horse fell to her knees...

[Akane]

If you have a good ear and concrete just get someone to trot the horse. Count the beat out. The foot falls will be uneven if there's pain and if it hurts to put extra weight on it then it should hurt to strike it against concrete. Step 1 of lameness examination according to my leg, hoof, and farrier science class. Step 2 would be stretching the leg in various ways and trotting again after each stretch. If it's not in the hoof eventually you will stretch the part that hurts and make it more obvious. If you have a really good eye you can substitute watching the shoulders for evenness and head bobs over listening but that's usually harder for most people. A horse that already lunges well both ways can also be lunged after stretches to check for increased lameness but that may not show a hoof issue on soft ground. I always have to diagnose my horses myself or drive them an hour away because even the equine specific vet in the area absolutely sucks at determining lameness. Everything is always founder even if the hoof shows no sign of it. We spent 3 years annoying him about 2 horses that kept going lame that he said were foundered and finally he took xrays to find one had a lump in place of a flexor tendon and one had severe navicular. Haven't listened to a word he's said since and that's our equine only vet. I call out the everything vet before him.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

I had my farrier here this morning, he thinks shes just being a brat about lifting her front leg. She did the same thing when he was trimming her feet, he didnt see anything wrong. But I wonder still, he thinks shes just being a brat and is fine. He brought her out into the pasture when he was done, walked her and then lunged her. She was fine. But is she just being a brat, theres no sign of anything wrong other than her falling to her knee when lifting her foot. She did however sorta do the same thing when she had her left front foot lifted, she seems out of balance to me. She was fine with both back feet. Not sure if i should call the vet or not, its a $90 farm call just to come to my house, and then usually hundreds on top of that for whatever he does. He already comes out every 6 weeks to check on my older pony with cushings. The vet is due to come out again at the end of May for a checkup and all spring vaccines. Im not sure if I should take my farriers opinion on the matter or not....

 

[Matthew3590]

What comes down to it is, how much is the horse worth to you?

 

[patandchickens]

Has she done this before, how long have you had her, and how old is she.

If she is maybe two or younger, it could be just a behavioral "phase". If she is older and you've had her for a reasonable while without her having done this sort of thing before it is pretty unlikely IMHO that it is just her testing you.

Most farriers (along with, unfortunately, many vets) I would not take their word about whether a horse is lame all *that* seriously. This does not necessarily have all that much to do with how good a trim or shoeing job the guy does (or how good he is with vaccinations, colics, etc in the case of a vet).

If it were me, I would have either a good lameness type vet check her out, or at least get her eyeballed by a very good horseman who's quite good at detecting SUBTLE lameness.

In the absence of that or if they can't see anything wrong, well, all you can really do is approach it as a behavior issue and work on it.

From a behavioral standpoint, make sure you are asking the horse to shift all her weight to the other foot BEFORE trying to raise the one you want. Horses get grumpy about having people try to pull their feet out from under them, also they simply *can't* balance well if they haven't shifted their balance first. Many short sessions work much better than fewer longer ones.

Good luck, hope she really is ok, let us know how it goes,

Pat

 

[Pairie Faring]

It could be a bruised frog, often those are not easily detected. I would continue to monitor its leg and hoof for about five days if you see no improvement or it gets worse call a vet.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
She is 6 years old and Ive only had her for about a month. My farrier is also my great uncle, he is a very good horseman. Horses are his life and thats why I asked him and he thinks its behavioral. He thinks its her being a brat and trying to see what she can get away with but Im still not so sure. I think I will keep an eye on her and and see if she gets any better with cleaning her feet. She seems fine when I longed her, she acts fine out grazing the pasture. I will probably call the vet and have all my spring vaccines done next week and get a check up on them both early...
Thanx for the advise, its always nice to see what others think of the situation.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Do you have a knowledgeable friend who you can call to check her out? That's probably what I would do first.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
If its a bruised frog, is that something my farrier would of noticed today or is it not a noticable thing accept for the lameness....?

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
I do... I think thats what I will do...My best friend is a historic farmer at a living history museum up the road from me..I will call and get his opinion..Thanx, I didnt even think to ask him

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

My friend just left, he thinks she is fine too..He said maybe it was just a sore foot and after having it trimmed she feels better. She was fine just now when we picked up all 4 feet...So I guess I will just keep an eye on her and hope for the best