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Lameness or a Neurological problem? Videos

4K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  horsecrazy84 
#1 ·
If this works, it's a video taken today of us working Chanti at a walk/trot. We made other videos showing other aspects of a neuro exam but it's taking a while to upload to onetruemedia.
The vet did say there was something going on with her right shoulder on the 23rd when we took her but due to how Chanti responded to other things the vet said she suspects EPM but I believe other things caused her to respond in a way to make her think that.
When she took her temp Chanti didn't resist her tail being lifted but she was also in heat and lifted her tail anytime I touched her butt that day. She was in standing heat.
When we did the tail lift today she was very strong with wanting to keep it clamped down.
Like the video says, it is her second full day being on Bute. She gets 2g per day. The lameness isn't as apparent today so it is helping.
In the other videos I'll hopefully post if onetrue media cooperates, we show the tight circles and the leg placement test.
The only things we found after doing every test on the Mayhew Scale is that on the right she is a little stiff when we flexed her head around but when I ride she isn't that stiff, and she was slow about putting her rear foot back when we crossed it in front of the other foot. Some lameness is obvious when she goes to the right and that right fore is on the inside but everything else she passed without question.

 
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#2 ·
From the very first step, the right front shoulder soreness is very clear. On the EPM side of things, did the vet do the test where you try to back the horse up while holding her head up high? Supposedly a horse with EPM cannot do this. I really don't see anything other than a sore shoulder. I don't see a wobbly, disoriented horse. Just one who is sore. Any chance she tweaked it playing or was kicked?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Here's the other video which has us having her go in tight circles and crossed her legs.

Puck, I was looking back at some older videos from January and February and she wasn't lame then. We do have some rocks in part of the pasture that we try to avoid and I do remember maybe a month ago that I was lunging her and there was a slight dip, plus the ground was just a little muddy but nothing bad, and when I asked her to stop I guess she slipped and went down to her knees. That was the only time I've seen her stumble bad but I checked her after it happened and nothing seemed to be wrong. Sometimes she goes a little crazy when she's feeling her oats lol.



Oh, to answer your question about the vet. No she didn't have us back her at all, or raise her head high. We did raise her head as high as we could today and she still walked just fine.
The vet said she suspected EPM after she had me trot her and she pulled her tail to the side. She had me turn her in a tight circle both ways but didn't say anything about that being bad. And when she took her temp her tail didn't clamp. That was all she based her diagnosis on and that is why I really don't think it's EPM. She toes out more on that right front and I have called a farrier and we're going to see about putting shoes on her front.
 
#4 ·
I just don't see this being a neurological problem. I think a vet can make any horse look lame if they cross enough legs and spin them around enough. I had a vet tell me my horse had EPM 4 years ago. I was brand new to horse ownership and took his word for it. Looking back I think he was completely full of it, and it was a simple lameness issue. Your horse does look stiff in places, but if he had something as severe as EPM, she would have been falling over while trying to cross her legs.

If this were my horse, I'd give her some time off, ease off on the bute if you can since it can really aggravate the stomach. Add a ton of vitamin E to her diet to assist her body in healing itself and stop looking for a worse diagnosis. I know it's hard to not worry about your own horse, but she just looks stiff and sore.

The only combo diagnosis I can think of would be a tick borne illness which can affect the joints, cause soreness and present as a neurological thing. Lyme disease can ebb and flo and flare up from time to time if it was not treated at the time of the first infection. There's a few vet students on this forum, so hopefully they will weigh in.
 
#5 ·
I don't see neuro problems either. If it was EPM I would have expected her to have serious difficulty when crossing her legs. Her not clamping down on her tail when in heat is to be expected, I have some major hussy broodmares that would gladly raise their tail for anyone or anything when they are in! One mare is so bad that when I pasture bred her last spring she backed herself across the pasture into my stud's face because he was more concerned with the fresh green grass LOL!

From the first video, I see a shoulder problem and as you said, she had stumbled and went down to her knees, that kind of jarring impact could most definitely affect her shoulder. I would give her some time off and give her a good daily rubdown with absorbine or dmso to get good circulation going for healing. I would consider a chiro visit or massage therapist also.
 
#6 ·
Phew! Thanks! You guys have put my mind at ease. I've known Chanti since she was 3 months old and I know her very well, what's normal or not,etc for her.
The farrier is coming out Friday as long as my appointment doesn't interfere with that so we'll see if trying some things help her. She's already on a supplement with Vit E, it's a fat supplement with wheat germ oil and corn oil or soybean oil. I have Thermaflex and I'll start rubbing her shoulder and giving her a massage.
At the lope she doesn't even appear to have a minor limp but I can tell the Bute is helping with her soreness. The last 2 days I've gone out to feed she's actually came trotting up to me lol.
I think I'll give her 2 weeks off then see how she is. I also want to find a good hoof+joint supplement. She tends to have problems with cracking so maybe it'll help and the joint supp. won't hurt anything either.
I wish we had equine chiropracters around here but we don't. We also noticed that about 1/4 of the way down the top of her neck seemed sore. Hubby pressed on it and she dropped her head way down to get away from it. He pushed around all down her neck but that was the only spot she seemed sore. I know a little about equine massage so I'll start doing a session with her and read up on some more techniques.
 
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