# horse suddenly lame?



## NewToMini's

My horse (13hh Arab/quarter) suddenly came up lame this morning. She's limping pretty bad and doesn't want to put much weight on her right front leg. It's cold today and the ground is frozen with lots of little bumps from when they walked in it when it was muddy, so I don't know if it's just that making her sore, or if there's something more serious. I can't confine her to a stall, because I won't have hay until Sunday. The two Mini's are just fine.


----------



## amysue

You need to feel her leg up and down for lumps, cuts or swelling and heat to determine if it is her leg or foot giving her the trouble. Lift the hoof if she will let you and gently pick and brush it out to see if there is a rock or some other object imbedded in there causing pain. She could have twisted it or pulled something tripping over the frozen ground or been kicked by a pasture buddy. If the footing in her paddock is frozen and uneven then you should put her in, as hobbling around on uneven footing won't help matters. Many horses get sore footed on this type of ground, especially after recently being trimmed. In a large pasture, they can avoid walking on it and you can help by moving feed and water away from it so she can walk on smooth ground. In a small paddock, this is hard to avoid, especially with several horses in there. I do not think she will be able to rest in the paddock with turn out buddies in with her. On another note, Unless she is in lush pastures, she needs hay every day, or some sort of hay substitute at least. Sunday is a too far away to go without food. I would stall her because of her lameness, and go buy a bale from the feed store if you have to, even buy one off a neighbor or something. Lame horses need rest to recover. If she does not improve in a few days you need to call a vet to get some pain drugs to prevent her from suffering, especially if you cannot find any source for the lameness like a cut or bump.


----------



## NewToMini's

I cleaned her hoof and checked for any problems I could find, her hoof looked normal and she didn't flinch when I lightly tapped her hoof with the hoof pick (I tapped in several places). I didn't see or feel any swelling on her leg, and didn't notice any heat. I didn't check her hoof for heat, however.

The pasture is about 4 acres with just her and two mini's on it, and it has plenty of grass. I don't think one of the Mini's could kick her hard enough to injure her, but I could be wrong.

I think I will stop by the place that I'm getting my hay from and ask if I can get some of it early, so I can stall her.

When I fed them this morning, she walked the long way around the rutted ground to get to the barn, and the Minis were walking carefully, too (but they weren't limping, just watching where they were going more). Her limping was slightly better by the time I left for work, but they were on smoother and grassier ground.


----------



## NewToMini's

Forgot to mention, she was trimmed a week and a half ago.


----------



## amysue

One of the minis could kick her hard enough to cause lameness, she could have gotten kicked in the cannon bone, it wont swell a lot but it will hurt like heck. Has the ground been hard/frozen since her trim or just recently? If it just froze, then she could be ouchy after her trim. My hafflinger gets sore after trims only when the ground is frozen because she is out with cows, so they chew the ground up. If this is the mare with the mystery lameness from your other post then it sounds like a full vet work up is necessary.


----------



## NewToMini's

She wasn't lame before, just swollen. But yes, it's the same horse.

The ground was muddy until last night when it froze. It's thawed now, but will freeze again tonight.

She's barely limping now, but I'm still going to try and stall her tonight if I can. I bought hay and closed in the barn for her (just put chest high (for her) gates on the front and back), but she's extremely buddy sour and was afraid of the barn and wouldn't even hold still long enough for me to get her halter on (she's still nervous now with the Minis in here with her). Should I leave them in, try to leave her in without them, or let them all out (keeping hay and water in to encourage them to stay in)? I'm afraid she'll hurt herself trying to get out if I leave her in without them, and I'm afraid she might hurt one of them if I leave them in (though the only time I've seen her kick at them was the day after I got her, and I gave them grain, they respect her now and they'll only have hay tonight) The barn is about 12x24.


----------



## chandab

I wouldn't leave them all locked in the barn together, if there are not separate stalls or spaces; if she gets frightened she might inadvertently hurt one of the minis.


----------



## NewToMini's

I ended up letting them all out, she wouldn't leave the gate, and started thinking about jumping it (one time she tried, but decided not to at the last second), even while I had the Mini's in. She was barely limping today, but the ground didn't freeze last night, it just firmed up a little.


----------



## Ryan Johnson

How is she ? Was she worked the day before you noticed she was lame? I have a biggie that goes a little sore after trims, especially in summer when the ground is a lot harder. He is usually back to 100% within 1-3 days after the trim.

I have to agree with Amysue, between the swelling in her back legs and now the lameness in her off front leg , I would be getting a full vet check done.

Keep us posted on her progress, i hope she continues to recover


----------



## Rocklone Miniature Horses

I have only came to your threads, and i agree. She needs a full vet work up. Her legs seem to give bother.


----------



## NewToMini's

Still barely limping (sometimes not at all today), and the ground was frozen this morning. I think she pulled a muscle or something, but I'm going to keep watching her to make sure she heals from whatever it was.


----------



## amysue

Check the soles of her hooves real well. She may be tender still from the trim. With her being out on the frozen ground it could still be sore. I would make booties out of duct tape and vetwrap for her front feet. Since she wont stay in on soft bedding quietly (that would give you a chance to see if it was foot or leg pain) try protecting her feet. My horse that has this problem recovers quickly with the booties on.


----------



## NewToMini's

She's doing better now.


----------



## paintponylvr

Any other news?


----------



## NewToMini's

Still doing good. We've had another freeze since then, and she looked like she may have been a little sore, but not at all lame (maybe not even sore, she could have just been walking carefully over the rutted ground)


----------



## paintponylvr

how much humidity do you get? Not sure what state you are in...

Also, have her legs quit swelling? I recall another post where you'd just purchased her and her hind legs were doing a lot of swelling. Curious to know if that's cleared up or if you had a vet go over what it could be.


----------



## NewToMini's

It gets really humid here in Ohio. I think 70-90% all summer, but I don't know how humid it usually is this time of year.

I think the swelling in her back legs is gone.


----------



## paintponylvr

Hmmm... OK.


----------

