Sunday, September 5, 2010

I'm At A Loss

Estes has been gimpy off and on the whole time I've owned her.  Mostly she's been able to stretch out and get through it, but as she gets older, her gimpiness gets worse.  She's got a club foot (front right), but I feel like her gimpiness is coming from her right shoulder, because if I stretch her out or get her adjusted, it goes away (for a while).

Mom and Mrs Mom have said that club feet sometimes have an issue with constricting heels and deep tissue thrush.  I've picked her feet and didn't see any signs of thrush, but I suppose it doesn't mean it's not there.  So, if you guys would look at this video and tell me what you think is going on, I'd appreciate it.  Mrs Mom asked for pics as well, so I'll get those up next week.

Monster did the honors walking and riding her - I think her gimpiness is worse when she's being ridden.



As I'm watching this for the millionth time, I see good range of motion through the shoulder, but I know from stretching her out that it's super tight.  What about her wrist?  Does it look like she's maybe hyperextending it?

10 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

Heel pain. Causing her to land oddly in that foot, in order to protect her hoof.

Lets look at the solar shots, and then we'll work out what to do from there.

And I love Monster. I had to smile and giggle at his sneaker (bet Estes woulda worn it for him!) and how fantastic she was waiting for him to put his shoe back on. The two of them are just priceless!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Could be something metabolic going on - some IR/metabolic horses have significant foot pain. We've had some luck using a chromium/magnesium supplement, and for horses who have low thyroid, a thyroid supplement. Hope you get it figured out!

Shirley said...

I'd be interested to see what Mrs Mom finds, and also you might want to check out her left hind; not so much the foot but the muscles that compensate for the gimpy stride on the front. She may get sore in the hip or gaskin as she compensates.

Rachel said...

Glad you have some real horsey people chiming in here.

My own experience for hard-working horses (considering the terrain Estes is covering) is that MSM can help with joint problems. It's an organic supplement (sprinkle on food) that can help joint issues when compounded with glucosamine and chondroitin.

We watched this work wonders on a retired gamer with arthritis (turned her into a filly who ran without pain).

Just a suggestion in case Estes may have a touch of arthritis in the one shoulder?

(By the way... Kona also got into Cassie's food in the field, and the MSM helped her back discomfort...)

I am tickled at Monster's and Este's relationship - horses really do have great people sense.

cheyenne jones said...

I watched this and I saw the left rear hind cutting short? That is it was stepping short. I got the impression the horse may have a gimmpy right front, but over time, the diagonal opposite can become the lame one. Try and feel the horses back, whichever side is tense in the muscle, is he compensatory side therefore the rear will be the lame one? Shirley read it right.

GunDiva said...

Thank all of you for your input. I think if I can figure out the root cause of her gimpiness the rest of the issues will resolve.

Linda said...

I'm interested to hear the result as well. Cowgirl was walking like that about two weeks ago, but whatever was going on resolved itself from more riding-so we suspect she pulled something during the wind and fire storms that got them worked up. Estes', to me, looks like it's located in that right front hoof. Looks like she's trying to land it center-on to avoid the heel--as Mrs. Mom pointed out. Good luck.

Rising Rainbow said...

I'm with Mrs Mom. Looks to me like a sore heel. She is definitely trying to place that foot in the least painful way possible. Also agree about the opposite hind taking up some of the stress of the situation.

Good luck at getting this figured out.

Karen V said...

Totally agree with Mrs Mom and Rising Rainbow on the heel pain and foot "placement".

My appy mare has a clubby foot and contracted heels. She has to be trimmed more often, because of the heel growth on the clubby foot. My farrier explained it to me like this: Imagine your shoulder slowly being elevated over the course of 8 to 10 weeks, then suddenly dropped back. You'd be sore too."

Talk to your farrier about trimming to the foot and perhap setting a shoe backward, or using a pad for impact relief.

Good luck!

Momma Fargo said...

Hope you find out what is going on with her. Nice horse. And nice Monster. Love the tennis shoe bumble. They were cute together.