Front intermittent lameness

[Alohapony]

Hello!
I have a 16 yr old QH, that I’ve owned for a few years now. He has a pretty simple work load and had about 3+ months pretty much off with a few scattered light (walk, trot) rides due to the weather being crummy. We started getting him back into work about 2 months ago and since then has had two instances where he came out lame on the front right. We had the vet come out to look at him and he saw the lameness, he performed a flextion test to which he flexed negative in the front and a little in the hind. The vet suggested we do his yearly hock injections a little earlier this year. After getting his hocks done he felt amazing! Today (about 1 month after his hock injections) he came out lame at the trot on the same front leg.

I’m hoping to get some advice on what I can look into and ask my vet about.
I’m waiting on my farrier to come and hoof test him and see if he sees anything. (He was just shod 1.5 weeks ago) I’m also thinking of running bloodwork for lymes and vitamin E.

Anything you guys have to offer will be very appreciated! Thank you!

[kaya842]

A lameness eval should include nerve blocks and hoof testers (unless the source of the lameness is obviously not in the hoof). That is pretty basic order of operations for a lameness exam.

[Bluey]

X-rays?

We had one horse intermittently lame in one front and it was a chip off a wing of his coffin bone.

What kind of saddle are you using?
A four year old started being ocassionally lame on LF and, took us a while, we found a screw holding the front of the left housing had worked out thru the bottom sheepskin and at times was poking on his shoulder thru the wool blanket or just making an uncomfortable bump there.

Good luck finding what is going on there.

[Syrynx]

Echoing the x-ray as one of the options. My gelding was intermittently lame in his right hind, we thought it was an abscess but it persisted. Vet was out for a barn call so I asked her to do some X-rays , turns out he had a keratoma in that hoof. It has since been removed and he’s all good now.

[DiamondJubilee]

A young reiner (coming 5 year old) that was started slowly (and late) was showing on and off lameness in one front foot for the past year - sound for a bit, then unsound - vet out and did hocks, did front ankle - on stall rest, then sound for a bit and then unsound etc, etc. Xrays were done before purchase as a 3 year old and had 2 different vets look at the horse with nothing notable.

Now after a year of the on and off soundness, vet coming out and trying so many different things, went back to xrays and see minor navicular changes in that front. Nothing notable, but obviously the horse doesn’t think it minor. Was injected and re shod for a navicular horse and fingers crossed, has been sound w/j/l for a month. No spins or stops yet as the vet wants to come out and clear before more stress first.

So xrays might be a good idea, could always compare from old ones if you have any (that would be the best so vet can see any possible changes). Perhaps navicular as well? Just a thought.

[GoodTimes]

I’ll also jump on the x-ray bandwagon, with the caveat that if it’s something subtle it may still get missed. What is your horse wearing for shoes? Have you tried pads?

This is the thread that I started last year when my mare was having issues. It ended up being a fairly simple fix, but the bone bruising that wasn’t evident on x-ray meant that she needed time off to heal first.

Intermittent significant front end lameness during/after exercise - Update post 50

Looking for some ideas from the Coth crowd. I’ve got a 7yo warmblood mare who every few months comes up dead lame while I’m riding or just as we finish. W-T-C both ways, sometimes jump, and then when we come back to a walk to cool out or take a break she’ll shorten right up and by the time I hop off and get her back to the barn she can barely walk. She’s weight bearing, no sweating or cramping. No heat or swelling. Just very short steps. Usually the left front steps shorter, but on one occasion…

An update for my mare. She’s stayed sound in shoes/pads/pour-ins. Back to jumping around 2’9’, taking things easy, but if she stays sound and relaxed we’ll move her up to the 3’ AAs this summer.

[Alohapony]

Do you think soreness in the SI would be the same problem?

Last year around march we called out our vet to look at his hocks and the vet that came that day said she thinks the horse would be better off with SI injections than the hocks at that time. In june we called the vet out again to do the hocks. This year the vet that came out felt his back was fine and he just needed the hocks done.

His back isn’t reactive to touch right now but he’s def not 100% himself in the saddle, even when he looks sound.

[Amberley]

I don’t see why a sore SI would cause intermittent front end lameness at all. Sore SI typically causes hind end problems, problems cantering and is not intermittent.

[Alohapony]

Update:
Finally got my vet out on a day the horse was showing lameness.
He blocked out the front right right above the hoof. After we let the block sit for a few I got on and rode for the vet. I didn’t feel a difference in lameness and the vet said the front looked sound but now the hind right looked off. He flextioned the stifle and he trotted off worse. We agreed to inject the stifle.
As for the front the vet is worried it could be something soft tissue but he said there is no way to know without an MRI at the clinic. We have decided to give him 3 months off to let whatever could be going on time to heal.
Would a soft tissue injury show in anyway? Like heat or swelling?

[fivestrideline]

@Alohapony

As for the front the vet is worried it could be something soft tissue but he said there is no way to know without an MRI at the clinic. We have decided to give him 3 months off to let whatever could be going on time to heal.
Would a soft tissue injury show in anyway? Like heat or swelling?

It wouldn’t necessarily show, especially if it wasn’t catastrophic. But even if it was… not always.

Depending on where it is just above the hoof, a good vet might be able to get info with an ultrasound. And it might be a good thing to do anyway since you weren’t sure there was a marked improvement after the block. You can’t ultrasound the same appointment as a block, so having another sporthorse vet (second opinion is always good IMO) come ultrasound that whole front wouldn’t be a bad choice. Three months isn’t nearly long enough if it’s a true soft tissue injury vs a strain, and you may want to know what you’re dealing with.

Just my 2 cents. I wouldn’t do an MRI either at this point in my life, but an ultrasound is cheap.

[OceansAway]

You wouldn’t be able to see a soft tissue injury inside the hoof capsule without an MRI. An ultrasound can’t see it, so from what I’m gathering, vet likely thinks it’s something inside the hoof capsule.

[NaturallyHappy]

@OceansAway

You wouldn’t be able to see a soft tissue injury inside the hoof capsule without an MRI.

This^.