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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
   
| If you have a horse that bites at their front leg when being ridden, almost like it's stinging her, what would you think is the issue? She has been off in the front, and we are working with our shoer to pull her toes back and get her stood up. Clearly a trip to the vet is in her future, but I'm just looking for some insight before we go. She was vetted a little over a year ago, they found a spur in her hock and injected, but my vet also thought she appeared nuerologic so they tested for EPM which came back negative. Nothing in the front feet was an issue at the time. Since then she has developed this soreness in the front. She is 6 years old, started lightly at 2 then turned out until she was 4 because I was pregnant.
Any thoughts? Also, is there some mineral or something that could be missing from her diet that might cause an issue like this. We seem to have had an abundance of front foot issues over the years, and even though our vet says it's nothing we are or aren't doing (he said I was cursed!) I have to wonder if there is something going on in our program that we're missing.
Edited by Jenbabe 2018-01-14 7:08 PM
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| Radiographs of the front feet and possibly nerve blocks would be a great place to start. If she feels off on the front, it could be a foot pain issue or a chiro issue that hopefully a vet and chiropractor could remedy.
If the vet check comes back normal, it could be a stereotypie/behavioral issue sort of thing, where it’s just second nature for her to bite at her legs. Have you checked breastcollar fit? (If one is worn). Or bell boots or anything out of the ordinary on her legs? |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| I assume there's something going on in the foot. Unfortunately I've dealt with enough front foot issues to have a pretty good idea. Her heels are wanting to run forward, so I would guess something is going on with the navicular bone and flexor tendon. It's just weird how she bites at the one leg, almost as soon as you get on her and will occasionally throughout the ride. She will slam on her brakes to do it. She was turned out for a short break, and when we got back on her she started doing it. I haven't seen her do it when she's in her pen, or when she has been running and playing in the turnout pen.
Edited by Jenbabe 2018-01-15 8:30 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | Sounds like you have a farrier issue. Long toes stretch out tendons and ligaments and she might be telling you she is sore. Most times horses feet don't just want to grow long toes and under run heels. |
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Duct Tape Bikini Girl
Posts: 2554
| Do you happen to have a farrier/DVM in you area? Not sure where you are, but that's where I'd start. |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | I'd say she is likely telling you she's sore in the front end. If you have issues with underslung heels, I'd be thinking she may have some navicular or soft tissue damage in the foot or you could be dealing with sore suspensory tendons, etc. If you've had continued problems with front end lameness than you could be dealing with both a vet and farrier issue in my opinion. Front end lameness could be due to poor farrier work, like the other poster said, OR it can be residual soreness from the rear, that your vet isn't properly addressing, that presents itself on the front. Or it could be front end soreness that is causing the rear end to get sore, due to compensation, and then EVERYTHING gets sore. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 695
Location: Windoming | Please let us know what you find out! |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Thank you all for your responses. I don't want to sound dismissive of your ideas, but I can't blame my farrier or my vet for this. As soon as we started seeing a slight issue, my farrier went to work correcting it. I think I should point out that my issues with front feet have been over a 15+ year period with different farriers. And we've had a lot of horses over the years without any issues. As far as the vet, the lameness vet I use is one of the most recommended. That vet has not seen this mare since the hock injections. I wish they were closer to us, but the distance is limiting on my ability to get there. Our local vets are great, but for lameness issues I just feel like I need to go to someone that sees horses all day every day.
Based on how this mare is now, I think it is safe to assume she is sore in the navicular and flexor tendon due to the feet running forward.
I'm just frustrated and I guess hoping for someone to point out an obvious issue that is easy to fix! Seriously, when I asked my vet if it was something I was doing wrong, he told me I was just cursed! How do you fix that?! If it was a farrier, nutrition, or conditioning issue, I can fix that. If it is just bad luck, I guess I'll just deal with it. But if it's not I will do what it takes to make changes. So maybe that is the real question I should have been asking - Is there something that I'm missing that could be leading to the front feet wanting to run forward? What about tendon tightness? I've heard it said that some horses are just naturally tighter in their tendons and that can lead to front foot pain. I'm grasping at straws here hoping that I can find an answer to what is causing the issue with this mare and to prevent it from happening again in the future. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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