Limping Horse

scesnick · Dec 29, 2007

I have a 5 yr. old Morgan mare. I went out this mornigna and noticed she would not come to me when I called for her. This is highly unusual. I went and found her and she wouldn't put any weight on her left rear leg. SO, I checked her hoof and there isn't any problems there, nothing stuck in her hoof at all. I then tried to get her to come to her stall and she reluctantly finally put weight on it. She seems to want to keep all weight off of it.
I ran my hand all over her leg and there doesn't seem to be any sore spots that make her jumpy..

She likes to run and play with my two farm dogs and it has been icy up at my place. I am thinking ( hoping) that she just fell on the ice or pulled a muscle slipping on the ice.

Any ideas?

BTW< yes, the vet was called and he gave my wife a anti inflamatory to give her.

tallyho8 · Dec 29, 2007

The most common cause of this is an abscess. They can stay sore for weeks. Your farrier can determine if this is what it is.

scesnick · Dec 29, 2007

Thanks for the reply tallyho8. But she was fine yesterday. She was running her usual lap around the field at full speed ( which is always impressive, wish I was that fast) Then this morning she wouldn't move. just standing still I checked her hoof and while i am not an expert by any means, I didn't see anything unusual. I am thinking she may have a strained muscle.

tallyho8 · Dec 29, 2007

When mine get an abscess they are fine one day and refuse to stand on that foot the next day. I have not been able to find the abscess on my own, but my farrier is pretty good at finding them. There are many causes for abscesses.

scesnick · Dec 29, 2007

This is not my horse, it is my wifes, I don't know alot about horses, Other than how to feed them. My wife is the horse lady and she is out of town.
SO, what exactly is an abcess? and how do you spot them???

tallyho8 · Dec 29, 2007

Here are 2 sites I googled that can explain it better than I can.

Veterinary Corner

The Naked Hoof - Hoof Abscesses

Rara Avis · Dec 29, 2007

scesnick said:
This is not my horse, it is my wifes, I don't know alot about horses, Other than how to feed them. My wife is the horse lady and she is out of town.
SO, what exactly is an abcess? and how do you spot them???

You need a hoof tester...