I should say - we can get xrays of whatever on the first go. Any more extensive neuro stuff is going to involve a dedicated day, not just “hey while we’re flexing and jogging and blocking her for an hour, can you sneak in here and do a neuro exam?”
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Best of luck!! I think we are putting hind shoes back on my horse this Wednesday. He’s done well with hind shoes before and I regret pulling them but I was going through a family crisis and wasn’t riding so pulled them. We also didn’t have x-rays of the hind feet so now we have that to back it up at least.
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I feel very invested in this now, following to see how it goes. Stuff like this can be so frustrating. I’m going through paranoia of my new guy having something NQR too but after the usual saddle/teeth/vet/chiro/etc check, I’m slowly building up fitness and seeing if it gets better, worse, or no change. Getting some ideas for things to potentially check down the road if needed though (and after my bank account recovers a bit!)
Fingers crossed they can find something and it’s a simple, easy, cheap treatment!
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Honestly, I’d ask for the neuro appointment before lameness. If there is something, it can be investigated and decisions made on treatment, etc. If you spend a day on lameness and another few weeks/months trying to get things right when the root is neurological, you’ve spent a ton of money, time, and hopes and dreams on fixing something that needed a completely different approach.
^ that may not be what you wanted to read, but btdt and glad I did neuro first.
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I’ve done a joint appointment with the neuro specialist on internal medicine and the sports med team in the past at my local hospital. The sports med vets wanted to watch some of the neuro exam, and the neuro specialist also wanted to watch some of the sports med exam. And the vets put their heads together on the imaging as well. That said, we’d already had surprising neck X-rays prior to the appointment.
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I agree with those pushing not to put off neuro on a horse whose diagnosis is proving to be challenging. Just went through this myself. At least get a BASIC neuro exam A good vet team should pick up a neuro problem, however, if they are focused on ortho type issues…they might get tunnel vision. IF there is a neuro problem , it likely wont go away without being specifically addressed.
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She’s already had a neuro exam by the local vet. Multiple times, in fact. In some ways she’s fine, in other ways she’s weird. If you cross her front legs she just leaves them there. The rest of the exam she’s fine - tail pull, setting the legs to the side, anything with the hind end.
The best we can tell is that she’s just “weird” in the sense that she doesn’t mind leaving her legs where you put them.
I can try to fit them both together but I’d rather get my neuro done at U of I. I was not thrilled with the neuro exam at Purdue of my late mare. They looked at her for maybe 3 minutes, did just a tail pull, and declared her fine.
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Is U of I not suitable for both neuro and lameness? Why not just go there and get the full picture.
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Because I know my lameness vet at Purdue.
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Is your local vet a neurologist? I just hate to see you dive down an expensive rabbit hole when the other expensive rabbit hole is looking like a hard maybe 
I will shut up now 
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Dumb question; what would a neuro exam cost?
Anyways, is it worthwhile to have it done at Perdue since you’ll be there anyway and again at U of I if need be? Any chance your relationship with the lameness vet could help with investigating anything with the neuro vet?
As someone who is self professed “shotgun approach” person, skipping evaluating a very obvious angle seems like a misstep.
I get it, 100%, that a neuro issue sucks, and I’m sure you want it to be just about anything else. But trying to coordinate ortho at one referral hospital and neuro at another will be messy as best and ineffective at worst. Ortho and neuro should be working together, be it at Purdue or U of I or wherever. You’ve continued to come back to a neuro issue over and over in your bloodwork and with your local vet…how about heeding that gut feel and really answering that question you have?
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Thanks for your take everyone. I will consider it.
@Simkie I tested because that’s standard protocol for troubleshooting. EPM and Lyme are part of the checklist. A neuro issue is no worse than an unsolvable stifle or hock one. They both result end the end of a career, and likely euthanasia.
I got out of the uni hospital about 10 years ago well under $1000. No myelogram though. Neck rads were bad enough for a solid diagnosis.
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Thanks!
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I believe it was $250 for lameness and $300 for neuro exams at R&R when I called a few months ago. Not including rads/blocks/whatever else.
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Not that it really helps but my horse with manageable hock arthritis and a sticky stifle does worse with hind shoes. It’s just a piece of the puzzle so at least you have more information now.
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If you’re already at the hospital, it shouldn’t add much. Last year for appointments with both lameness and neuro exams I paid:
Virginia Tech: $254 for lameness workup + $61 for neuro consult (no admission or general exam fee) = $315
New Bolton: $154 admission fee + $152 lameness exam + $152 neuro exam = $458
(Obviously this doesn’t include any imaging or bloodwork but I think both prices were reasonable and well worth it.)
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We’re on the books for a neuro exam as well. Hopefully not a chincy as last time, else I’ll be pretty pissed.
Had the best ride I’ve had in awhile on her last night. Just one little freak out, and it happened at the trot (unusual) and was over with in half a second. I’m guessing it was a mini spook, not the standard freak out.
Rode in the Port Lewis pad again, and it was maybe thinner on the right side. I do lean to the right (working on it) so I’m guessing that’s why. Regardless, nothing severe. Saddle fitter coming out April 1 just in case, anyways. I’ll ride in the Port Lewis pad with my jump saddle tonight, see if that looks different.
The Equestic clip continues to be useless, saying she’s only 2% different side to side. It does show that her canter impulsion is above average, as well as her canter cadence.
Continuing to whittle stuff down.
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How does she look and feel after a week in shoes? I see the LH is markedly shorter with shoes, but I think she is moving better over her neck and shoulders. She looks like she is moving more up and down instead of moving in ‘economy mode’. Glad to hear you had a great ride on her yesterday.
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