Muscle strain? Shoulder/forearm/neck

[MontysGal]

I feel silly asking this question, but can horses pull muscles?
If so, how do they usually progress and how are they treated?

My horse had a massage last Monday (July 27) and during the stretching at the end he wrenched back on his right front. We didn’t think much of it, but by Tuesday he was head-bob lame at the trot on that leg and did not want to bend at all to the right.

No heat, no increased digital pulse, no weird lumps or bumps.

I tried him on different footing (hard packed, soft, gravel) with no difference, which made me think not abscess and (fingers crossed) not soft tissue.

Gave him some days off but still going outside, and 10 mins marching walk under saddle. Was progressing well, Friday was still stiff bending right but happy and forward and zero size of head bob or short stepping walk and trot, happy to hold a right lead canter.
To me, it seemed like he pulled a muscle in his neck/shoulder/forearm or somewhere similar, and it was healing just as a muscle pull will.

Then Saturday he went back to obvious head bob at trot. Still no heat, no stocking up, no digital pulse, no obvious injuries.

He’s been inside since then and I’m going to try a ‘bute test’ to hopefully rule out abscess. He is now stiff at trot but better than Saturday. I’m worried if I bute him and he feels good he’ll tear down the stall. He’s not great with being inside.

Vet, massage therapist and farrier have been given heads up.

Is there any way to discern muscle pulls?
What is the typical treatment (in/out? Handwalk/time off/working?)?

Generally I think of ‘hoof stuff’ (the technical term, I know!), ‘soft tissue’ and ‘joint/bones’. I guess muscles would be considered soft tissue but without an obvious lump or heat I’m surprised.

Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated.

[silverdog]

I have no idea about muscle strains. However, I have a horse that had mystery lameness at trot for 2 mths (had wu x 2 with normal US and xrays initially)- not distressed and had tried a few things w/o improvement and were moving towards 6 mths of turnout. For a variety of reasons I am no longer willing to pay for crazy diagnostics/treatments for this horse. He had an unfortunate encounter with a snake and ended up somehow suffering an avulsion fracture. Definitely lamer but not consistent. Some swelling but no where near the fracture site. Had extensive lameness work up today that diagnosed this. Highly recommend a solid wu so you don’t miss something that needs specific treatment.

[IPEsq]

Can you describe the position his body was in when he did the weird movement on RF during stretching? I wonder if the stretching caused it or he was reacting to something already brewing.

[findeight]

If he’s not greatly improved by the end of the week, I’d get the vet out and be ready for a workup starting with blocks. And please do the blocks. In one way, you are lucky since head bobbing lame allows you to see what leg hurts. Blocks isolate where the pain is coming from and direct the X rays instead of getting dinged for lots of pics which really pumps your bill up. We just had a long running saga from a poster spending money chasing lamness but not getting blocks. When she finally did, first block on the first leg revealed the location and allowed proper dx.

Im sure they can pull a muscle and this could be an abcess but these things should resolve, or reveal themselves in the case of abcess, in 10 days-2 weeks.

[MontysGal]

Thanks All -

Farrier was up last night to put hoof testers on him, in hopes she could locate any abscess but (luckily?) no reaction to hoof testers, no digital pulse and no heat in the hoof.

Farrier believe it’s higher up in the soft tissue, and that the person giving the massage found it rather than created it. The stretch he pulled back on was this one:
http://www.equisearch.com/content/content/20296/asset_upload_file54_5193.jpg
We tried it again last night and he’s definitely less comfortable doing that stretch on his right front than his left front.

Thank you for the idea of blocks - if it’s not obvious on flexions I’m planning blocks & x-rays.

No lumps, bumps, heat or change in appetite or attitude, however farrier did notice he’s sound(er) on straight than on turns, typical of soft tissue.

Still the same level of lameness today as last Tuesday, so to the vet I go…

[kashmere]

Horses can pull/strain muscles, for sure. If he pulled back on that particular stretch, it could have had an effect on any one of the muscles surrounding his scapula - deep pectoral, tricep, trapezius, eve latissimus dorsi. Check for heat/tenderness around his entire scapula - it may be in an odd area, like on his side, directly under the wither about halfway down his trunk.

[IPEsq]

It’s possible you have a lower neck or withers area problem. My vet recently did that stretch with my horse and asked him to lower his head and lower it and turn to each side. This provides some information on parts of the spine that are difficult to image. A horse who cannot do that, and who may react by raising the head high and pulling back may have a problem going on in the lower C spine and/or upper T spine.