Nerve damage and muscle atrophy of forelimb and chest

[MeadowAG87]

Hello! Does anyone have any experience with unilateral muscle atrophy of forelimb and chest caused by nerve impingement/damage? ..Or experience with injury or any type of problem with C6, C7, C8, or T1?

Long story, as short as possible, I bought 2 mini mares (bonded) at an auction in October 2022 for my toddler to start learning with. They were in rough shape, but sweet sweet mares that you could tell were very loved and given a lot of attention, at some point in their lives. They’ve improved a lot since then, but the atrophy in this area absolutely will not budge.

One mare is approximately 20 years old and has severe muscle atrophy of the Right forelimb and chest. The other mare is approximately 15 years old and, oddly, has the same problem on the Left forelimb and chest, although, it is less severe.

Pictures are of the older mare.

I’m hoping someone has some insight on what this could be, what could have caused it, if anything can be done, etc…

Also, I don’t know anything about driving minis. For those of you that do, IF these minis had been driven as a team in the past, is it possible that could have somehow caused nerve damage to the ponies on opposite sides? I hope that makes sense.

Thank you.

 

[LostandFound]

That's odd. How do they move? I've only experienced something similar once, a gelding with severe atrophy of the right side of the neck and shoulder and chest. We suspected everything from spinal issues to epm and in the end it was pssm and easily managed with diet.

 

[Cayuse]

Any chance the young one is the daughter of the older mare? I wonder if it's a congenital thing. Also, I have heard that an ill fitting driving collar (not breast plate, but a collar like work horses wear) can damage their shoulders. Are they able to move around ok or does it affect their soundness at all? It's IS odd.

 

[MeadowAG87]

@LostandFound and @Cayuse here are 2 clips of each mare, taken tonight. I couldn’t get anything longer than 10-11 seconds to upload, so hopefully it shows enough…. They are not sound, but they’ve come a long way from where they were months ago. There’s something about the way the palomino looks that seems really off to me. Im having a difficult time determining what is a true conformation issue vs pain or weakness vs habit from long term compensation. I’m open to opinions on that… I have also wondered if the younger one is the daughter, or related somehow, but I’m not sure.

 

[Dragon Hill]

You might want to research Sweeney Shoulder. There is a nerve that goes over the edge of the shoulder that can be damaged by an ill fitting collar and cause muscle atrophy.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I got a horse once. A chiropractor discovered a dislocated shoulder, which vet did not find. I had exercises to help him rehabilitate the shoulder. One shoulder was obviously narrower than the other. Once it was pointed out to me, it was so obvious. After a few months the shoulder looked normal.

 

[Cayuse]

I watched the videos. The palomino does look the worser of the two to me on the right front. Are you working with a vet? You could try a short course of banamine or maybe equioxx (works slower) if the vet agrees and see if they improve. If they improve from that then your answer would be it's probably pain related opposed to a mechanical type lameness. They are lucky to have landed with you!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I watched the videos. The palomino does look the worser of the two to me on the right front. Are you working with a vet? You could try a short course of banamine or maybe equioxx (works slower) if the vet agrees and see if they improve. If they improve from that then your answer would be it's probably pain related opposed to a mechanical type lameness. They are lucky to have landed with you!

Yes, check for pain first.

 

[Minimor]

I once knew 2 horses that ran into each other, not quite head on but close--they hit shoulder to shoulder, both ended up with Sweeney shoulder though one had worse atrophy that the other. I would suspect some sort of old injury on your 2 to cause this.

 

[Bluebell2]

I wonder if they were a team and had an accident? or perhaps they were made to pull to heavy of a load, pulling ponies. Just another thought to consider.