May of last year, my then-12 year old TB bowed his left front. He’d had healing bows on both fronts from training to race when I got him as a 3 year old. Bowed them at 2 and was tossed out in a field for a year. Bows healed up uneventfully, never gave him any trouble until last year. Bow was a 75% lesion and was rehabbed properly. He was completely sound at his last rehab ride until the next day when he apparently got kicked in the right shoulder/fell so hard that he was absolutely, completely, dead lame in what pretty clearly seemed to be the right shoulder.
Vet watched him go, didn’t see anything. She kept focusing on his right hind, but even vets have their limitations and in an animal with so many working parts, it’s a hilarious puzzle to try and pinpoint the source of lameness.
He had a full set of x-rays done on all four legs a few years ago. Early arthritic changes in just about every joint, and has been religiously on Adequan since he was four or so. He’s badly put together, heavy body, thin legs, upright pasterns and flat front feet. He’s a beautiful mover, however, and hasn’t had a soundness issue despite his conformation in 10 years, until the bow, and now this mystery.
Vet looked at him again, couldn’t see anything. Not thrilled with her analysis, particularly as she sort of shrugged off the bow and put my horse in the grave. He can do light work but no more jumping and she imagined it as a management issue rather than planning for recovery. The bow recovered splendidly and while he will no longer be jumping, I’m hoping he’ll at least be able to stay fit and be trail sound.
So, after being dead lame on the RF, he got some time off. Hand walking, limited turnout, cold laser, massage (I do the last two myself so that part is easy). The lameness was intermittent, and then persistent. I almost suspected Sweeney Shoulder as the horse he’d been out with had also, during this time, kicked open my horse’s right front cannon, requiring staples… but the lameness occurred before this, and he was not supposed to go out with this horse, ever again.
Now, it’s been months, and while he is improving (tiny, tiny increments), the fact that he is still off at all is a problem. There’s no obvious atrophy of the RF shoulder, though the spine of the scapula could be said to be more visible than the left, so SS is still a possibility. His trot improves after cantering once or twice around.
Turns to the right are hard, if not impossible, and should not be requested. Head bobbing at the trot on impact of RF. Seeming almost sound at the canter and walk isn’t really helpful as there is a reason the trot is the diagnostic gait.
I’m considering low ringbone as a possibility and am basically treating him as though he has both SS and low ringbone, and though I have been trying to keep him in light work so he’s not super crazy out in the field during his 3 hours of turnout, it seems cruel, at this point.
I’m moving him soon to a place that is 24-7 turnout with nice trails in anticipation of his retirement. I’m hoping that moving more helps him with the issue, regardless of its source. When we get there, I will ask their vet to evaluate, or have a specialist consult.
Stall rest is not really an option. He did that, and lots of it, and he gets a very inflamed airway, stocks up, and has to wear a roll bar because he casts himself if he’s in a stall beyond three days. I’m trying to balance his overall well-being with his ongoing comfort and, if possible, soundness. I’d basically like to be able to take him out on trails and have fun with him if he is comfortable doing that, but I won’t put him through the wringer just to get him sound for my own benefit–only to make sure he’s as comfortable as he can be and rule out anything major that I can fix. If I can fix it, for him, I will.
I guess my questions are these:
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If it was a shoulder fracture, we would definitely have known, correct? Horses with shoulder fractures, regardless of how minor they are, have heat, swelling and lameness even at the walk, right? He has no reactivity whatsoever to manipulation of his shoulder, and the only horse I’ve seen with a fractured shoulder was very, very obvious and had to be euthanized. He would have been getting worse over time not better, I would assume…
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Bursitis–can shoulder bursitis cause these issues without reactivity in the shoulder?
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If it is low ringbone–has anyone used only cold laser and Adequan to treat, and how did that go? Has anyone used Ultrasound therapy? (There is some chance his Adequan has not been administered in a few months as the management is supposed to do it and has been slacking on many fronts).
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Any anecdotal stories of other ailments that caused a head-bobbing lameness that seemed to originate in the shoulder and persisted for months with improvement, however slight?
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Anyone have experience with 24-7 turnout improving something like this?
I know that seeing a different vet is the next step, and we will do that, but he won’t be moving until next month and I’ll be treating him with intensive cold laser and massage from the sole to the poll. What I really want is what the internet is best at, anecdotal stories that may shed some light on what could possibly continue to be a difficult thing to diagnose, particularly because things are going to show up on his x-rays, we already know that, but they may not be the source of his pain. He’s had like three lameness exams in the last year with no results. I’m frustrated. Money is also an object… but it will be a little less so once we move since we are moving from a fancy show barn to a wonderful, but low-key place.
