Lameness with rehab and people's opinions, whether to be worried or not.

[Maysagi]

I've had my horse for a little over 17 months now, I recently moved her in December since it wasn't suiting either of our needs (paddock was small and just sand/dirt and wasn't good for her)

When I moved her she went lame after a few lessons and I thought this may be because she went from a small sand paddock to a large quite hilly paddock and her feet were probably soft as they chipped quite easily, there were also big rocks in the paddock, so I had the vet come out in December, that was the second time she's gone lame since I've had her. The vet thought it might of been an injury but after a day visit to the clinic with lameness checks, ultrasounds and x rays she decided that my horse just needs muscle build up so we begun a months work of groundwork then a weeks worth of walking under saddle as the vet wanted to see how that would affect her prior to coming out. The vet came out again in January for a check-up to see if she was able to ride, about three weeks in after being told I can trot under saddle (getting to about a 15min trot) another horse was mauled to death by two dogs and I was forced to move my horse temporarily into another paddock, she was very stressed, pacing/weaving and making herself a trench within 24 hours not to mention the paddock was over hard gravel the farrier specifically warned me she would go lame by walking over.

Fast forward, she went mildly lame again and I started hearing opinions from everyone else about how she constantly goes lame, that I should get a new horse and she won't be able to jump or do more than light riding.

I had the physio also come out last week and while she was reactive in the core and stifles he said it wasn't from pain and that she's very flexible and her joints are doing all the work while her core and stifles are extremely weak (which is why she's in rehab) and to continue doing the exercises I have been doing with a few more stretch's etc. There was a possibility of it being her stifles since the vet didn't check them while doing her hind but not to stress unless something turns up while we're rehabbing (the vets known her since a foal and she's had no prev injuries). I also mentioned how she went lame this time and his opinion was the same as mine, he thought she'd most likely make a full recovery.

However I'm still getting daily opinions and being told it doesn't explain her constant lameness

Should I be concerned about this?

 

[carthorse]

I wouldn't be happy. What rehab is she doing at the moment? I have to say that to me 15 minutes of trot sounds a lot if you're only 3 weeks in, and also a fair bit for a horse lacking muscle. While I know it can be unpopular have you asked the farrier if she needs shoes? If you want you can take them off later, but it may be with the change in environment she's footsore and that's having a knock on effect throughout her body as she tries to protect herself.

 

[Maysagi]

I'm planning on getting corrective shoeing in the next week or two on the back as she already has corrective shoeing for the front. The vet originally came out in December, I did groundwork with her for over a month which was a mix of mainly walk but we got up to 10 minutes at a trot happily by the end of the month, then the vet came back out in January to begin riding after doing a checkup, she asked me to ride at a walk for the first week then start trotting beginning at 5 minutes and increasing it by five every week. Due to the fact she went lame I've given her rest, and begun ground work again and will start walking her under saddle this week. The rehab includes hill work (8 reps) /stretches/10m back ups (6 reps) 30 minutes of figure eights/trot poles at different heights and I've started lunging her with a pessoa. The vet and physio are planning to come out together in April to check progress.

Sorry about the confusion I should of stated that we did ground work and a weeks worth of walking under saddle prior.

I wouldn't be happy. What rehab is she doing at the moment? I have to say that to me 15 minutes of trot sounds a lot if you're only 3 weeks in, and also a fair bit for a horse lacking muscle. While I know it can be unpopular have you asked the farrier if she needs shoes? If you want you can take them off later, but it may be with the change in environment she's footsore and that's having a knock on effect throughout her body as she tries to protect herself.

 

[carthorse]

To me that sounds like very little rehab work in walk though, call me old fashioned but I'd start with at least 4 weeks walking out in straight lines under saddle before considering trot, and I'd be doing that before I was doing school work even if the school work is in hand. It seems so unfashionable nowadays but it often works far better than anything else in my experience. Vets seem to want quick results too - maybe because they don't want to run out of time on insured horses, or pressure from owners? - and all too often there seems to be a "push it until it breaks" mentality that I find distressing.

If she was mine and all the tests haven't thrown up anything then I'd wait until the farrier has shod her and then start a walking out under saddle programme, the first week starting with 15 minutes 5 days a week, upping by 5 minutes every week for the first 3 weeks and then 10 minutes a week. I wouldn't introduce trot for 6 weeks and I'd monitor carefully and back off if she shows signs of unsoundness. I'd then review what she was like in a coupe of months if there have been no problems. By the way by walking I don't mean bimble along on a long rein, I mean walk on with hind legs actively stepping under and, for a few minutes a ride to begin with, ask her to lift her back and carry herself.

 

[Maysagi]

To me that sounds like very little rehab work in walk though, call me old fashioned but I'd start with at least 4 weeks walking out in straight lines under saddle before considering trot, and I'd be doing that before I was doing school work even if the school work is in hand. It seems so unfashionable nowadays but it often works far better than anything else in my experience. Vets seem to want quick results too - maybe because they don't want to run out of time on insured horses, or pressure from owners? - and all too often there seems to be a "push it until it breaks" mentality that I find distressing.

If she was mine and all the tests haven't thrown up anything then I'd wait until the farrier has shod her and then start a walking out under saddle programme, the first week starting with 15 minutes 5 days a week, upping by 5 minutes every week for the first 3 weeks and then 10 minutes a week. I wouldn't introduce trot for 6 weeks and I'd monitor carefully and back off if she shows signs of unsoundness. I'd then review what she was like in a coupe of months if there have been no problems. By the way by walking I don't mean bimble along on a long rein, I mean walk on with hind legs actively stepping under and, for a few minutes a ride to begin with, ask her to lift her back and carry herself.

I didn't consider the possibility of going to fast until now! I'll definitely take it slower, thank you. It's my first time dealing with this so It's quite a learning process.

 

[Frances144]

some horses do fine without shoes. Some don‘t.

one of mine walks over our yard like he is hopping lame. Normal shoes on, and he’s 100% fine.

 

[Jessey]

Is it hind end lameness? We’re any nerve blocks done to pin down exactly where it is?
I’d definitely be going slowly with rehab, 8 weeks straight line walking then build up slowly over the next 8 weeks and see how it goes. This shows why going slowly is so important, it takes a long time for the body to adapt to new work

I can’t remember exactly where I screenshot it from but it was a vet study type report for endurance training.

 

[Maysagi]

Is it hind end lameness? We’re any nerve blocks done to pin down exactly where it is?
I’d definitely be going slowly with rehab, 8 weeks straight line walking then build up slowly over the next 8 weeks and see how it goes. This shows why going slowly is so important, it takes a long time for the body to adapt to new work
View attachment 105691
I can’t remember exactly where I screenshot it from but it was a vet study type report for endurance training.

The original plan was to nerve block her hind but once she was at the vet's she wasn't actually lame, we did the x-rays and ultrasounds to make sure there wasn't anything in the hind as well as having a second vet look at the x-rays/ultrasounds and since she wasn't lame for the vet's checkup either it seemed to be okay. As this is all new to me I was just following the vet's rehab plan and now the physios as well. I also managed to organize corrective shoeing on the back for next week and she's been keeping to a walk since she went lame again after a weeks rest.