Lameness can be such a puzzle. Again… I applaud you for doing what you can by your horse. Ruling out the feet and getting her weight under control can only help. No matter the origin of her issues. Happy 4th!!
Here you go, thank you for looking. Also, I am in the process of ordering a grazing muzzle. I hate keeping halters in the paddock and looking for a breakaway feature and allows them to drink. All I see is like Silence of the Lambs masks so far… I am sure I will find one… Also, I just measured her. She is 14.3 hands and weighs 908 lbs today. Please be aware that she had one shoeing about 7 weeks ago and the farrier is due jul 12 and i only had one shoeing with him so far. He said all her angles were messed up, even on the back feet. She had no heel. The feet are far from perfect right now but better than they were. He will eventually take the pads away.
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I have created one long video of the history of the lameness, picking up after the first vet exam and steroid injection into the left fetlock, and right before the second vet examination. It appears I did not create a video of the initial lameness, prior to the first vet exam. Please note that she became most lame 11 days after the Noltrex injection, where she could hardly walk. I have added text to title the time and days before the various clips. My disjointed clips were not effective in communicating the history efficiently. https://youtu.be/rVvrJezZuUE I subsequently made all previous videos private. This is found on youtube ‘‘pray for princess lameness history …’’ . I reiterate, she is most lame turning right, moving right laterally. i.e. unwilling to move right at halter, like a turn on the haunches, anymore. She is or was lame on the left front fetlock, but there is probably something else going on, (i.e. atrophied right shoulder, unwilling to move rt leg away from body laterally)
That is unfortunate. Can you go to your neighbor and request they move their baiting/ spotlighting site as far away from your side of the property line as possible? They may have no idea how it ( and shooting) are affecting your horse.
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My husband plans to at the start of the next CWD season in Jan 15th , before it starts, else i will hire someone to trailer my horse one hour away to a boarding stable for a couple of months. By the way, I am learning about Equine Metabolic Syndrome right now via a webinar! Had no idea about it very interesting… I see I need to exercise my horse more and work within her limits to get her moving more, even if it means handwalking thru the woods and ticks.
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Sore feet or bone in the foot may be reactive to hoof testers or maybe not. It’s worth a try for sure, but negative response in the presence of lameness is not highly diagnostic. From there, nerve blocks would help you narrow things down.
Being unwilling to abduct the right front could be indicative of the left front lameness that is still present. The farther she has to move the right front, the more time she is weight bearing primarily on the left front. Other reasons for not doing that on a small circle include neurological problems (where they look more like they are plaiting but it’s on the circle not the straight line). And a sore neck or subscapular nerve could be a component of that. But to me, because she is still clearly lame on the left front, I’d be less inclined to go down that rabbit hole. If you block the left front until it’s sound and then you still have abnormal gait on the right front, that will confirm you also have a right front issue.
Because the horse is overweight, it may be worthwhile to test for IR if for no other reason (like figuring out how to help her lose weight) because if you still have lameness, it would be good to know if you should even have any more steroid treatments on the table at all or if that would be too risky an approach for the lameness given the metabolic consequences.
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Is baiting game not illegal?
Wow!! I guess my previous question, asked with dismay, was incredibly naive.
I’m terribly sorry about your horse. Sending huge jingles for her and hugs for you.
ETA: Disregard my questions above. I see you kindly explained the legal situation.
My dismay remains with disgust added to it. Seriously, if I lived in MO, I would be leaving. I actually did live in MO decades ago, stationed at Ft Leonard Wood. I know it’s a beautiful state, but I would never support such barbaric, cruel practices with my tax money.
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Is the farrier willing to shoe on a shorter cycle? If she’s 7 weeks now by her next appointment it’ll be 9 weeks. At least through the summer many owners find it beneficial to drop to a 5-6 week cycle because they grow so much hoof. This keeps them more balanced to help angles improve. It sounds like your new farrier has a sense of where he wants to move things but it’ll take a few appointments to see if his direction is carrying out what he says he wants to do. I’ve found most farriers know the right words, sometimes impressive words, but over time the feet they shoe don’t reflect those same values. I hope you find strong alignment and her angles continue to improve.
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Flexible fully is probably the lightest weight muzzle option on the market.
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Or green guard!
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I almost got killed or at least ran over last night. I was at my computer, around 9 30 and I heard large booms (thought july 4 was over). Woke my husband up and we ran half naked out to the barn where a horse was wildly running around. The neighbor behind my house (not the gun one) was having a full fireworks show for about an hr. The way my barn is set up, it has several doors on the long side that were opened and I didn’t know it, I almost walked within 1/2 inch into the opening when my horse galloped in at full speed. Wow. that was a close call. Anywho, we sat in the barn with her. They were very close, I could see the full fireworks display. I will be putting her inside tonight again. What a year. Going to now get up and walk her thru the woods now where she doesn’t have to turn and exercise her as long as I can hold up. I listened to the a talk about EMS and it imperative I get her to lose weight. I see I was doing a LOT of dumb things before like 1/2 scoop of sr feed, many treats, and in the fall there is a stand of wild persimmons that are on the fence line. I think i was smart enough last fall to break that off, but I was still giving her some. Not anymore. I can see now why I had comments to get the weight off ASAP
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ALL of this.
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It’s a good thing you are stopping this practice, regardless of her metabolic status. Persimmons can be toxic to horses.
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Wow, tough situation for keeping your horse (lameness not withstanding) Having shooting that close to my horse would terrify me for stray bullets - deer season w/out the madness you are describing makes me nervous so that I bring them close to the barn.
I don’t have any comments/advice to the lameness - lots of good advice given here. However, it does sound like she is kept alone. Having another companion with her, not necessarily a full sized horse - may help her deal w/ the sounds because then she’d have another watch companion and staying safe is just not on her. She may stay calmer/less running w/ the commotion if she had a buddy - especially if the buddy was calmer about it. Just a thought. However, I like your decision of just moving her next CWD control season. That sounds terrifying to me.
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I feel like you have a valid county or state hunting issue if your deer hunting neighbor is shooting and his bullets come across your property. In my state a neighbor can shoot parallel to the property line but never across it.
You said the bait stand is 150 yards from your barn, that’s a distance longer than a football field. While bait hunting deer is low skill, that distance from your barn should be a non issue UNLESS he’s shooting towards your property.
I 100% know how maddening a shooting neighbor can be, we had one right behind us for a few years. Bang, bang, bang on nice spring & fall weekends for hours in end. Ugh.
My just diagnosed metabolic syndrome equine was put on Thyro-L. That combined with an honest to goodness no grass dry lot, only Purina Enrich and weighed hay rations (10# a day total for her weight) is going to be her ticket to better health.
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