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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
   
Location: Kansas | Horse will run up the fence at first barrel (left, also acts like he might do it going right) or second barrel (left) even after having hocks injected and making multiple practice runs. Stifles were checked when hocks were injected, vets say no problems there. Right hock was primary lameness, when it was blocked, lameness showed on left hock but not as bad as right.
Saddle fits like a glove, horse has minimal maintenance history (hocks injected Jan. 29, 2015, right stifle injected Feb. 6, 2015). What should be checked next? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | X-ray back for kissing spine |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | you just had Hocks done ? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| Did you X-ray the hocks or just flex? Has he been chiro' at all? |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Foot imbalance maybe?
Have you checked higher up than the stifles?
Maybe time for a second opinion or chiro visit.
Sorry if you have already checked these out, just brainstorming as I know how frustrating it can be to find a lameness.
Hope you get if figured out.
Oh, just a thought here, but my horse came up sore a week ago, I thought it was because we recently went barefoot, but the shoer said his feet are great. Then I noticed as I was picking his feet out that the side of his frog was really tender. I dug around and washed his foot out and lo and behold, he has somehow cut the side of his frog. I can stick a good portion of the hoof pick into the cut. Treating him now and he is sound as long as there is no debris pushing on the cut so I am wrapping it.  |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Could be lots of things but I would check suspensories, they can be very difficult to diagnose. It took me almost a year and lots of $$ with repeated vet appointments to find my horses issue. He had no swelling was not lame, good vets could not get him to take an off step but he would not work a left turn. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 520
| Have you had a lyme test? My gelding was having hind end lameness last summer for a good 2 months. X-rays, ultra sounds, nerve blocks didn't really show much besides mild arthritis. Tested him for Lyme disease and he came up positive, treated him and hes been perfectly fine since.
Rather frustrating as I called the vet in the first place to ask for a lyme test and they insisted he had x-rays and all that crap. I was the one that finally pulled the blood myself and just dropped it off at the clinic. I should have stuck to my own gut! |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | veintiocho - 2016-03-03 8:28 AM Did you X-ray the hocks or just flex? Has he been chiro' at all?
Did not X-ray because blocking the right hock changed his lameness, so vet figured injecting would fix the problem. Have not chiro'd him in a while. Can't remember what his chiro history is other than when something is adjusted and starts feeling good, he sighs really loudly. Chiro we've used says he is VERY expressive. |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | Hocks were injected a week ago.
Haven't checked any higher up than stifles, haven't checked feet. Have not x-rayed back, tested for lyme disesase or anything else. Team of vets were all seeing hocks, and felt confident that injecting them would fix the barrel problems. I switched from left to right barrel first to help get over the mental hurdles, and the horse can clock equally well either direction but was running left because I could not drive him past second barrel when running right. Now I'd be happy if he'd just turn!
How do you check suspensories? I was wondering about them because I'd heard years ago they could look like hock problems.
Dang rodeo horses are going to make me crazy with all their issues! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| rodeowithjoker - 2016-03-03 9:45 AM
veintiocho - 2016-03-03 8:28 AM Did you X-ray the hocks or just flex? Has he been chiro' at all?
Did not X-ray because blocking the right hock changed his lameness, so vet figured injecting would fix the problem. Have not chiro'd him in a while. Can't remember what his chiro history is other than when something is adjusted and starts feeling good, he sighs really loudly. Chiro we've used says he is VERY expressive.
If it was my horse, I would start with chiro and see if/where he is out and from that plan my next move. He could be out of alignment or have muscle soreness from compensating for joint pain.
Ive found it to be helpful to get X-rays on horses that I'm using hard and need at least yearly maintenance so we can compare the yearly changes and make the best informed decision for injecting.
Sorry if this is confusingly worded, I'm on my phone and it's hard to type!!
I forgot to ask, how is his turning style? Does he set down hard?
Edited by veintiocho 2016-03-03 10:02 AM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 417
Location: CA | Sacroiliac. |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | veintiocho - 2016-03-03 9:57 AM rodeowithjoker - 2016-03-03 9:45 AM veintiocho - 2016-03-03 8:28 AM Did you X-ray the hocks or just flex? Has he been chiro' at all? Did not X-ray because blocking the right hock changed his lameness, so vet figured injecting would fix the problem. Have not chiro'd him in a while. Can't remember what his chiro history is other than when something is adjusted and starts feeling good, he sighs really loudly. Chiro we've used says he is VERY expressive. If it was my horse, I would start with chiro and see if/where he is out and from that plan my next move. He could be out of alignment or have muscle soreness from compensating for joint pain. Ive found it to be helpful to get X-rays on horses that I'm using hard and need at least yearly maintenance so we can compare the yearly changes and make the best informed decision for injecting. Sorry if this is confusingly worded, I'm on my phone and it's hard to type!! I forgot to ask, how is his turning style? Does he set down hard?
Very setty, hard turner when he turns. Here's a video from last month. He ran down the fence at the first barrel the next run, then made a 1D run but I pulled the first barrel over leaving, won a couple 3D checks as I tried to control his speed to 1st, ran down the fence once, then had hocks done, switched to right barrel and last night he ran down the fence to the right instead of turning the second barrel (left barrel - I ran him to the right 1st)
https://www.facebook.com/mgmcgee01/videos/10153759070470250/?l=63571834931295059 |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | Grunt - 2016-03-03 10:02 AM Sacroiliac.
Hmm......I had that injected on my other rodeo horse a couple years ago. Will have to go back & watch videos of the 'before' runs on that horse to compare. That horse just wasn't leaving barrels hard, but he never failed to attempt the turn like this one does. Why can't they just talk? lol. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | I would have xrays done. There could be a hock fracture or a chip. You want to see what arthritic changes there are also. Injections might now be able to reach area causing the most pain because of arthritis. Does he warm up fine? Loping nice calm circles to the left and right? I would also be concerned with possible suspensory too. Nuclear medicine would show this too, but it's pricey. |
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Regular
Posts: 79
| How frustrating for you!
I would give scintigraphy a try.... looking for small stress fractures in the pelvis and/or femur areas.
Here's an article re: what scintigraphy is and how it works.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10110/scintigraphy-get-it-while-it... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| rodeowithjoker - 2016-03-03 10:08 AM
veintiocho - 2016-03-03 9:57 AM rodeowithjoker - 2016-03-03 9:45 AM veintiocho - 2016-03-03 8:28 AM Did you X-ray the hocks or just flex? Has he been chiro' at all? Did not X-ray because blocking the right hock changed his lameness, so vet figured injecting would fix the problem. Have not chiro'd him in a while. Can't remember what his chiro history is other than when something is adjusted and starts feeling good, he sighs really loudly. Chiro we've used says he is VERY expressive. If it was my horse, I would start with chiro and see if/where he is out and from that plan my next move. He could be out of alignment or have muscle soreness from compensating for joint pain. Ive found it to be helpful to get X-rays on horses that I'm using hard and need at least yearly maintenance so we can compare the yearly changes and make the best informed decision for injecting. Sorry if this is confusingly worded, I'm on my phone and it's hard to type!! I forgot to ask, how is his turning style? Does he set down hard?
Assuming that his hocks are good and he doesn't have any Spurs or anything, I would definitely get a chiro out to check his back and hips. A lot of our heel horses get kinked up in the back/hip area from setting down hard and I had the same type of soreness show up in a little gelding I ran that set pretty hard in his turns. We usually end up chiro'ing every 4-5 months(more if an accident or needed) and always before we start the season to keep them feeling good. In my opinion, a good chiro is right up there with a good lameness vet. They can save you s lot of $$$ in the long run. Me on the other hand, I've never seen a chiro and hobble around on cold mornings, lol! Priorities! |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| I know you've been bringing this horse on for a while. I would definitely rule out kissing spine and si pain next. Is there a vet with a lameness locator near you? |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | Id xray...knees down and go from that point...m |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | classicpotatochip - 2016-03-03 10:30 AM I know you've been bringing this horse on for a while. I would definitely rule out kissing spine and si pain next. Is there a vet with a lameness locator near you?
I don't believe any of the KC area vets have lameness locator. I have moved 3.5 hours north of where I lived a year ago, so I took him to a different vet than I'd ever used before - one that has been highly recommended by several barrel racers. Ironically, the week before I took my horse in, I took one of the boyfriend's horses to this vet and found out that I had correctly diagnosed his soreness. (go me!)
Kissing spine - is it only diagnosed via x-rays?
I can't remember what we did to diagnose the SI pain on my gray but that did help him. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 494
| Check over the L front leg (knee, fetlock, coffin) When turning a barrel the opposite front and hind legs are the ones that go together. So on a right barrel the R front and L hind vice versa for left barrel. I had a mare once that would not turn a snappy second. She was floaty around it and not driving hard into it... I thought she is off in the back end. Nope, she was off in her knee. Made a world of difference after the injection. Had the same thing happen a different time to another horse also. |
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