Horse is limping in the front.. ADVISE needed

[Jayrose17]

I walked out to hay my two horses today and realized that my pony (13 hands) not sure of the breed.. Was limping pretty bad, she seems to be verry uncomfortable with putting any pressure on her front right leg, it's not swollen, there aren't any heat spots, and I picked her hoofs to make sure she was comfertable there... I don't know what else I should look for.. Any suggestions?? The vet is a last resort, but I will if I have to.

 

[Bunnylady]

Until you know what hurts, it's hard to know what to do about it. Front leg lameness could be anything from a strained shoulder to a pebble wedged in the foot.

That said, the fact that she apparently didn't want to put any weight on her foot kinda suggests that the foot may be the problem. How carefully did you examine the hoof? As I said, it could be as simple as something wedged against the frog (I had a mini get a twig in there once), to an abscess somewhere in the hoof. She might have a chip or crack in the hoof wall; she might have kicked something and gotten a bruise.

 

[Stacykins]

Why is a vet a last resort? With something as serious as lameness, you want to know exactly what it is as soon as you can. Tossing around guesses doesn't help your pony get treated any faster if the guesses aren't correct. A vet could tell you what is wrong quite quickly.

 

[Eggsoteric]

Do you check your horses every day? If so, did the lameness come on quickly? Whenever one of my horses comes up suddenly lame and there's no obvious heat or injury to the leg my first suspicion is abscess. Did you check the pony's digital pulse?

 

[Jayrose17]

I didn't check the pulse, are you talking about an internal abscess?

 

[Eggsoteric]

Referring to a hoof abscess.

 

[Jayrose17]

How would I go about diagnosing a abscess and what are the steps to treatment?

I have picked the foot clean, there is nothing wedged and I am certain there are no visible cracks, not even hair line.
I don't jump for the vet because it could be a pulled muscle or just unnecicary strain from an accidental slip, I also have a retired thourough bred, and he has a tendency of pinching muscles and such give it a couple good rubbings, a thourough inspection and some mineral ice an he is back to normal in a couple days. I do not want to spend alot of money on a little issue, if I felt it was life threatening I would call the vet imidiatly but she has no signs of being lethargic, her apitite is normal, she has vaccines, she hasn't lost weight. This is out of character and it breaks my heart to see this, but I don't think it's a matter of life and death. Especially if taken care of in a decent amount of time.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

It sounds like an abscess, generally if you take a hoof knife and trim off the excess sole you will find an pocket of bloody fluid. Once its is drained, soak it in an Epsom salt solution to draw out any infection. if they are not stalled I would also suggest wrapping the foot to keep debris out.

 

[Jayrose17]

Thank you guys very much for the advise and input

 

[Eggsoteric]

Check the digital pulse in the leg. If you're unsure of how to do this there are videos and online websites that can show you how. Check the digital pulse in the sound legs first and then check the digital pulse in the lame leg. If the digital pulse in the lame leg is strong, there's a good chance that hoof may have an abscess. If you're unable to do the epsom salts soaks then check with your local farm store to see if they carry animalintex poultice pads.