question on hoof leg problem

Alright my mare has been out on pasture 24/7 for a month or so. I pulled her the other day and used her not hard just pulling the wagon around the yard with dirt in it, so 200 lbs or so not much. She was a little tender footed on gravel but nothing much. Anyway there were a couple times when she seemed to be stuck in reverse and did not want to go forward which she has never done before. So I just made her get going eventually finished the job and put her up.

The next day she could hardly walk, one of her legs was popping every time you made her walk and her right hind leg seemed stiff like it was the one bothering her. Also the hoof had a chip out of it. Not big but she hasn't chipped off like that for years. Any suggestions on what might be the problem, or just watch her for a while and see what happens.

Honestly I am not too worried except for the popping sound when she walks, not sure what that would be.

Thanks

Heat is their any heat.
Popping is like us popping are joints. At least that is what I was told.
She could have gotten stone bruised or a abscess,

I actually did check all of her joints for heat and her feet. What I came up with was they were all fine. Her front feet were a little warmer than her hind, but I figured that maybe that was due to her being on pasture. She's never foundered but I know that can cause it, so maybe where her feet were a little tender the day before I could put slight founder as the cause.

If the popping is normal then she is probably okay, could have just pulled a muscle or something.

I would be more worried about founder. Not sure what the popping is, but no if its constantly popping when she walks that is not normal. If her front feet are warmer than the front that is a common symptom of founder. Founder is not something you want to wait to treat. The sooner you treat founder (first stages are actually called laminitis), the better chance they have of pulling through it. It will not hurt to cold hose or ice her feet a few times a day. If at any moment in time she begins to rock her weight backwards and get in a position that looks like a dog stretching that is a position called the 'rocking horse stance' and is a sign that they are taking off the weight from their front feet. If it were my pony I would have a vet come out and do a hoof tester and take some radiographs to make sure there is no rotation of the coffin bone. Also radiographs will show if you are in the earlier stages where the laminae (which connects the bone to the hoof wall) are just inflammed, if this is the case usually taking them of grass and grain, and putting them on some anti-inflammatories and cold hosing will do the trick. Always, always, always check with your vet, I can't tell you how many people I have known that have lost ponies to founder! My welsh pony is a rescue from a founder case, and he started the same way apparantly and within 48 hours had foundered so badly that he couldnt stand anymore, the owner was going to put him d own, .luckily the equine clinic that I worked for did the surgery for me at no cost so now a year later he is completely sound and even competing on the A circuit!

Do you plan to call a vet?

Hi,

Especially if your horse has never behaved as she did that day, it's not generally a good idea just to force her to do something - she was obviously trying to tell you there was something wrong & it may have been because you kept pushing & ignorred her that she was so much worse the following day. I wouldn't muck around any more, but get a good vet out to examine her.

As for what is wrong, with so little info, who knows?? Just because you felt nothing abnormal(& warm feet & legs is not nec a problem at all) doesn't mean to say there isn't one, or that you would notice it yourself if there was. 'Tender on gravel' may not be much issue, but it's not necessarily 'nothing much' either, especially if she were forced to work on it when she was obviously uncomfortable. If your horse is on rich pasture &/or she's fat, then yes, she probably is at risk of founder too, whether or not that has got anything to do with her current problem.