[AQHA Hunter]

So Obie has been off and on work for over two months now.

In late August, I had been riding him consistently 3-4 times per week. He is a green broke 3 year old, so this was only light riding, walk trot maybe 30 minutes, and up to 45 minutes in our weekly lesson. Well, I turned him out in the sand arena and he ran and bucked as usual to burn off his excess energy, and then I put him on the lunge and popped him over a little jump (like an 18" crossrail) a couple times and noticed that he wasn't wanting to actually jump. So we quit jumping and I went to lunge him and he was head-bobbing lame at the trot.

I gave him a couple weeks of really light lungeing, just enough to keep his muscles stretched, and he seemed to get better, but not 100%. So I took him to the vet (our town has a specialized equine hospital with several vets that only treat horses) for a lameness evaluation. Of course he was only imperceptibly lame that day. The vet agreed that his tempo was off, but it was too mild to tell what was going on. He recommended that I bute him and ride him daily for 5 days and see what happened. I did this for a couple days, but saw no difference between bute and no bute (I evaluate how he's moving on the lunge before riding each day). However, on days where he was full of it from the cooling weather and was running around and bucking, etc. I did give him 1 gram of bute afterwards to help with soreness. I also started using a simple magnetic massager that my instructor loaned me, and doing some simple stretches on his shoulders.

He seemed to be getting better, and was really near 100% again. I took him back down to the equine hospital and had a chiro workup done on him (the chiro is also a vet). He adjusted his neck and hips, but said that he wasn't any more "out" than average, and I didn't have anything to worry about. So, I started riding him lightly again, and things were going well for about a week. Then I wasn't able to come out for 2 days. On the third day I had to come out after dark and lunge him in the sand arena. He was full of himself, bucking etc. and then was really noticeably lame again the next day.

So we went back to the massage, stretching, very light lungeing for awhile, and he seems to be better on some days, but "off" on other days. I should also mention that he goes better in the indoor arena, which is a lighter, shallower footing than the sand outdoor arenas.

What I'm seeing, and I had a fellow boarder verify that I wasn't imagining things, is that he can't pick up his left shoulder and swing it forward properly. He is going more on the forehand than usual, and at the trot, especially when circling left, he seems to sort of fall onto his left shoulder and pull himself forward, instead of being able to lift and push from behind. If I ask for more energy, he has to sort of "heave" his forehand up, rather than being able to lift his shoulder properly. He also seems to be less comfortable on his left lead, and grunts if I insist that he canter to the left. At the times when he was starting to move better, he would pick up the left lead at liberty almost as often as the right. I've never noticed him acting sour, like he's in pain. It just seems to be a lot of effort for him to use that left shoulder, like he's compensating with the wrong muscles, because the correct ones are stiff or something.

I apologize for writing a novel here, but I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I have thought about asking if I can turn him out on pasture for awhile, but I don't know if that will be possible (he's currently in a stall with a run that's about 20x40). I have of course thought about taking him to the vet again, but don't want to throw money away if they won't be able to figure out what's going on. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I had considered posting a video, but don't know that the quality would be adequate to show what is going on because the change in his movement is so subtle.

[PeggySue]

What does the farrier say??

[Ryle]

When they did the original lameness exam, did they do an ultrasound of the leg? If not, that is where I would go next as a chronic lameness that started after strenuous activity and gets better with light work and then worse with heavy work or wild play makes me think of ligament or tendon damage.

[AQHA Hunter]

Peggy, he is getting trimmed on Tuesday, so I'm planning to have the farrier look at him then.

Ryle, thanks. They did not do an ultrasound or anything, just watched him move and checked over for sore spots. I'll ask about that when I call the vet.

[JBandRio]

I'm with Ryle in that my first thought, and continued thought throughout your post, was a suspensory issue.

Why would you lunge, even lightly, a horse with a known lameness issue? Lunging to see if the lameness is there, sure, but nothing about lunging, even for "keeping the muscle loose", is warranted for a known lameness without a concrete diagnosis. I can understand walking under saddle, but not lunging. So, for next time...

I would be demanding an ultrasound, or at the VERY least a palpation of the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons. This means the vet has to palpate the leg weighted and unweighted.

Nothing about this seems to indicate an abcess, so I wouldn't be having the farrier give me his opinion unless perhaps he's also got some experience diagnosing lameness Of course, if he's there anyway, it won't hurt to have another set of eyes take a look, but take his opinion with a grain of salt.

[PeggySue]

JB the reason I asked about farrier is alot of times they can "SEE" where the lameness is BETTER then most vets or owners And she had mentioned it had been going on for two months..

[I LUV BESS]

i does kinda sound like a tendon or ligament injury..

as JB said, i would ask for an ultrasound ect..

good luck!

[AQHA Hunter]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

I'm with Ryle in that my first thought, and continued thought throughout your post, was a suspensory issue.

Why would you lunge, even lightly, a horse with a known lameness issue? Lunging to see if the lameness is there, sure, but nothing about lunging, even for "keeping the muscle loose", is warranted for a known lameness without a concrete diagnosis. I can understand walking under saddle, but not lunging. So, for next time...

I would be demanding an ultrasound, or at the VERY least a palpation of the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons. This means the vet has to palpate the leg weighted and unweighted.

Nothing about this seems to indicate an abcess, so I wouldn't be having the farrier give me his opinion unless perhaps he's also got some experience diagnosing lameness Of course, if he's there anyway, it won't hurt to have another set of eyes take a look, but take his opinion with a grain of salt.

I've continued to work him because I was resting him, and being a three year old, he will start getting rambunctious and hurt himself more (about a week after this started, he was almost better). The BO turned him out while I was gone, and he tore all over the pasture, and came up obviously lame again the next day. Basically, he gets explosive without work, and he's not well broke enough to just get on and walk straight lines.

[Blistering Winds]

Muscle damage also comes to mind. A damaged muscle that hasn't healed quite right, turn out a horse that goes "bonkers" can re-tear it all over again.

So I would also look at that as well as what the others have said.

[AQHA Hunter]

Originally Posted by Blistering Winds

Muscle damage also comes to mind. A damaged muscle that hasn't healed quite right, turn out a horse that goes "bonkers" can re-tear it all over again.

So I would also look at that as well as what the others have said.

That is what I have been thinking, too. Is there any way to tell when a muscle is damaged?

I think for now I'm going to try hand walking and see if I can do enough to keep him from getting to wild and hurting himself again, and then take him back to the vet next week.