Unlimited access >

Hindquarter muscling asymetry

This horse is putting me through the ringer lately, and I’m honestly getting really discouraged.

A little over a week ago my mare fell on her left side while screwing around in turnout. Turnout is sand, and was not frozen. She got up, had scraped the inside of her left hind leg up pretty good, but otherwise seemed fine. A couple ooh-ahh-ouch steps, and then she took off again and didn’t seem worse for the wear.

We worked anyways, even with the scrape on her leg. We just forwent boots back there and carried on - it was sensitive to the touch but she wasn’t unsound on it.

A week later, we have severe hindquarter asymmetry. She still feels to be riding the same. Looks the same on the lunge. Is sensitive to palping along the left side of the loin, but really minor. Is always resting a foot behind, but alternates and not in an “ouch ouch” type way. She has been way more unsound for longer periods of time without this happening.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“data-attachmentid”:10583826}[/ATTACH]

She will be seen this week by a vet+bodyworker, but has anyone seen something like this come on so fast? What was the result?

20200223_193127.jpg

I don’t think that two weeks would be enough for this degree of asymmetry. You are probably looking at something chronic, that possibly became more exaggerated given recent events.

That is a pretty severe degree of asymmetry and I would only expect “wastage” of that degree on a horse that is almost completely immobilized. For frame of reference, it usually takes several weeks of controlled movement (i.e stall-rested horses) for them to lose condition and it is usually semi-symetrical unless the injury is one where they are almost entirely non-weight bearing.

Do you know 100% if it was her left side? Could the right possibly have been hit, is that a large hematoma? It’s really an incredibly marked difference - it’s so severe I’d be inclined to think the horse would be unsound. Do you have a video?

5 Likes

I know it was this recent and came on this fast - I’m a little OCD on my animals, and for this one I do a series of stretches after every ride. One of those stretches is a 10 second straight back tail pull, during which I look at symmetry. I’m at the barn a minimum of 5 days a week - every day now because I’m giving her meds for cancer.

I am 100% sure it was her left side, as I witnessed the event. She typically has muscling like the right side on both sides of her hindquarters. She’s slab sided, but not a “waif” on muscling (especially since she eats ~30,000 calories a day).

She will never be “textbook” sound; I’ve posted about her before - she’s had a bone scan, countless xrays, ultrasound, was attached to the lameness locator, had specialty shoeing… I’ve given up on getting her textbook sound. But she’s the same as she typically is right now. I can get new video tonight.

1 Like

Found a picture from not too long ago. It’s not the same shot but shows that it wasn’t like this before. Wish I had something more recent. Even the vet commented she was looking and going the best she ever had.

The saddle fitter didn’t notice this when she was out about a month ago, either. So I’m totally sure it wasn’t like this before. The only thing I can say is that there was a 2 day period where I came out, gave meds, picked stalls and feet, and left - I didn’t remove blankets. After that is when I noticed the severity of the asymetry. [ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“data-attachmentid”:10583982}[/ATTACH]

mareback.jpg

This sounds possibly neurologic; if she “tweaked” something in just the right way she might have done something to her cervical (or lumbar) spine - the other possibility is some kind of nerve damage? Sweeny kind of thing? (Though that’s generally shoulder nerve damage.)

Those are the only things that would explain such sudden muscular asymmetry/“wasting”.

My 10 year old TB gelding (who I wound up having to euthanize 😞) suddenly started crab walking and showing neurological symptoms; initially came and went - but it was alarming how quickly his hindquarters lost muscle and became assymetrical.

Not trying to alarm you, just spitballing here. Obviously have a vet check her out, good luck! 🤞

1 Like

Broken pelvis?

1 Like

I was thinking neuro too, @Dr. Doolittle . I have trouble saying yes though, because Saturday I lunged and rode her over 4 raised trot caveletti, and other than being weirded out by the sunlight from the skylights on half of them she was totally fine. Felt powerful and coordinated.

I did notice in the last month that she was tripping more than normal. She was due for shoes though, and after shoeing it has improved 20 fold.

@PeteyPie , wouldn’t she be pretty lame? I’m not too knowledgeable on the symptoms of a broken pelvis.

My guess was neuro too. Not to alarm you, I lost my gelding last year after a fall in the pasture, and he had nerve damage afterwards in the hind end.

The vet said he would show muscle atrophy eventually, he didnt show any in the time I still had him trying to rehab, but he was really fit when it happened. The vet commented if he wasn’t so fit it would have been a lot more obvious in his movement, but he had such strong muscle memory he was able to move around OK some of the time.

Some times I would get hope, where he would trot out completely sounds, then next thing you know he was falling on his head, or falling over in his stall and his leg dragging. Its a really difficult thing to diagnose at times.

The vet can check for a break in the pelvis with a rectal exam or xrays.

Hope you figure it out.

1 Like

I’m already freaked out, so don’t worry about freaking me out more. ha!

I’ll take several videos tonight. One of turnout, her running and carrying on. Then lunging. If I have some help, I can do some of the basic neuro stuff.

@Jealoushe , what was your gelding doing right after his fall? What symptoms were you seeing? This mare is really fit too, ridden/worked 5 days a week typically.

1 Like

When it first happened I thought his leg was broken, but there was no swelling or pain. He couldn’t move it properly, he would swing it out (it was his left hind) and swing it forward then walk forward. At first you could tell her didn’t know where the leg was, but after a day or two, he got accustomed to the sensation and then was walking much better, but if you knew horses you could tell he was swinging it forward, it would land toe first then heel. Later I learned this was ataxia. The vet suspected either nerve paralysis or broken pelvis, but the exam ruled out the pelvis.

Some days he would look completely sound and he even was able to trot and sometimes canter, but like I mentioned above, he would also fall over in his stall, or fall onto his head in the pasture. He wasn’t really safe for himself this way, and with winter coming it was too risky to keep trying to rehab him.

With sudden muscle loss so significant, it makes me wonder if there is a pinched nerve or something somewhere in there that has restricted blood flow to the area.

2 Likes

Do you have any old photos of her from behind to compare, on top of video? I do think a week after a fall is way too soon for atrophy of that degree.

CA stands for cervical arthritis - also colloquially referenced from time to time as “c-spine issues” on COTH.

Pelvic breaks vary in lameness depending on location of break and severity. A pelvic wing fracture is common in sport horses and is where the tip of the tuber coxae fragments or splits off - from rigors of racing and/or jumping, and also from blunt trauma (bumping into another horse, falling, etc). These breaks have the best prognosis - most horses can return to their previous level of work after about six weeks off. They don’t typically present as acutely lame. Maybe weak or one-sided, or sometimes, diminishing performance. Most owners probably don’t even realize a break has happened - a lot of horses remain in work.

Pelvic fractures of the non-wing variety are much less optimistic in their prognosis and come with BIG symptoms like the horse won’t even be ambulatory. BTDT. I have a thread on this forum of my horse who broke his pelvis in three places (acetabulum rim, ilium, and tuber ischii if I’m remembering correctly). We assume he had a total wipeout in his paddock because he also broke his ribs, had a puncture on his hip, a massive hematoma on the affected side, and punctures on his shoulder and leg. It was a very long road to recovery… We couldn’t even get him to move once he was in the stall - and it was very hard to get him into the stall in the first place. Couldn’t get him on the trailer to trailer him to a local vet clinic, not that he would have been stable enough for a trailer ride anyway. The good news is he is back to his previous level of work for years, and has surpassed it. :yes: However, it took him about two months of stall rest before I saw atrophy… and it was never that severe.

Vet diagnosed by rectal palp first visit, but the hematoma made x-rays difficult until it subsided - vet then x-rayed and ultrasounded and confirmed.

This was the jumping off point for me to investigate cervical arthritis with this horse. If you saw a wipe-out, and there were ever any other neurological symptoms with this horse, I’d start looking at the neck.

2 Likes

I’ve heard of Thoroughbreds racing with a broken pelvis.

You might find this article from the Paulick Report informative:
https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/vet-topics/pelvic-fractures-happen/

…and an Australian study on the future performance of horses which have initially survived a pelvic fracture:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23718794

If your horse has a pelvic fracture which is not healed, it is important to diagnose it so that you follow the right treatment.

1 Like

It sounds like what we’ve called a “knocked down hip” - which was what a mare I bought to breed had and the asymmetry. It’s the most common pelvic fracture and is of the shaft of the ilium. You will need an x-ray, but my mare was fine with it. She was young, but I didn’t ride her, just bought her to breed. However, she was being galloped for racing when I bought her, and she was sound. Good luck.

So I’m uploading videos now - lunge each direction (apologize in advance for the crappy music, I was right underneath the speaker of the radio), and a hall jog. Of course she pulled her left front shoe today in turnout…

@beowulf , I don’t have photos from before, but here are a couple picture stills from a video a month ago. I know it’s hard to believe, but this atrophy really did come on this fast.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/9TfLRa77Z6c
[ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: Even hindquarters2 1-18.JPG Views: 1 Size: 5.7 KB ID: 10584363”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10584363”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: Even hindquarters 1-18.JPG Views: 1 Size: 10.0 KB ID: 10584364”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10584364”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]

Even hindquarters2 1-18.JPG

Even hindquarters 1-18.JPG

This is the mare with cancer, maybe a tumor in a really bad spot? Or a clot from her fall?

Note that this mare has never been and will never be “100% sound” behind. I’ve spent an absolute fortune trying to find it, to no avail. I’d be happy if she went like the January 18, 2020 riding video (https://youtu.be/9TfLRa77Z6c) forever. That was the best she’s ever looked or felt, honestly - even though I know she isn’t totally sound. The lameness never really gets better, but it never gets worse either, unless she gets too much time off.

March 2019 trot on the lunge videos (something was clearly wrong, but just for comparison):

Right: https://youtu.be/LF9Wzp3x8HA

Left: https://youtu.be/9fpyDxIxCrc

February 24, 2020 lunge and hall jog videos (turn volume down, unless you like crappy radio music), she pulled her front left shoe today in turnout

Lunge right: https://youtu.be/7SrAvEGi730

Lunge left: https://youtu.be/YZ81pAvM_cY

Hall jog: https://youtu.be/WWlsUroA4fk

It definitely looks like something going on back there. It is possible she had a crack in her pelvis or similar, and the fall exacerbated it. Or like you said, a growth of some sort now affecting something.

If a pelvic fracture was existing but stable, would it have shown up on a bone scan? She had one in December of 2018.

Paging @IPEsq

First thing I noticed is that she is quite crooked, and very tight/almost no movement at all along her back and pelvis. She is bracing through her back, look how stiff her tail is for one of the more obvious symptoms. Protecting something for sure - can’t tell if it’s her feet, or something up high, because she is showing symptoms for both.

Her LH has abnormal abduction going on, when it swings to midline like that - she is almost toe-stabbing and landing toe-first behind, quick to deload from her hooves, won’t push off with LH, does not flex the LH pastern truly, and is weak with RH… Her RH is also very weak, they both looked unsound to me in different ways, but I thought she was much worse going to the left.

To me it looks like a few things vs one. This is classically how I think a very backsore horse moves… is this the same mare that had those awful hind feet a few years back?

2 Likes