Lame for 60 seconds every morning?

[CHoff]

Wanted to put this out there to see if anyone has ideas. Vet is super puzzled.

5 year old WB, clean vetting, clean xrays. When you pull her out of her stall in the AM and toss her on a lunge line or free in the arena trotting, she’ll head bob on the right front for approx 60 seconds, and then it will completely vanish and she will be fine for the rest of the day (riding, lunging, whatever). Vet has flexed and flexed and nothing. If she is pulled from her turnout in the PM, she is fine. It is JUST in the AM when she gets out of her stall.

Thoughts??

[JB]

Something in the hoof, like collateral ligament?

[SuzieQNutter]

Does the same thing happen if she is not stalled?

[No1]

Neck? Has the vet come to look at her when she is straight out of the stall?

[OverandOnward]

Well it’s longer than 60 seconds for me every morning. But I warm up out of it.

Any chance there is something about her nighttime stall or sleeping surface that is making her uncomfortable? Horses don’t sleep all night as we do, of course. But probably she lays down for an hour or two at night.

If you have something like a Simply Safe security camera, that might be a way to find out what is happening at night. It records every time there is motion and can be checked later. It might not matter, but would be more information.

[Renn_aissance]

How long has she been on her feet in the stall before going out? Does she perhaps lie down in a way that some part of her puts pressure on a nerve, or have some kind of lymphatic drainage issue whose inflammation does that until she moves around enough to shift it? (I have the latter in one knee.)

[IPEsq]

Have you blocked the foot? I’d probably try a vet appointment first thing and block it before she has a chance to warm up out of whatever it is. If it blocks, then you know it’s the foot. If not, then maybe you need another appointment to do a different block. Or you could ultrasound the leg higher and see if anything is there. Were knee rads done? Neck rads? Are you 100% sure it’s not the right hind causing the nod? Was that flexed?

[punchy]

I agree with others it sound like foot. I’d have the vet block it first thing in the morning before she comes out of the stall and see how she goes.

[frisky]

Are you riding her afterwards and is she staying sound after the 60 seconds. Or are you just putting her in stall/turnout and leaving her alone? Can you put her on a lunge both directions to see if she takes off steps. Sometimes the lameness needs to get a little worse. I had a suspensory go that way and was difficult/took a while to confirm. my horse would only take the off steps under saddle when we hit a turn and that bad foot was on the inside.

If the horse is not showing significant changes in regular work, then I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

I wonder if it would make a difference if the horse was in a different stall. Or if the horse was out to pasture or larger turnout even and not stalled.

[Turntable]

Almost always general heel pain. Does she have uneven/ contracted/ high heels or loss of the cushion there? Is she sensitive on the heel tissue to finger pressure or hoof testers? Typically a farrier problem in my opinion.

[punchy]

@frisky

Are you riding her afterwards and is she staying sound after the 60 seconds. Or are you just putting her in stall/turnout and leaving her alone? Can you put her on a lunge both directions to see if she takes off steps. Sometimes the lameness needs to get a little worse. I had a suspensory go that way and was difficult/took a while to confirm. my horse would only take the off steps under saddle when we hit a turn and that bad foot was on the inside.

If the horse is not showing significant changes in regular work, then I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

I wonder if it would make a difference if the horse was in a different stall. Or if the horse was out to pasture or larger turnout even and not stalled.

Eh. A 5 year old with clean x-rays shouldn’t be head bobbing lame for a full minute when coming out of a stall and put on a lunge every morning. It’s worth doing diagnostics on, at least starting with a basic foot block.

[CHT]

How long has this been happening?

What if you apply hoof testers BEFORE taking the horse out of the stall?

[candyappy]

Do you have a stall with an attached run? I would be curious if she is still lame in the morning if she has room to walk around and not circle in a stall?

I agree with blocking the foot and looking for answers.

[OceansAway]

My horse did this almost exactly, and it ended up being an enlarged DDFT and bone edema. He did heal with corrective shoeing and rest.