Freedom’s mysterious hind end lameness took an accelerated curve to the left when I arrived to find him literally standing on three legs. He will put weight on that hoof/leg when asked to walk, but it’s pretty obvious that it’s painful.
It’s pretty horrific to find your horse standing like that. He wasn’t favoring it to that extent when I fed in the morning on Friday, but when I went back to check on him mid day, it had become acute. My heart sunk when I saw him and visions of breaks and dislocations flashed through my mind.
After going through the first few OMG minutes, I started to hope it was a good thing. An abscess brewing in the left hind could have caused the lameness I’d felt last week. Lack of rain has left the ground hard as concrete and I know the horses have been stamping on flies almost continuously. I tried to remind myself that it’s usually the obvious thing that is the problem.
A call to the vet calmed me down a bit. She didn’t feel it was essential to come out as an emergency call and suggested that since his appetite was good and he didn’t look distressed other than holding his leg in the air, it was most likely “just” an abscess. I am supposed to treat it like one and then we can revisit it on Tuesday (I’m traveling today).
So, I’ve packed his hoof with Magic Cushion, slipped some Previcox in his grain, and am hoping that he’ll start feeling better soon and that the mysterious lameness will be revealed as a (relatively) minor abscess.
One of the horses I take care of developed an abscess that followed the exact same trajectory. We are in major drought, rock hard ground. A week of intermittent lameness, somewhat off, then lame, then OMG lame. It was a good thing! His was also accompanied by swelling all the way to the knee before the dead lamenes, somewhat less common. I’m sharing this in solidarity, sending hopeful calming vibes, that it is “just” an abscess!
My fingers are crossed but glad to hear that it’s following a recognizable pattern. He doesn’t look particularly distressed other than not wanting to walk on that foot. But he does keep looking at me with that “do something!” expression.
fingers crossed for an abscess. we had a horse hobbling three legged lame this weekend in exactly the same fashion, and yep it was an abscess. good luck!
Hope it is just an abscess and that it is ready to open up and offer some relief. Poor baby and poor Mama!