Right hind .. I don't know what to do ... help!

So my mare is always sensitive on her back right ... 2 weeks back I thought she had an abscess I her left front and I had the vet come out ... he said she was off on her right hind. He said that when horses are off that sometime the opposite leg compensates for it so that leg looks off (why I thought her left front looked off).

Next he tried to do a flextion test and she wasn't having it for more then 10-15 seconds (he needed 45-60)... he wasn't very sensitive AT ALL and gave up really fast. Then for the next day she was "skidish" about her back feet being picked up, even for me to pick them out... and for my husband she refused... she is much better now b/c I have been working on it but still un-easy...

He said he thinks it's a stifle of hock issue but doesn't know and said to hand walk her and not ride her ...

I don't have money for X-rays ... I already paid a crap load for the vet to come out and then give up on my horse so quikly ...

Does anyone have any advice? I put her in the round pen on Saturday and let her trot out and she looked sound to me, not off or taking short steps at all ... I have felt her leg and I don't feel anything weird and nothing looks wrong (id post picks but there is nothing to see)

Here are some confo pics but I don't think that they will help, its her right hind:

My mare has a similar problem with the same leg. The farrier said that it was more than likely the stifle, but we're having a vet come out in two weeks. His advice and the advice of the BO was to keep doing the half stall and half turnout like we've been doing. But every day she is put on the hot walker at a medium walk 10 minutes each way, then I walk her around the barn to try and help her stretch her legs alittle more. With the cold weather she is still hurting, but this seems to really be helping.

is your mare a TB? My mares leg doesn't seem to be giving her problems now ... my farrier said to put her in a small pasture so that she can move around more ... I am going to try and do that during the day and then back to her stall/paddock at night ... I have to do all her care (she is at my friends barn and her parents only change me $125 a month b/c I clean and feed and do all my own stuff) so I will see if my husband and I can make a schedule ... she is getting walked at least 20 min every other day or so and has a 12X12 stall with a 12X24 paddock ... we just got a hot walker and I am trying to get her used to it ... once I can get her to walk on that it will be so much better ... I am going to lounge her this weekend and see how she looks ... keep me posted on your mare too ...

If it were me and money was tight, I'd try to get a chiropractor out. They usually charge between $50-75. If you don't have one in your area, I would turn her out as much as possible and let her be for a week or 10 days then look at how she's moving.

At this point I wouldn't be putting her on a hot walker I'd just let her rest.

Also, I may be wrong as the pictures are a bit dark, but her feet don't looked to be trimmed evenly and the fronts look long.....?????

She's standing very toed out. I'd want her looked at by another farrier or trimmer. If it's just her comformation, then fine. But an imbalanced trim can make it worse and cause lameness.

I'd also want a chiropractor out. She may have something wrong higher up in her hip or lower back.

I have shopped around and I have the best farrier around ... everyone that sees our horses feet (even out of town vets) compliment how well he does their feet ... he actually came out Tuesday when I wasn't there and was able to get front shoes on her but not back ones ... tomorrow I am going to meet him and we are going to chat and see what we can do...

I am thinking about just putting shoes on her front feet ...

Also her toes were long b/c I took that pics on Saturday and the farrier came out the following Tuesday, she gets them done every 6 weeks on the dot so no need to worry about that :)

Also after talking to some people, I am going to put her out with her friends in the pasture during the day and then back in her stall (12x12 stall with a 12x24 paddock) at night, that way there isn't any scuffle during feeding time to put more strain on her leg ...

Also my farrier felt her back right leg and thinks that she might have an old injury from the track that didn't heal. I am going to call the vet tomorrow and see how much one X-ray costs... my farrier said that even if I can afford one, that will help to figure out what it going on ... I will keep everyone posted.

Ok so today my farrier can out and we are going to only put shoes on her front, he is going to check her next time to see if she is holding up ok on the back without the shoes...

Next I am going to schedule an X-ray

Also we are going to bute her and then pick up her hind legs and see if she will let us hold them for a while... if she does then we have narrowed it down to pain ... and hopefully the X-ray will let me know what is going on ...

My mares a QH.

How much is the x-ray going to cost you? Good luck!

Check her hip!

My horse came up lame on his right front, and we had a chiropractor out, and he said that his left hip was out of place. He was sore all over from it, but once the hip was back in place, he got better.

We were going to get x-rays too, but my trainer suggested this first.

If your horse wouldn't stand for flexion tests, then your vet is right it's likely pain related in the hock or stifle (unfortunately you have to be able to do the full set of flexion tests to help narrow down where the pain is). If your mare wouldn't stand for flexing, then your vet really couldn't do anymore with a physical exam and had a general region that needed to be examined more in-depth. The only way to do this is going to be x-rays of the hock and stifle.

As for what should be done now, you don't know what is wrong and without knowing you can't know what needs to be done. For some conditions turnout is going to be best while for others stall rest would be best.

If you want an answer, rather than spending money on this or that kind of alternative practitioner (who may have very little or a pretty good education), you need to go ahead with the lameness exam and get x-rays of the leg.