes he took for her may make a HUGE difference in her life.

So, there's my big mystery...maybe not solved, but I hope I have a clue
where to go....probably to $120 shoes instead of $85 :-((

Should I have kept riding this Fall?  Well... I had a horse who was
looking great, wanting to go, and *slightly* irregular at the finish.  I
made changes between each ride and had to do a competition to see if it
helped.  You just can't ride one 45 miles fast at home and know if you've
helped...and it never showed up for sure sooner than that.  I hate that,
have no intention of making a career of it.  I am crazy about this horse
and have turned down some strong temptation to let him go considering
that I really don't have big plans for myself in the future.  Was I a
hypocrite to stand for BC?  I certainly didn't want to win, but had no
idea if a vet would be willing, or have time to take time to look at him
after his shoulder had been massaged.

You have no idea how thankful I was to have the head of AERC's veterinary
committee, and the team vet for USA East conferring on my horse's
lameness exam.  It was worth the trip for that.  I'm still proud of
everything he accomplished this Fall.  He's really matured into a
competition and that wasn't anything I'd been expecting.  My goal is for
him to be a high mileage horse someday so I sure hope they've set me on
the course to that.  If any of you have any preferences on shock
absorbing pads, or advice in that area, I'd love to hear it.

Angie & Kaboot (I want Air Jordans)     


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