Recommendations for a good lameness vet in western mass?

[whitewolfe001]

Anyone in western mass or nearby: recommendations for the best lameness vet?

Something is not quite right with my horse but whatever it is, it’s subtle. He doesn’t “appear” lame to anyone, but I can feel something is not right. Something in the back end but I can’t pinpoint it. I won’t get into the whole thing, otherwise I’d write a novel… but the horse is supposed to be doing mid level dressage, he’s getting older and I only want him to be doing real work and competition for maybe another 2 years until I retire him, so I want to get to the bottom of whatever is bothering him so that I know if there is something that can be done about it or not.

I had a vet out but I felt the exam was pretty cursory, maybe a little dismissive. I need someone who will take me seriously when I say I know he doesn’t look lame but something doesn’t feel right, and his resistance to work is not behavioural, because he’s a good guy who tries hard.

(Not really interested in chiropractor recommendations… been there, done that, over the years I haven’t had good experiences. Maybe that’s something I would be willing to revist out of desperation if nothing turns up with veterinary diagnosis, but not right now.)

[dudleyc]

Can you take the horse to tufts in grafton?

[whitewolfe001]

I suppose I could, but, there is plenty that could be done by someone on site first who is willing to investigate (xrays, the thermal imaging stuff, nerve blocks, etc). Since I’ve only had one vet look at him I guess I’d rather try someone else first?

[AKB]

If it is subtle, I would go to Tufts or another vet school clinic. Why pay for nerve blocks, ultrasounds and X rays to be done twice?

[Bogie]

How far west? Have you talked to Brett Gaby? Essex Equine.

[whitewolfe001]

OK… ballpark figure on a lameness workup at Tufts? (Horse is not insured)

[AKB]

I think it depends on how easy it is to find the problem. I have had a $350 lameness work up at our local vet school. My friend spent $2000 because her horse had a hard to find problem that needed a scan. Figure out your budget and call them to get a price for the basic exam, a few X rays and a few nerve blocks. Everything beyond that, you can decide on at the time of the visit.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=Bogie;8681355]
How far west? Have you talked to Brett Gaby? Essex Equine.[/QUOTE]

Second Brett Gaby. He has an unparalleled eye, IMHO.
How western are we talking? He is my primary vet - IIRC he does have some clientele out by Greenfield/Deerfield.

In the future, for a chiropractor well worth her money, I’d try Jessie Springer-Svatek. She has made wonderful improvements in not one but several of my OTTBs over the years.

[Ghazzu]

Might want to talk to Bud Allen, in Haydenville.
He does chiro and acupunture as well as standard medicine.

[Bogie]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8682255]
Second Brett Gaby. He has an unparalleled eye, IMHO.
How western are we talking? He is my primary vet - IIRC he does have some clientele out by Greenfield/Deerfield.

In the future, for a chiropractor well worth her money, I’d try Jessie Springer-Svatek. She has made wonderful improvements in not one but several of my OTTBs over the years.[/QUOTE]

I concur. Jessie is awesome.

[mistymule]

I would call Tufts, explain the situation and get a ballpark quote. Not a big fan of the vet mentioned here.

[whitewolfe001]

Thanks everybody. I’m not too too far west… the valley. I guess I’ll look into a Tufts visit. I was under the impression it was a last resort kind of thing.

[ryansgirl]

[QUOTE=whitewolfe001;8682776]
Thanks everybody. I’m not too too far west… the valley. I guess I’ll look into a Tufts visit. I was under the impression it was a last resort kind of thing.[/QUOTE]

I brought my mare straight to NEEMSC in NH when something wasn’t quite right. I didn’t feel like wasting time with a vet who came to the farm and who wouldn’t have the tools to do a full work up. Glad I did because NEEMSC was able to cleanly X-ray her back (& everything else) which was where the problem was - farm vet wouldn’t been able to at the time. To me it makes sense just to go to Tufts to start (& you’ll have a team looking at your horse - not just one vet).

[Chief2]

Carl Kirker-Head (Tufts) worked on my app gelding for a lameness issue and did a great job. He is now the director of the Orthopedic Research Lab.
http://vetprofiles.tufts.edu/faculty/carl-a-kirker-head

[nu2u]

Another just go to Tufts…you do not necessarily have to have all the diagnostics they recommend done on the first visit. I can think of other great lameness vets with clinics but much further away and really a full fledged large animal hospitals are the only ones with BIG advanced imaging machines6w

[Atlas_Shrugged]

Agreed- Brett Gabby

[quietann]

Dr. Gaby was great with my mare when she needed surgery, and she is now with Dr. Clark (Gaby’s wife???) for lameness issues. Some find Dr. G’s personality a bit difficult to deal with, but I don’t.

OTOH, the vet that sees most of the horses where I board has an excellent reputation, but I don’t like them. Mostly because of them not listening to me because they assumed the trainer knew more about my horse than I did, and then later completely missing the joint when doing a hock injection. And I just didn’t like their injection style in general.

I have also had an absolutely great experience at Tufts, even though they could not find the source of my mare’s issues (not lameness, appeared to be hormonal, maybe, and an ophthalmologist appointment). Several other vets had tried and no one could figure it out. Total cost for all of this was $800. Tufts has a very good repro vet for hormone issues as opposed to structural issues, but he was on sabbatical at the time. Luckily the issues resolved on their own. But this had nothing to do with lameness.

[whitewolfe001]

I’m honestly shocked at the prices you guys are throwing out… I mean I spent $400 just for a vet to do a farm call, flexion tests and a chiro adjustment. :eek: A Tufts visit is sounding more doable now.

[Ghazzu]

[QUOTE=whitewolfe001;8684212]
I’m honestly shocked at the prices you guys are throwing out… I mean I spent $400 just for a vet to do a farm call, flexion tests and a chiro adjustment. :eek: A Tufts visit is sounding more doable now. :)[/QUOTE]

Oh, they’ll spend as much of your money as you let them :D, but if you tell them you have a budget, they will respect it.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=whitewolfe001;8684212]
I’m honestly shocked at the prices you guys are throwing out… I mean I spent $400 just for a vet to do a farm call, flexion tests and a chiro adjustment. :eek: A Tufts visit is sounding more doable now. :)[/QUOTE]

Say what? Well, actually with the chiro maybe that’s justified… but just to give you an idea…

I spent $275 in the fall with Dr Gaby: he did flexions on all four, lyme titer and radiographs of two front hooves… farm call was only $25 because it was shared… time before that it was $175 for vet fee, coggins and 4 vaccs. I think Essex is very fairly and competitively priced… I’ve paid $300 in the past with a different vet for the same services.