We aquired  4 year old quarter horse gelding last winter.  He has great bloodlines, came from a good caring owner and seemed to be in good health.  About six weeks after we got him we had a vet out to check him on an unrelated issue and he declared him lame.  We have had three different vets agree he has an issue with lameness in his backend, but none of them agree on what may be the cause, nor will they do anything to help him until they have done extensive testing and x-rays.  I cannot say I blame them, but we live in a rural area that will require some real travelling to get where we need to go.  An old (very knowledgable)  rancher says he would bet money that his spine had gotten pinched in his early growth, possibly from someone starting him too young with too heavy a load. Our gelding seems to have occasional pain that doesn't come from any one particular place, although that seems to be happening less frequently.  His real issue is the way he moves...when he walks his backquarters are stiff looking.  One cannot tell where he is off, just that he isn't normal.  When he trots, he looks like a gangly teenager.  It seems like he doesn't know where his back feet are or what they are doing.  We would like some information, insight, advice, and hear about other people's experiences in this type of situation before we decide to spend thousands (seriously) of dollars on horse medical bills only to find that we may be prolonging what may end up being a miserable life for him.  He is an awesome horse - everything we had hoped for in a horse- and we don't want him to be in a bad situation.  Any info or advice will be surely appreciated.  Thank you!

i don't really have any advice, but, i'm curious, does he fall at all?  is it difficult to pick up any or all of his feet? 

can you call the previous owner and find out more detail about his early training?  or if he had any accidents or previous injuries. 

i had an association with a thoroughbred once that would be running in the pasture and out of the blue fall down.  that was my first experience watching a chiropractor work on a horse.  it was something pinched in his spine.

one rescue horse i had last year had a stifle injury.  for me it was hard to see, but, the 2 vets that saw him could pick it out right away.

i live a long way from large animal vets, but, i have a local horse massuese.  i would get someone like her to look at the horse first (because of distance to a vet) and get an opinion, then decide on whether to go the vet route or the chiropractor route.  it depends on what kind of professionals you have in your area. also, sometimes farriers can help with initial feedback depending on their experience and background.

in back injuries sometimes x rays don't really show anything, so, it can be a waste of money.  though i spend more money on my animals' health that i do on my own , so, i'm sure i would be getting the xrays and god knows what else.

where i live, the government now says you are supposed to have a vet referral before you take your horse (or any pet) to a chiropractor, masseuse, acupuncturist or any specialists like that. (which i think is a crock, but, that's for another post )

i know there's lots of people on here that have used chiropractors, so, i'm sure they'll chime in.

it sounds like a difficult problem.  i hope you can figure it out.

Yes, I second Gailforce's suggestion of finding an equine chiropractor. It may be easier to get a chiropractor to visit your horse than get your horse to a large vet clinic that could do an evaluation. You may need to pay extra for an equine chiropractor to come to your rural area, but still, that may be cheaper than moving the horse. The chiropractor may say the same thing as the vet--more tests needed--but sometimes chiropractors can "feel" things that vets can't.

i suggested possibly asking the former owner because she said he came from a "good caring owner", so, i thought maybe if directly asked they might have something to say.  but, yeah probably not.

though she also says he "seemed" to be in good health.  so probably no ppe was done, huh?

i hope it's something that can be fixed though.  i feel for the new owner.  i went through a similar thing with one of my horses in 2009/10.  unacknowledged injury and refusal to take him back when i said it was a permanent injury.  though he was a rescue, so, it's not as big a surprise there was a health issue.

but, it was sad to watch him go downhill and have to end up putting him down.  he was the sweetest little horse. (though i feel good that he had a lovely "retirement" home for the last year and a half of his life)

I heartily agree with a chiropractic exam. As a matter of interest, damage to the pelvis can occur during a difficult foaling. And Arab breeds/cross breeds can sometimes suffer from a genetic disorder called Cerebellar Abiotrophy, which your horse seems to be mimicking from your description. Any Arab in him? ~FH

  He is great with giving up his feet; I have never seen him fall, but he does stumble on occasion...usually after walking and exercising.  We are just doing some gentle exercises to keep him from getting out of shape and fat.  When he was declared lame we did call the previous owner and he actually present at one of the vet visits.  The only information we got that he had taken him on a pretty long hunt the fall before we purchased him.  He didn't say whether he had used him for packing or not.  Hmmm.  The ppe did not reveal any lameness issues, however, it was done in the winter with a ton of snow on the ground....no trotting or running was done due to the icy conditions.  We will definately follow up on the chiropractic services and see what they have to say.

I truly appreciate everyones help and input; hopefully we will get this figured out!

He is a registered quarter horse - very good bloodlines....any chance this disorder can affect non-arabs?

Was he possibly exposed to possums at his last home? Did this come on suddenly or has he always been this way? The red flag for me was where you mentioned that it's like he doesn't know where his feet are.

Does he crossfire (disunited) at the canter? Have you noticed if the muscles in his hindquarters are symmetrical or if there appears to be some muscle wasting on one or the other side?

 

What a mystery. Good luck and keep us posted!

Just my opinion - but forget the old rancher, chiropractor and message therapist. Your first resort should be the best equine veterinarian in your area. In my experience, the most cost effective method of diagnosing and treating lameness issues is through the use of an experienced vet. There is a great blog on EquiMed Make your veterinarian your first resort that you should read.

My point is, many purported equine healthcare professional are not certified nor are they required to have a particular skill level. Spending your money here is definately a hit or miss proposition. If you want to know the real diagnosis and proper course of treatment, your best bet is always the vet. He can do everything at your barn (x-rays, blocks, whatever).

Good luck,

Mark Sellers

Mark Sellers:

Just my opinion - but forget the old rancher, chiropractor and message therapist. Your first resort should be the best equine veterinarian in your area. In my experience, the most cost effective method of diagnosing and treating lameness issues is through the use of an experienced vet...

Mark Sellers:

Just my opinion - but forget the old rancher, chiropractor and message therapist. Your first resort should be the best equine veterinarian in your area. In my experience, the most cost effective method of diagnosing and treating lameness issues is through the use of an experienced vet. There is a great blog on EquiMed Make your veterinarian your first resort that you should read.

My point is, many purported equine healthcare professional are not certified nor are they required to have a particular skill level. Spending your money here is definately a hit or miss proposition. If you want to know the real diagnosis and proper course of treatment, your best bet is always the vet. He can do everything at your barn (x-rays, blocks, whatever).

Good luck,

Mark Sellers

We do live in a rural area with possums, and the area he lived in before we got him was wooded with a creek...Possum heaven!  He has been this way since we bought him; we didn't see him trot or canter when we had the ppe done because of the snow on the ground...figured it was inviting an injury; pretty ironic.I am not sure what crossfire is; although disunited sounds like the right decription.  His hindquarters are flabby, sort of.  On one of his "bad" days we noticed that he almost looked like a muscle was missing in his flank... I don't recall if it was on both sides.  Would you be able to explain more of what you are thinking?  We have a complete blood count done and that showed healthy function of the liver and whatever other parts that entails.  Thanks for your information!

latt:

I am not sure what crossfire is.             

 

latt:

On one of his "bad" days we noticed that he almost looked like a muscle was missing in his flank...

My horse, Annapolis, had EPM 15 years or so ago and, since the nerve damage was in his neck, he eventually had really bad muscle atrophy in his chest.  One side looked caved in and his shoulder blade poked out on that one side. He's built the muscle back up evenly now, but for a while there it looked pretty bad and he had a definite limit in his range of movement.

I'm sure detection methods for EPM are streets ahead of what they were 15 years ago when Annapolis contracted it.  There used to be a blood test (indefinitive) which would show if the horse had been exposed to it, although that did give some misleading results as many horses have been exposed without actually contracting the disease. The other way to check was to do a spinal tap.

 I wrote some articles on our experience with EPM, which are on this site:

Equine Protozoal Myleoencephalitis

Spinal Tap Prodecure

Life After EPM

I would ask your vet to look into the possibilty of it being EPM and test accordingly.

 Hi FloridaHorseman. I'm not sure we are on the same page. The OP said that three vets commented on the presence of lameness, but not one did a lameness exam or offered a diagnosis. It's not a question of exploring alternate diagnosis and therapies at this point. The vet is best positioned to offus a diagnosis and opinion about the appropriate therapy. It may be that chiropractic care is an appropriate solution. Maybe not. One of my best friends had a horse with similar symptoms that was unfortunately diagnosed with Wobblers syndrome.

Hi Journeygirl. I'm surprised that this forum seems to be somewhat anti-vet. We are talking health care here. If your child was limping, would you take him to the chiropractor first to see if he just needed an adjustment? And it may be true that the person at the bottom of the vet class is still called Doctor, but what level of skill and training can you be assured when you call on an equine chiropractor? In my post, I suggested that the person get the best vet they can find, and to follow through with the lameness exam, diagnosis and treatment. What is wrong with this?