Mare Gone Inexplicitly Lame

Q:

Our mare has gone inexplicitly lame. Yesterday she began limping obviously, favoring her near fore, and todayshe's been no different. i can't for the life of me figure out where the problem is. No swelling, heat, tenderness, obvious wounds or bruises anywhere in her shoulder, knee, hoof... could it be simply a strained muscle? She lies down and gets up without trouble, and the limp doesn't even show unless she walks quickly or trots. She is old; could it be arthritis? thank you for your time!!

A:

It does sound like that you will need to play detective, and then it may even be a difficult answer to pinpoint. Being an older horse sure could attribute to the sudden lameness, as a bit of arthritis combined with a wrong move in the pasture could set something up so that she needs to protect herself in certain movements. Checking out the normal suspects, like balance in the hoof/feet, tenderness in the shoulder/back/legs are all part of the detective work. Even though there is not any heat in the shoulder, it might make the horse feel good to run some cold water over it. There are some natural remedies that might help too, so you may want to ask the Vet about them, or seek a Vet with a background in alternative approaches.

Hope it all works out. Alice

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