Injury and front toe drag - lameness investigation advice

[the_rook]

Hello all - went out to the barn tonight and my mare is lame on her front left. She is dragging the hoof and is somewhat reluctant about moving but will walk slowly with me. She looks uphappy but was still mugging me for snacks, was eating, and had no temperature. I gave her a dose of banamine as that’s what I had on hand.

When I pick up the left front leg, the muscles in front of the shoulder where the leg ties in to the chest are shaky/have a tremor, like where the pectoral is. I can’t see any swelling or an injury site.

So my question is, where should I be looking for an injury? Maybe the shoulder? It’s been raining a significant amount and she lives out 24/7 so could be a slipping injury. I don’t have a lameness vet nearby so if I have to haul or have the local vet out I’d like to make sure we don’t block a bunch of things if we don’t need to. I spent $$$ on mystery lameness for her last year so I’m really hopeing to figure out what happened and how to treat this injury in an economical manner. Looking for guidance on what kind of diagnostics do I need to do to figure out what it is? Anyone with a similar experience?

Appreciate any insight or suggestions.

[Bogey2]

I start with taking the temperature, then look for abcess. Temp because of ticks, abcess because they show up in the weirdest ways. Can be different horse to horse. Then I have the vet come if it’s not one of the two I mentioned.

ETA I see you mentioned rain…check for abcess and thrush in the heel?

[Bluey]

One more zebra to check.
There is a main nerve bundle right over the point of the shoulder that, when injured from hitting something, we saw it happen on a foal hitting a fence, or a strain like from slipping, or being in a trailer wreck, is when we also saw it, presents with that kind of foot dragging and shaking and twitching when the leg is lifted.
That takes months to resolve.

You need to have a vet tell you what you have there.

If there is no fever but normal temperature all along, it probably is not a tick related problem, although never say never, your vet may want to test for those anyway.

[Bonnie2]

When I hear dragging front leg, my first thought is a kick to the shoulder. One horse crashed into the arena wall while the owner was chasing her. Another bucked off his rider and ran until he wiped out on the driveway. Like Bluey said, impact to the point of the shoulder. Not an uncommon injury. There is seldom a mark on the shoulder. Banamine is a great first step. I have seen one that was almost non weight bearing get all better in three days and one that was much milder but took months to resolve. I would contact your vet just with a heads up that this happened. You may want to xray to rule out fracture. Good luck!

[Bluey]

With today’s ultrasound, they may be able to check for soft tissue injuries, something we could only guess years ago.

One old horse broke his shoulder, had to be confined for a couple months, then on small turnout and still recovered fine, it just took long time.

[the_rook]

Oh boy. I did a quick search online last night and this was my fear. Thank you for the info.

[cayuse]

Going to be redundant here. Shoulder. Sending Jingles for your girl.

[the_rook]

@Bogey2

I start with taking the temperature, then look for abcess. Temp because of ticks, abcess because they show up in the weirdest ways. Can be different horse to horse. Then I have the vet come if it’s not one of the two I mentioned.

ETA I see you mentioned rain…check for abcess and thrush in the heel

I checked temp last night before giving banamine. Foot was fine, no thrush or any thing else that looked weird. We’ve never had an abcess so not high on my list of what-could-it-bes but of course never say never! It would be highly unlikely to be tick related issue here. They didnt even recommend testing for lyme last year when we went through our mystery lameness. Appreciate the suggestions!

[the_rook]

@Bluey

With today’s ultrasound, they may be able to check for soft tissue injuries, something we could only guess years ago

I wish our local vet had an ultrasound but they do not. I’ll have to call around and see if anyone outside the area with an ultrasound will take a new patient. Last year I had to haul back and forth 2 hours away for a lameness vet. Ugh I swear I haven’t been able to get a break with this mare.

[endlessclimb]

I know more than one horse who has had this nerve injury, but they were borderline non weight bearing. You are correct that it took some time to resolve.

[the_rook]

@endlessclimb

I know more than one horse who has had this nerve injury, but they were borderline non weight bearing. You are correct that it took some time to resolve.

Of course it would be something probably difficult to diagnose and that takes forever to resolve

[IPEsq]

You should be able to xray that area. And getting some DMSO on board may help the nerve injury and prevent sweeny shoulder from developing. The shaking may just be from pain. You will want to get some imaging done and keep the horse confined. If there is a fracture near the joint or the neck of the scapula, that may require surgery, and the prognosis gets serious—horse may have to go in a standing sling. I’d also take X-rays of the lower neck, because the nerve roots originate there. If the radial nerve becomes so damaged that she can’t stand flat footed, or if there is significant pain affecting stance, then you also have to worry about support limb laminitis. DMSO treatment for the nerve injury could also help with that aspect.