My vet was out month ago for spring shots and did a lameness eval with flex test she said he’s just mildly sore in his stifle and was going to do stifle X-rays. But I figured I would just get him all looked at the new Bolton clinic and their vet didn’t think he presented any hind end lameness other than the toe dragging which he’s done since I had him. He is negative in hinds and LF.
Don’t underestimate this. Especially since nothing else really popped up!
IIWM, having done the NQR thing with my 12yo, I would do everything in my power to fix the feet before a bone scan or any other $$$$ diagnostics. You’re going to have to fix them anyway, so I’d start there.
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So NB farrier didn’t really think his feet were too concerning or can say the reasoning for his random hops. He said if I did a bone scan and he was diagnosed with navicular or something where he would need special shoeing then he would do that but without a diagnosis to an injury or disease he didn’t want to throw shoes on him while doing the bute/gabapentin trial
So sorry you didn’t get more clarity from your visit to NB. I agree with changing one variable at a time (NSAID/gaba trial OR shoes but not both at the same time). That way you know what helped or didn’t.
That said, count me among the folks for whom even minor NPA caused nightmares and a Pandora’s box of whole body issues. I would definitely vote to try both of the less costly options above before springing on a bone scan.
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I will preface by saying I have done everything from shoes and pads on all four to barefoot for life then I will say I would MUCH rather see someone with a GOOD farrier putting shoes on a horse than for the horse to suffer through an owner who thinks they know better than a farrier. Some horses NEED shoes and the barefoot trend can lead to a horse suffering.
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Add Biotin to his diet. My gelding had pretty good feet, but needed a 2 degree pad fo pastern angles. Biotin really made a big difference in the thickness of the soles.
Get the addtional scans on his feet. There could be something going on other than a problem with the navicular. That’s the only way you will see if he needs different trimming or shoeing options. You need to be certain that the angles and alignment are maintaining proper balance while they grow out.
I agree with enjoytheride that many horses need shoes. He has thin soles? The owner’s desire to go barefooot often leads to suffering.
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While I am 100% in camp “some horses need shoes”… the pics of this horse while shod are ATROCIOUS. They’re much improved bare, so if these are the two choices for OP, I’d go with bare and boots. YMMV.
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He’s barefoot now because I couldn’t stand seeing the heel failure in the steel shoes which is what was happening in the photos above. Along with the long toes. I have boots he’s currently breaking in to hopefully make him feel more comfortable till I figure out what’s going on.
He is thin sole on the fronts but the hinds he got decent sole depth just negative angle on the coffin bone.
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Your horse sounds exactly like my 12yo. I wonder if they’re related (mine has pretty un-famous lines), but if nothing else my guy is a chestnut OTTB with some mystery stuff going on and I’m sympathetic to your situation!
Bare and boots has worked very well for me. Shoes not so much (and I was using some expensive and reputable pros, short of having the vet school do him).
The second I scrolled down to read your initial post I thought feet. Those need to be addressed before anything else. Even with a “perfect trim” three weeks is not enough for his feet to grow out and his body to stop compensating for the imbalances in his feet. I would say this might take the summer to fix but big kudos to you for jumping on it now!
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Bumping this up OP, how’s your horse? Thought of you today when I saw someone post their horse doing the exact same thing. Really really hard to nail it down (I guess the horse was only lame for the vet on a small circle one direction or something) and ultimately they found a pretty bad hind suspensory tear - despite the lameness appearing up front.
I can’t recall, though I tried to scroll back - did you look at his suspensories?
ETA: looks like the first thing this person tried was shoes and pads all around, so there was some suspicion of hoof issues. Idk, maybe not helpful, but it triggered “hey I remember someone else’s horse hopping like that!”
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Interesting! Do you have the post/source? Was it a persistent hop?
I would really have to push the vets to look at suspensories. None really suspected it. The new Bolton vet has us doing pain med trials. Right now he’s on gabapentin and is getting better. I rode him couple times without any hops. Not sure if it’s the gabapentin or the fact he’s in consistent work. He’ll come down off that this week then trying bute. Someone mention it’s it’s stifle catching and he’s just throwing himself to catch up so it boggles me it can be anything. I just trying not to worry and waste thousands of dollars if we go around 99 percent time okay.
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Unfortunately the I didn’t save the clip and it’s likely lost to the TikTok algorithm. The difference is they went straight to diagnostic work as soon as the hop popped up more than once - I don’t know exactly how it all went down. I just recall the description saying they tried pads and the horse was better but ended up ultimately finding a suspensory. If I find it again I’ll grab the link. I didn’t want to worry you, it was just an IDENTICAL front end hop!
Definitely don’t chase zebras, but your horse would be the first I’ve seen present with that hop due to stifle catching (and I’ve had a few). Stifles are weird though so who knows. It really could be anything, but it’s definitely not normal!
Has you vet blocked him at all ?
I have a young wb gelding with thin, shallow soles and shoes (all around) helped a lot
The clinic vet blocked his right leg thinking that was the culprit and he showed no change. I had shoes on him all around and his feet were terrible in them (could have been how they were applied) and he still had his hop issue.
I just got done with a bute/gebapentin trial and saw minimal change so I’ll need to call the clinic back. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s just a mix off things with the NPA and weakness/mechanical stickiness.
I’ve competed two Hi-Lo footed horses to FEI levels in dressage, and had success treating each foot independently. Horse 1 had weird issues when a good farrier tried to make the feet more similar to each other, which disappeared when a new farrier stopped trying to make the feet match.
Does the hopping happen more in one direction v the other?
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No seems random. At first was worse going to the right but at the clinic it only popped up going to the left.
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Every "hopper’ I have had ended up being a hind suspensory, with the one exception being an SI that resolved after injection.
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Here he is today with boots. He seems to be doing better being in consistent work. I finally found a trainer to come to the barn so I’m hoping that’ll help too.
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