NO!!!! Lame AGAIN

[mrsp]

Aghhhhhh!!!
Pearl has been sound(ish) for a few month now following her year off with her 'mystery' lameness and can you believe it - she's come in unsound again... I've just run out of ideas,and she's no longer insured for vets bills. The vet is coming out tomorrow to 'do teeth' and is going to have a quick look just to confirm it's the old problem (I'll look right daft if I've missed something obvious)
Last time she went lame (2006) she was nerve blocked on all 4 legs(didn't show any difference) scanned - nothing untoward except usual wear and tear of a teenage pony; lunged on hard and soft ground remained the same level of unlevelness(?!) MRI scanned and was radio active for 3 days(nothing came up) back checked,tack checked,feet and shoes checked,teeth checked,RIDER checked,Nuffin!
She came 99% sound so i it was suggested that she was lightly walked couple of times a week on level ground to stretch her out a bit.. all lovely,she remaind 99%sound so I decided that OK I could live with us just doing our stroll twice a week,and have done so for about 3 months - now she's suddenly gone 25%unlevel - she hadn't been just been ridden or gone loopy in the field - she just went unlevel....
This is driving me BONKERS! as I've just run out of ideas of what could be the problem..needless to say there are no lumps/bumps/swellings or injuries.
What can be going on? (in herself she is very well)

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Debbie]

Oooh, nothing that immediately springs to mind, but I will say in sympathy with you

[harveydales]

Oh no, how frustrating. If only they could talk...........

[SuzieP]

I'm clutching at straws here, but Olivia's Tilly (I think) went through a phase of "bridle lameness". All the signs of unevenness, but no apparent cause......just wanted to get out of work. She might be able to tell you more about it...

We have a pony on the yard who seems to do this. He's fine when he's off work and mooching in the field, and shows no unevenness when he trots off to graze - but as soon as he's asked to work he's lame

Again, no apparent cause.........

It must be sooooooo frustrating for you ....and worrying

[Deleted]

My Freya has a habit of becoming lame when theres a bit of work involved! every now and again. Although I have had double clip shoes put on her front hooves, seems better, how long for? well she is a mare!!!!

[mrsp]

Alas she is unsound in the field too. The vet went sick and couldn't visit so now I have to wait until the 15th July...grrr... I'm looking into alternative therapies now - infact i would hire a witch if i thought it would help....

[mrsp]

Ok I thought I would give you an update and maybe someone could just give me some good vibes...

Vet came and scanned the dear old lass. The front tendon is OK but the vertical ligament around the back of the fetlock area is thickened badly meaning that the tendn cannot run.

Treatment as follows. 1/ the vet said any thickening around 3mm is pretty serious - pearls is SEVEN. so at this time she is on a further 2 weeks box rest and the vet has given her some deep injections of anti inflammantry/pain killer etc etc. This may bring the thickening down enough for the tendon to run again but it could all go back to square 1 when she goes back to work. if there is no change then 2/ i have to consider surgery... bearing in mind she is no longer insured. The surgery will mean a full knockout and then has a sucess rate of around 80% of the remaining 20%. 10% will have no change and 10% will end up much much worse. The alternative is to have her put down...
OMG what a bloo*y awful nightmare.
She is sooo brave and hasn't even baulked at all this time in her stable,with cold bandages every few hours, what a brave girl.
PLEASE pray for her at this time

[harveydales]

More healing vibes coming your way and lots of hugs for you.

[DalesLady]

we have one like this too and she also used to have a tendency toward bridle lameness, but there is definitely something underlying her problem these days and we have no idea what it is. She does exactly what yours does except for the severity of the signs, ie., she is not obviously lame at all, you just get a feeling when on her back something is not right, but watching her you cannot see it! We have resolved ourselves to the idea of her never having too much done with her, but enough to keep her little mind occupied.

[mrsp]

Thank you all. Pearl is now def. lame. Infact when the vet checked her she was almost on 3 legs. Thank goodness my vet. is from a big hospital,with all the latest and with regards to the ££££ I have just informed my mum that i intend to sell her.... I hear there may be a demand for 70+ year old lap dancers.........well she does live in Eastbourne!!(sorry mum)

[mollcob]

Sending healing vibes and I will keep fingers crossed and hope everything goes ok.

[mickey]

A very barking suggestion from a huge skeptic is some wraps from a company called back on track, think they have ceramic fibres. One of YM's jumpers had horrible, bumpy tendons- to the point it made putting boots on difficult. She'd been using them a week unknown to me, I went in to bandage her for a show and noticed immediately how much more normal her legs were. She hasnt been unsound though so cant comment on that but they may be worth looking at.

[mrsp]

I've got the full name now (duh) it's the annular ligament that holds the tendon round the back of the fetlock area.I've been looking this up and the op does sound possible.... though I fear £££££££££ - hey my girls is worth it!!

[harveydales]

Isn't that what Gill's (greydales) Dan had?

[mrsp]

Jul 30, 2008 11:06:12 GMT -1 harveydales said:

Isn't that what Gill's (greydales) Dan had?

ooh maybe she could give me some advice