Lame but no swelling/heat? help!

Hi, so I recently took my horse to the beach/forest and he had a pretty intensive workout on top of that he also got kicked in the chest by a grumpy mare on the same ride.

I got him out of the paddock two days ago (so the day after we got back from the forest) only to find he is clearly lame at the trot (actually it's extremely obvious) however I cannot seem to find any heat, swelling or soreness. He's now had 3 days off and still very lame as before.

Is it time to call a vet out and if not what should I do?

Thanks heaps :~)

PS: He's barefoot and has been having regular schooling most days of the week for the past 2 months, I would say he's quite fit however this has been pony club riding not galloping up hills and sandy terrain.

It's time for him to see the vet. There can be so many things going on that it is just impossible to guess why is he limping here.

How much work had you done recently? It could be just an out of shape issue And now is tired and sore. But, you do say it's obvious. Is it a certainly or hoove? Maybe a hip?

It's not clearly a hoof no, is it possible it could be a muscle strain as he is quite and old boy (17)? He's been in pretty good pony club work for about 2 months, he was also ridden all throughout the winter I wouldn't go so far to say he is 100% fit but he is reasonably fit. However this was pony club riding and the forest and beach are very intense workouts for him even at a walk. :~)

I hate to say it but there is the possibility that the mare kicking him might have resulted in a hairline fracture in which case he will need quite some time off.

Definitely call a vet on this one.

I have a horse that goes lame. As in, "I BROKE MY LEG IMMA DIE" lame. She's got joint issues. She's TWO. Vet was called, and I'm calling around looking for a vet who has the facilities to do an ultrasound on her stifles [the affected joints] to see what's going on... because the head vet at the place I normally use won't do x-rays because he doesn't think they'll be very clear because of the location of the problem. I should ring him and discuss ultrasound actually, surely he has a strong enough ultrasound machine being that he does scans on pregnant mares and cows!

You're the only one that can decide about when to call a vet. I'll just say that even common lameness problems (muscle/tendon sprains/strains) take a lot longer than 3 days to heal...easily many weeks, and re-injuries are common when returning a horse to work too soon.