Limping Horse

[blueriver]

Relax, I have 20 mares, 15 yearlings and 6 geldings and one stud horse. A horse is a weird animal, and prone to the slightest condition, anything may have caused her to start limping. An abcess is generally cause by conditions that a horse's feet come in contact with, such as an over abundance of a wet nasty environment. This horse may have stepped on an object that would cause a bruise, or perhaps something startled her and caused a sprain, perhaps she slipped on the ground, pulled a muscle. HOWEVER, should in a few days you not see an improvement then some action may be nessecary.

I would, give her a shot of anti inflamitory, read the directions and based on her weight give the proper dose, this also will serve as a mild pain killer.

If you don't see signs of an accident, such as blood, cuts, wounds...I am sure she will be fine. My grand dad was notoriuos for saying ... "its a long way from her heart" Good Luck!! And I wish you the best.

 

[LarryD]

Tallyho8 is right, a good farrier should be able diagnose what's ailing her when it comes to hoof/leg problems.

 

[scesnick]

Thanks for the info guys. I have the anti inflamatory and i will be giving it to her the first thing in the morning.

 

[WTA]

I'd recommend calling a farrier first too. They can spot things sometimes much faster than a vet. We boarded a morgan here for a couple years. They are very nice horses but this one was so weird I was getting really upset. The horse was born in her owners lap pretty much and was very attached. The owner stopped coming around much the last 3 or 4 months she was here because of her work schedule I think and the horse kept on colicing. It did it three times and lost a lot of weight. I knew it was all emotional and I tried to spend a lot of time with her but still I was scared to go to sleep at night because I really hate finding a horse laid out on it's back in the morning. The darn horse missed it's owner so much it would worry itself sick. I have never seen this in any other breed in my whole life. Morgans are just strange if you ask me. They are very playfull though. I'd seen that one running around kicking up her heels before and slip and fall. It happened to her more than any other one here. Especially when her owners car would come down the road.

I'm not a fan of self medicating a horse except for worming meds but please be sure to follow the directions. I only do stuff like that when a vet tells me to. I had a boarder here OD here horse on bute once and I don't allow any of the boarders to give drugs now without a vets prescription.

 

[Rara Avis]

Thanks for the info guys. I have the anti inflamatory and i will be giving it to her the first thing in the morning.

Until you diagnose what is wrong...the last thing you want to do is mask the symptoms...

 

[blueriver]

Until you diagnose what is wrong...the last thing you want to do is mask the symptoms...

The anti inflamatory simply helps with swolling, fever and pain! It will not mask the symptoms. Just like 2 tylenol help us!

 

[Cottonhawk]

It sure sound like abscess to me. The best method to fix abscess is to call the vet. Abscess can be hidden deep and a visit of your vet can save the pain for your horse and your problems. The worst thing you can do is try to fix it yourself if you have no experience. You sure don't want to make the situation worse!

 

[blueriver]

Update us ... Hows the horse? What was the deal?

 

[Soundguy]

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.

Sometimes they knock their cannon bone and then that gets sore for a day or two.

To check for abscess you need a large hand tool that looks like a pair of tongs that puts pressure in one spot on the bottom of the hoof..

Sometimes the frog area gets sore .. especially if it has any fungal damage.

some half cracks can get sore.. if they are open.. though quarter cracks, especially if near the rear of the hoof can be very soere.. and in extreme cases may need to be stabilized.

soundguy