Lameness in Hind Leg

My horse has gone lame suddenly in his hind leg. Last night he was fine as I could hear him playing with my other horse in the field and this morning he cannot put his weight on his foot. There is no obvious swelling or heat, nothing stuck in his hoof, so I'm not sure how to treat it. I suspect that he was charging around in the field with the other horse and slipped or was kicked. He is fine in himself still joking and looking for fuss, eating okay, just very lame in left hind foot.

What do you think it is any ideas??

Well they say that 60% of lameness is in the foot. Sudden onset,

with no heat or swelling, especially if very lame... ..... I'd say abcess. It's very difficult without seeing the pony, but if he's no better or even worse tomorrow, I would maybe start tubbing. What was it we used to say? if in doubt "call the vet" Good Luck

pen

agree with Pen

To add it may be this wet weather brings stones to the surface and if they hooly around .. vets yes although I often ask a farrier first with things like this , either way it wouldn't hurt to poultice it

especially if the "pony" is barefoot, how is he today?

In the 20 odd years of working with horses before we came to france, I had only ever dealt or even heard of, one or two hoof abcess:shock: since being here, I hear practically every week of one horse or another having one. Why??? is this the same for others? My theory, especially in this region,[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] is the climate, it's very damp, humid, even in the summer there is often a heavy dew and this of course makes the soles of our ponies softer, bad news for bare feet!? What's your theory?

Sorry to hi jack your post zait-bet, if there is a massive response:roll: we can split the postings.

pen

Hi Thanks for the replies. He is a little better today, flexing the foot a little more and putting his full weight on from time to time. Last night I locked the gate to the field so they could only stay in the yard and he was still trying to hooley around. I think he has taken a fall in the field on the wet grass as he seems to have trouble flexing the lower part of his leg fully back or while jumping around with his playmate has come down hard on a stone and suffered a concussion on his foot. Could be an abcess but I'm not sure. He has been barefoot for a long while now and his trimmer says he has some of the stongest feet she has seen, but he really likes to horse around and has fallen over backwards while rearing up playing.

At the moment I am treating it with cold compresses and Arnica. I'll see how he goes.

These boys will be boys

pen

Update on Zait. Ladies you were right it was an abscess. I blame myself as I have been so busy the last few weeks with one thing and another and haven't cleaned out their hooves properly for a while. When I had another good fertal around I found a small stone that had wedged itself between the hoof wall and the bar. Its out now, the abscess has burst and is clearing up nicely and he is back to hooling around.

I didn't recognise the signs as its the first time ever I had to deal with a foot abscess and hopefully the last. I shall be checking their feet every day from now on.

Thanks for your concern.

NO self blame allowed on this forum I'm afraid Glad to hear your boy is on the mend.

pen

don't beat yourself up, they can take days,weeks or even months to build up to a head, [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
often the source of the infection happens at or above the top of hoof line not through the sole, think of the hoof as a bucket full of large bones with some small soft gaps, if a nick or bruise allows puss to drip into the hoof it won't show as pain untill all the space it uses is full & it reaches a certain pressure,
even then the pressure can release upwards as a tiny weepy spot many times over & over untill the volcano below goes oouch!

its good the drain is out below as gravity helps, almost anything is better than the repetative quittor problem my Saltie had.

as long as his tet shot is up to date its a minor problem.....& you will spot it quicker if it happens again, bye
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I'm with you on abcesses here Pen, sadly! Never had one in any of my own back in the UK but since being here, 3 years in October, I've had 2 ponies suffer from them


Hope he's mending well.xx