Running out of ideas
 

I don't know what to do anymore....Twinkie has been having issues ever since our stumble almost two years ago now. All the signs show me that whatever is wrong is in his neck but i've taken him to two highly looked at vet hospitals can't remember the first but it was somewhere right past nipomo ca, and recently this year I took him to Davis in california. Both places though it was a issue in his right hoof area though they had to practically force him to be lame to see this lameness even a little and to the naked eye you still couldn't see much of a off step. So we continued to find little to nothing.....Well I started riding him again trying to ignore his issues as I rode but its hard to since the horse holds his head up to the sky and always to the outside and I can't work with him, the vets swear its not his neck though....After a ride one night I got off him and stood chatting with a friend for about an hour, twinkie standing next to me.. I went to walk forward and he fell down three legged holding up his right leg, I wrapped it and gave him some bute and waited to see how it was the next day. The next day he was sore looking but fine, after a week he looked sound, I lunged him and he came up lame...Literally every other time i lunged him which is about every other day he came up lame and then sound then lame again then sound again and so on. Then he was sound for two weeks so I rode very lightly, next day he was lame, day after that sound again.

Idk what to do anymore, i've been chatting with a trainer and he says he would stop putting money into him and put him down because we can't find the issue and even if we do whats the chances he'll be ridable again or even sound for any length of time.

I dont wanna put him down, he's my baby, and he's been a great all around horse, reining, cutting, barrels whatever I point him at he excels at and I'm having a very hard time thinking of losing him out of my life at all...

What do I do at this point...


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Did they x-ray his neck? Ultrasound? Thermo image?

They wouldn't do it because they were convinced it was a waste of money.

Your horse - Your money - your decision.

But he has come up lame on the leg they were pointing out.

I know this is a common suggestion, but have you tried Chiro and/or accupuncture? Some vets (even highly trained & well respected ones) will sometimes ignore other "non-traditional" types of medicine. I'm sure you could find millions of testimonials that it's at least worth a shot.

I use one at least once a month she comes out and massages him for an hour n half most the time.

Doesn't mean s***. Odie was always throwing shoes & sometimes lame on his R front. Turns out he was over compensating for his back end. It took someone thinking outside of the box and 4 years to figure it out.

just massage, or does she adjust him? Massage will help to a point, it'll make an adjustment a lot easier. From what you're describing it really does sound like something is out of place. If he's fine when he's not being worked, his body is being allowed to "self" heal because he can find his own way to be comfortable. But if the symptoms start showing up when he worked, his body is being positioned in a manner that makes him uncomfortable. The other thing with these types of "alternative" therapies, is that for starters they are most helpful/ beneficial if it's constant for awhile. I'm talking at a minimum once a week. The idea is you are forcing his body to return to where it's supposed to be, not where it wants to be. After that, you can start spacing the appts out more. I appologize if you know all this already:wink:

You are the one with your horse the most not the vet! If you think it's a neck issue tell them to look into it... Like mls said, its your money and your horse, no harm in trying, Also you said you had someone doing massage but is it a chiropractor or just message therapy? If its not a muscle issue then massage will do very little, although I have not done it personally I hear a lot of good results from acupuncture as well.

I know how frustrating a injury that you cant diagnose is, I wish you the best of luck and to find a vet who will look into your concerns, it is your horse after all not theirs, also I would recommend a vet who does do things like chiropractor or acupuncture, they are usually much more open minded individuals!