I’ve just been thinking a lot lately about the mystery lameness in one of my horses. I retired him at 10 due to an “unsolveable” lameness on LF when tracking right. I spent multiple years and thousands of dollars trying to get to the bottom of it.
The horse had been seen by multiple vets, been blocked, xrayed and ultrasounded anywhere we could think of with no answers. He had a full body bone scan, and though he actually lit up in a couple places nothing blocked out and never found anything conclusive.
We tried bodywork, neck and fetlock injections, NSAID trials and nothing seemed to help. Surprisingly, I think his lameness got worse when he was not in consistent work. I even reached out to an animal communicator when I’d had a bit too much wine who was able to get a surprisingly accurate read on his personality but said he’d been having stifle issues, which IMO doesn’t align with the LF lameness.
I’m not really trying to figure out the root cause of his lameness anymore (although I don’t mind if you want to posit a theory) but I am curious if anyone else has had any of these mystery lamenesses and if they ever resolved on their own or if you ever eventually figured it out.
I’m sorry to read what you’ve gone through, but so nice to hear of a story where a horse who can’t work has a lifetime home. Sometimes with those cases, I really wonder if there’s a deformity in the spine we just can’t image or see.
I got one myself. Sometimes I wonder what the answer is, but frankly after thousands and thousands of dollars pursuing diagnostics, I just don’t have it in me to open that box again. He’s sleek and happy living the retired life as the resident personality pusher - his calling may not have been as a riding horse, but I can ALWAYS count on him to bring out the personalities in every new horse we have. He is one of those horses that just genuinely shines in an indescribable way - and I am not one to wax poetic.
We went through the diagnostic wringer when he was six trying to get to the bottom of his Russian Nesting Doll Soundness issues, and he’s 21 now. People always ask why he isn’t in work since he looks sound, but I know better. It was a shame too because he was a stunning mover and even at 21 people’s jaws drop when they see him go.
Hugs to you and your horse. This is the camp no one wants to be in.
I own one too. Got him off the track at 3. Phenomenal mover. Clean vetting other than a sticky stifle that the vet thought he’d grow out of. That stifle HAUNTED him for years while we chased all kinds of other issues, always with the stifle coming in to dash hopes of soundness at the end. I retired him long before I bought a farm. Carried his expenses for years even though I never got to do much of anything with him.
Now I own a farm and he’s retired out back. And when I had to put his last pasture mate to sleep, I bought him a TB so he could have company. He’s so happy back there with his wife. He wants for nothing and will probably outlive each and every one of my useful riding horses.
I’ve got one (aside from the companion) that the nifty combo of behavioural issues and a known but not solvable lameness issue is going to keep him from really doing what I want to do. He would be totally sound for pretty much anything else*. I’ve also realized…I have horses because I love having horses, I love working with them, interacting with them. "pasture puff’ is no longer a slur. So. Buddy is here for life. That healed but scarred DDFT tendon in a hind gets him off hard work, meanwhile he seems to be teaching the young boy manners, which is all to the good. Wouldn’t have expected that from him, given his ‘charming’ tendency of kicking in harness but…I’m not complaining! @vxf111 those two are so lovely, they put me in mind of my late OTTB. Heartbreakers all of them!
Actual work should be commercial draft horse logging, it is asking a lot physically. He could be a gorgeous, winning cart horse, or a ‘husband’ horse without any potential soundness issues. The behavioral issues though…I can’t in good conscience sell him.
I have one. She has been a superstar for me all her life. She’s 21 this year. She has been a sound horse, as a racehorse, as a jumper. She has the courage of a lion, she’s always honest. She has saved my ass so many times, and gone above and beyond the call of duty so many times. She’s smarter than me, she’s more talented than me, and a diva of the finest quality, right from the start. She’s a stunner. I’ve been so fortunate to have her. I’m lucky.
But she’s not sound any more, and I can’t tell you exactly why, exactly what the issue is. A tendon sheath holds some fluid, comes and goes, and I don’t know why or exactly where the issue is. She looks pretty good on the lunge line, and when I ride going to the right, but when we turn around and go left, there’s a bit of a “shimmy” in there, in her gait. She tells me about it. I can feel it. What vet care I have available in this area (such as it is) has taken a view at it, and shrugged. I haven’t investigated further. I don’t need to know, and no amount of investigation or money spent is going to turn back the hands of time. She’s comfortable, and retired, and living out her life in the company of her friends and family out in the field. My only regret is that she has not produced a foal, because she has truly earned the right to reproduce. I would love to own a dozen just like her.
My current mare was off/on lame for several years. It started with less than stellar farrier work(chronic LTLH) which resulted in an abscess blowing out her heel and then the on/off lameness on that foot. Her walk was fine she was lame at the trot.
I just didn’t have the money to try a bunch of different things and after a short bit of time off when it happened she came back sound and it lasted for months so we just kind of took it day by day.
After the abscess I found a new farrier who seemed to do her correctly (feet looked great) but she still had brief periods of unsoundness over the 2 years he did her. He thought it was her knee or shoulder.
Last Dec after a crazy running/ bucking episode with her pasture mates she came up totally non weight bearing on that leg. My vet came out x-rayed and found both ringbone and sidebone but no joint was involved. The lameness that go round was extreme because something was pressing on a nerve. It did lessen pretty quickly and she was lame at the trot but walking well.
Thankfully I had found another farrier #3 who is my vets go-to on lameness issues almost 2 years before so he shod her as per my vets instructions ( also what he would do if it was his horse) and she has thankfully been sound and back in work since March.
From this thread it sounds like the mystery lameness always seems to arise in the smartest, best looking and best moving horses
My lame horse is super flashy, incredibly charming and too smart for his own good. I’m super fortunate to be able to afford multiple horses and I can keep him around as a pasture puff. He’s a terrible bully though, and goes out by himself, so he’s not even a good companion.
My vets had said he’d be fine for light trail riding and some pleasure work, but without knowing the root of his lameness I was too nervous going up or down hills or encountering any sort of ungroomed terrain that he might take a bad step and fall with me on board. So he’s just hanging out. I could use him for pony rides for the neighbor’s kids, but he doesn’t suffer fools and I would hate to turn any of my friends children into lawn darts just to feel like he has a job.
He’s the type that really thrives with human interaction and feeling like he has something to do though, so I always try to find new groundwork to do with him and recently started introducing him to some trail obstacles from the ground.
My mystery lameness is my heart horse. 15yo OTTB, bright copper chestnut, personality for days, gorgeous mover, presence out the wazoo. Bought him to be my hunter, switched to dressage, were making great progress and getting ready to debut at 2nd level when the NQR started. He was 9. He looked great going left, but slightly off going right. Looked fine on the lunge line and phenomenal at liberty. Flexed mildly positive to hocks. I had limited funds and even more limited access to quality vet care–we tried saddle fit, we injected the hocks, did bodywork of every variety, gave him six months off, tried various herbs, no luck. Moved to college close to a large university, sunk a bunch of money into a custom saddle that was supposed to help, and it sort of did–but same issue.
Over the years we’ve had him worked up multiple ways, injected hocks, stifles, treated for EPM, imaged his entire spine, stifles, hocks, feet…no smoking gun. I have long since resigned myself to him being a pasture pet. I would love to turn him into a trail horse, because his brain is amazing and riding him is like pulling on my favorite sweater, but I worry about the possibility of a neuro deficit (one vet said he had one, large vet school couldn’t find one, images all looked fine…etc) and pain.
In my heart of hearts I wonder about a hind suspensory, but every vet I’ve ever asked has insisted that’s not it and that it wasn’t worth imaging. Maybe one of these days I’ll march in and insist on having it imaged and worked up and maybe his SI as well. But then I wonder if it’s worth the money when he is happy and comfortable being a pasture horse/oversized dog/pet. He’s my best buddy and I will have him for the rest of his life, whether or not I ever sit on his back again or find out why he’s not quite right.
I had a mystery lameness mysteriously disappear.
OTTB, had a nice young horse career. Started having some weird psychological issues. Chalked it up to him being 7. Until he clearly started having bouts of lameness. It was in his back, right where you would think kissing spine would bed We basically x-rayed his whole body. He had a small fracture in his wither but the vets felt it was unlikely to be the cause of his lameness. It felt like we were chasing the lameness. No kissing spine. Inject the SI and every other joint in his back; no change. Inject the hocks, he was ok for a few months then back to square one. Inject the stifles, same thing. Acupuncture, worked for about 2 months then stopped working. New shoes. Glue on shoes. Barefoot. New saddle. Different new saddle. Nothing worked.
I finally asked for a prescription for equioxx and gave him about 2 years off.
He’s back in work now. I put him back into work last summer, and this last winter he was leased out. The lady who leases him is competing him in the h/j rings and using him as a lesson horse. He passed his PPE she did with flying colors. I don’t even think he’s on the previcox any more.
I still have zero idea what was wrong. None of my vets do either. One of them said it was one of the weirdest cases of lameness they had ever seen be resolved by doing nothing.
I will say though, and this is controversial, I’ll never purposely buy another OTTB. Some of the BEST horses I have ridden have been OTTBS, but it seems like 70% have some sort of medical issue. I don’t know if it’s breeding or their early start on the track, but I have seen so, so many have to be put down way too early because they had something seriously wrong with them.
I would chalk it up to the work they do early on and the way they are shod while they race. Many go onto second careers in spite of injuries sustained from their early work.
While an osselet or a bowed tendon are visually obvious on a basic PPE, some more insidious injuries like SI strains, suspensory damage, or spinal/neck injuries are not immediately apparent on a PPE and can hound that horse its entire working life. They can be difficult to diagnose too – especially injuries in the neck or SI.
I actually think TBs are one of the soundest breeds – if they don’t race. The fact that many do race and still be sound in a new career for the next 10-20 years blows my mind.
A TB bred and raised to be a sport horse is usually a fantastic riding partner. The breed could be so much more than it is if there were more people breeding for sport and not for racing.
I’ve seen my share of injuries and issues that are leftovers from the track, but in OTTBs there is this issue that breeders don’t always necessarily breed for longevity. I’ve seen quite a few die from causes that are clearly genetic, but because the sire is fetching a huge stud fee no one says anything, or if they do its too late and there’s several years of progeny on the ground all suffering from similar issues.
It’s also pretty common to be able to track behavioral issues through lines, which I think is a good example of why breeding for racing isn’t always in the best interest of the breed. A horse with known behavior issues is still bred because the horse raced well, even if it took 4 people to walk it, threw the jockey twice before they made it to the box, and almost kicked the starting gate down.
The shoeing though I think is a great point. If you are slapping shoes on essentially a yearling, yeah you will have long term hoof issues. It’s no wonder so many suffer from high/low, or underrun heels that can’t be solved.
I’m always fascinated by TB’s and probably annoy anyone around me who I talk to about them. But where else can we see such a wide variety of difference in a breed that has been selectively bred for a trait that is so subjective; be the fastest?
Wholeheartedly agree. I can’t tell you how many times I have sat on an off-track TB and thought, man, I wish I had this guy before he raced/was started.
Sadly, it is expensive to stand a stallion and interest is not often generated for sport-TB studs; you have to be a bit more than independently wealthy because it is a labor of love more than most breeding operations are. Even if you put the stud on the mark, you’ll still fight an uphill battle with both mare-owner’s perceptions of what the breed is capable of, and buyer’s perceptions of how little the horse should be worth because it’s half-TB.
Do you mind expanding, with your observations – of which lines/disease state[s] you are referring to?
It certainly is an interesting topic – and a lot can be said for the pros/cons of breeding chiefly for speed and/or the market. By the time we know how a stallion ages an what he suffered from as he aged, he usually has several hundred foals on the ground and those several hundred already have offspring too. Much different than in other industries where the horse can campaign almost his entire lifetime; it just simply isn’t possible in racing out of the interest of the horse’s welfare. That and I believe most tracks age out of conditions completely at 10.
There are certain lines known for certain issues - I would say that the biggest thing right now that I have seen with TBs is neck issues. Part of it is clearly related to their early starts/racing and studies have indicated as such.
I don’t take most of the things about behavioral issues at face value. There are very few happy race horses - in either mind or body - and they are typically totally different once out of a racehorse program. I don’t think racing or the way they are kept is inherently abusive, FWIW, but it isn’t conducive to the horse’s long-term health either. Being in a stall 20 hours of the day, micromanaged down to every little detail, fed 20+ lbs of high quality/caloric grains, at a young age while working harder than the average horse will ever work in its lifetime is a recipe for behavioral issues to crop up, IMHO. By and large my experience on the backside tells me that most TBs are reasonably pleasant to handle for their crew, but they are not “broke” to handle the way you or I (as sport riders) expect a horse in work to be. They’re trained, just not the way we prefer – and if we want those buttons we usually have to put them there ourselves.
This is getting soap-boxy but because I’m also a fellow person who could talk endlessly about TBs and annoy everyone around me with it, it’s been my observation people blame the TB for “behavioral issues” before they look seriously at themselves – how well their management provided is, how well their eye is at detecting lameness, and how sound the horse actually is. I know and see too many people who blame “Storm Cat” for their horse’s “rotten attitude” when the horse is 3 legged lame in a saddle that doesn’t fit, and they ignored all 500 signs that the horse was uncomfortable before it finally lost its $hit and bolted across the ring. That and when you look at the horse’s pedigree, he’s got Storm Cat once, four generations back, and is by a stallion known for good temperament and out of a mare from classy, classy horses.
By and large I find the breed is very consistently generous and tolerant of all manner of horsekeeping good or poor, with a high threshold for stoicism that makes it difficult for the average owner to detect whether or not the horse is truly comfortable in their work, body, and management. This seems to lead to a far bit of disaster because the TB is the horse of the working class – who might not always have the money to pursue diagnostics and don’t always have the experience to know something is wrong either until it goes full SNAFU. It puts the TB in a difficult place because the general impression of the breed is not through top level barns, but instead lesson programs, backyard barns, and barns run on shoe-string budgets with shoe-string care provided.
I 1000x agree with this. Especially the part where it’s the working class breed, and therefore maybe there isn’t the money spent on them that a fancy warm blood might have, and so a lot of times a sour attitude is really more a physical issue.
I don’t want to post publicly on the forum who the lines are (I can certainly PM anyone who is interested) but there was several half siblings who all died of the same disease at about the same age. They were owned by different people and had retired from the track.
And if you watch the eventing forum, there’s of course many ideas on certain lines have various issues or benefits, and that’s pretty regularly brought up. I’m not sure behaviorally you really can track a line too far back, as it’s diluted so much, but some people absolutely swear by that.
I’d really love it if they could do more studies on kissing spine and neck/back arthritis. Many people and vets will tell you the majority of the clients they see with it are TBs or WBs with high TB blood. Some people have proposed that it stems from some very prominent sires. I wonder if it is, or if it is more to do with galloping 1.5 year olds with people on their back. TB’s are a good quandary into nature vs nurture; do they have these physical issues due to genetics, or due to what happens when they are young?
It would need a very comprehensive, likely extremely expensive, study. But the results sure would be interesting.
Oh, another thing I forgot to say. I think that a lot of TB’s mentally mature very late. Like, 10ish late. It’s not always true (I have a client with a 5 year old who acts like he’s 30). But some people get this horse off the track, who brain has kind of been fried, and who isn’t mentally mature at all, and then they get thrown or the horse doesn’t listen well or it has so so so much energy, and the horse gets labeled ‘insane’ ‘dangerous’ ‘crazy’ and the poor thing really is just young and needs to grow up. If they are lucky, they get stuck in a field for a few years and later someone finds them and goes ‘why the heck isn’t this horse winning all the things?’ But if the horse isn’t lucky, it’s put down or ends up in the auction pipeline.
Part of the issue that things in life are prolonged as long as they are – be it things like a bad boss, bad seal, or bad genes – is because people don’t put their experiences out there.
With race horses, where the stallions sire hundreds of horses a year, I think it’s important. You can point out the experiences the offspring have had, without saying it in a way that you need to be fearful of any litigation (if that is one of your concerns).
I think that would be a great thread to have. There’s probably a lot more people out there with similar info but they just don’t have anywhere to post it.
