NQR young horse - hind end issues (retitled from ulcers / kissing spine focus)

[EventingMaff]

I’m going to continue to update here as I found it helpful in researching mare’s symptoms to read other’s stories through to their conclusion.

Over the two weeks since I posted my last update, mare’s work under saddle began to deteriorate. Not hugely, but the ‘NQR’ signals began to reappear - heavy on the left rein, trying to evade asks in the trot that required loading her hind end (e.g. half halts) by bracing or breaking to canter, shortening strides going down hills. Nothing super obvious or glaring, but subtle early signs that we were once again headed down the same path as before.

Had a lameness specialist out and on walking through her history he said it all screams hocks. We xrayed and found mild changes, nothing that he thinks warrants injecting at this point so we’re going with Adequan + Equioxx to see if that gives improvements.

[Obsidian_Fire]

I would not dismiss the hocks as “not needing to be injected”. I had new films taken last August, vet didn’t think they were “ready” for injections and to keep on as I had been - with Adequan, etc. Fast forward to March, and no matter what I do, mare is dragging her LH and then suddenly I have no left lead canter anymore - not even on the lunge line. Bunny hopping swapping leads and flat refusing to bend left when ridden. I figured was time for her back to be worked on, took her to vet. Different vet saw her this time, reviewed the films that were taken in August and felt that yes, she probably did need her hocks injected. Had that done, along with her back (lower lumbar area) and I now have a sound horse again.
My point is, just because an xray doesn’t “look” that bad, doesn’t mean the horse is okay with it. There are lots of stories where on film the horse should’ve been dead lame but was going fine, and on film the horse looked fine but was lame.

[EventingMaff]

Completely agree! Hoping that the Adequan + Equioxx regiment gives us improvement but if she tells us that it’s not enough then we’ll inject.

[EventingMaff]

So unfortunate update: No improvement seen with Adequan + Equioxx regiment

If anything, she’s looking worse on the left hind, gone from toe dragging and circumducting but looking totally comfortable / willing to trot to looking generally uncomfortable with some short steps behind when asked to trot.

No improvement in back soreness and if anything seems to be spreading (creeping forward). Saddles both checked yesterday and fitter was shocked that the front right was significantly more broken down vs left…especially since he was just out in February! This is a new development so he doesn’t think that my riding suddenly got THAT crooked and it’s probably linked to her asymmetries in movement.

Called the vet to discuss next steps but at this point the amount I’ve spent, I may just throw her on 24/7 turn out for the next 6 months and see what we have come fall

[lenapesadie]

That’s disheartening I’m sure. Sounds like you have gone above and beyond with this horse.

Are you quite sure there’s no room for improvement in her farrier work? I know it can be difficult to think that your good, reliable farrier that you like and enjoy working with might not be able to do the work that your horse needs. I’m just throwing that out there. Please don’t be offended as that is definitely not my intention!

[EventingMaff]

Not offended at all - all suggestions welcome!

I don’t think it’s the farrier, she’s really teamed up with my vet (they have a call scheduled together to review latest round of x-rays and discuss potential next steps). We’re also discussing putting her in shoes at her next appointment but again, will discuss with vet.

[lenapesadie]

That sounds good! I hope they will be able to get her some support!

Glad you didn’t take offense!

IME some horsewomen are crazy loyal to their farrier and can get real defensive so I sure didn’t want to start any drama especially when it’s obvious you are going all out trying fix this horse up!

[Critter]

Just another suggestion…have you had a neuro vet do a work up?

I only ask because inconsistently lame is actually an early neuro sign. My coming 5 year old dealt with stifle issues all last year with some occasional switching front leg lameness to make it more confusing. He saw a top sports med doc…we thought we had him sorted out (and they do look for neuro stuff…but he didn’t present as neuro at the beginning). Months later, the lameness stuff again returned and he got very anxious and explosive. He never really looked neuro until the very end and even then it only showed up when his balance or movement was really challenged.

He ended up diagnosed with EDM back in Feb. He had ulcers on the patho…despite being treated (with ulcergard). My guess was from the stress and pain he was having…his patho report found brainstem axonal degeneration. He lost a lot of topline in the last month…I should have known something was up when his saddle suddenly wasn’t fitting. I chalked it up to baby horse development changes. It was only once it progressed enough you could see it was really muscle wasting.

Hopefully, your situation is not like that…but sometimes the strange ortho stuff that you can’t seem to get a handle on is actually something totally different.

[No1]

The back soreness could all be coming from the left hind. Which, it sounds like, may very well be her hock region. Either inject her or block her. Or both.

[Gardenhorse]

To me, it sounds like SI issues. They can be hard to diagnose, because it’s difficult to block the SI, but sometimes you can see issues with a transrectal ultrasound.

[endlessclimb]

Can you just try injecting the hocks and see what you get? The lameness may move at that point, but it’s worth a try.

And learn from my mistake - waiting too long to inject hocks can result in not being able to inject them at all and having to resort to far more invasive things.

[TB_eventer]

Any news? I was reading through and I’m very interested to see how it’s going and if you’ve found a solution!

[4horses]

You know, this sounds a lot like type 2 pssm. Bucking at the canter, swapping leads behind, dragging the toes, stiffness…

Canter problems that look like SI issues look very similar to type 2 pssm to me.

[EventingMaff]

Actually @lenapesadie ended up being pretty spot on - it was her feet.

It wasn’t actually her farrier (who I still really value), but vet farrier and I together decided to shoe her all around and see if this additional support helped. 3 weeks later the tightness in her back and bucking in canter was gone.

Now she still slightly drags her toes and slightly circumducts her hind legs (left more than light) – but you need to be looking for both. So I think there likely is something underlying that may flare up again later but we’re hoping that strengthening and correct training will mitigate. For now she’s doing great - we even just placed at our first show!

[lenapesadie]

That’s great news! Thanks for updating us!

[TB_eventer]

That’s great to hear, thanks for the update!!

[EventingMaff]

Coming back her to give a more recent update a year since my last post.

My previous update (post 37) from September 2021 named her feet as the problem, which they were a contributing factor but time would tell us that they weren’t the entire answer. The summer and early fall of 2021 she was great. The temps started dropping in November and we started to see previous symptoms rear their heads again. Tight back, bucking, stiffness to the left, resistance to canter and rushing / dis-united once cantering. She also ramped up her stall kicking to the point of destroying it on 2-3 occasions.

Treated for ulcers showed mild improvement. Saddles checked and were fine. Rebuilding the stall got expensive so barn manager evicted her to over-night turnout alone, coming in for several hours during the day while others used the field. This also saw some improvement in symptoms.

By late January I was at my wits end, and started to put the full picture together:

• Symptoms all seemed muscular not joint related
• Winter much worse than summer / warm weather
• She seems to need unusually heavy blanketing, not even accounting for the fact she was raised unstalled in Canada unblanketed until 3
• most issues in the canter, trot issues are one-rein stiffness
• seems worse after several days off, more turn out seemed to help
• seemed prone to ulcers despite a low stress life

Based on those, we decided to treat her as if PSSM2. Overhauled her diet and lifestyle management – over the next ~2 months started to see big improvement. By summer and warmer weather she was like a regular young(ish) horse just needing strength and conditioning. Toe dragging gone, circumducting basically gone (unless gets unbalanced), spookiness gone, cross-cantering started to disappear.

She’s now back competing in low level eventing and doing great. Winter will be an interesting test as it’s always harder (considering sending her south).

Hopefully this update proves helpful to future readers who may struggle with similar symptoms!

[stargzng386]

Thanks for the update! Would you mind outlining the changes you made?

[EventingMaff]

We experimented with several things for a couple months, but where she is now is:

• 2 lbs high protein ration balancer
• ~2-3 lb alfalfa pellets, beet pulb, whey protein powder, Coq-10 soaked mixture
• Supplements of Vit E, Magnesium, Purina Supersport (in addition to protein powder)
• Minimum of 12 hrs turn out daily
• Long slow warm ups, frequent stretch breaks, very regulated exercise schedule (ridden 6 days a week with 1-2 hack days)
• Minimum monthly bodywork
• Very conservative about weather and blanketing – she’s treated like a dainty princess for all weather conditions

So far it seems to manage her symptoms, but time will tell if her condition progresses. I’m accepting of the fact that she’ll likely be limited in what level she can attain and for how long she’ll compete and coming to terms that she’ll very likely need an early retirement. But am enjoying what we’re getting from her now at 7

[Atl-stl-21]

Very interested in how the past year has been for you and your horse! Sorry to revive an old thread but I had similar issues in my young horse this past spring and would love to hear how yours is doing