horse fell to her knees...

[Paintedhorsegirl]

I was cleaning my horses feet tonight and when I went to do her right front foot, she fell. I tried again a little while later, she acts like she doesnt want to pick it up and when she does, she falls to her knee...I checked her legs, nothing seems abnormal and no swolleness anywhere. No cuts or wounds anywhere. I cant figure it out, I dont know whats wrong. Has anyone ever had this happen before...?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

When our two year old decided she wanted to be difficult she would often just fall to her knees or lean into us when we tried to pick her feet. It was just a "terrible twos" sort of thing for her. However, if your horse is normally pretty good about getting her feet picked, I'd keep a close eye on her. She is probably feeling pain somewhere. Does she fall to her knees when you pick both sides, or just when you do one side?

 

[patandchickens]

it could of course just be behavioral as chickerdoodle says.

OTOH the first thing that comes to mind is, check the opposite front leg (the one she's standing ON when she doesn't wanna pick the other one up) verrrry carefully for any signs of heat, swelling, bounding pulse, object in hoof, or lameness in motion. Often a horse will refuse to pick up a foot when that'd force it to stand with twice the weight on a sore one.

Good luck, hope you get it figured out,

Pat

 

[the duck whisperer]

Does she have thrush? Foot rot? any hoof cracks? she wear shoes? sorry, i wish i could help... thats never happened with my horse, just keep an eye on her. if she gets worse then maybe take her to a vet. good luck

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
She only falls when we pick up her right front foot. Weve only had her for about a month but she has been good about getting her feet done until tonight..

 

[scbatz33]

Makes me think she has an abscess in her left foot.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
She dosnt wear shoes, her feet are pretty good. I have the farrier coming out tomorrow , maybe he will be able to figure it out.

 

[Paintedhorsegirl]

Quote:
hhmmmm, maybe...but when we were cleaning her left foot it looked fine and she seemed fine. It was just her right one..The last time we did her feet they were all fine. How quick can an abscess form?

 

[welsummerchicks]

There isn't any real way to tell because there are so many things it possibly could be. And it isn't necessarily pain in the foot - the pain can be in the foot, knee, elbow, shoulder...withers...

However, I'd suggest you look at the OTHER foot very, very carefully. The one he picks up willingly.

Sometimes horses don't want to pick up Foot A because they don't want to bear extra weight on Foot B.

Foot B is the painful one - they don't want to pick up Foot A, because it will put pressure on Foot B.

My suggestion is to get the vet out and find out what's wrong.

If I am sure of what something is and how it happened, I am more willing to just treat it myself at home, especially when I see improvement from what treatment I'm giving, within 48 hrs.

Home treatment, when I know what the problem is and how it came about, can be cold hosing, ice, Bute, stall rest (no turnout), and no riding or longeing. I would need to see improvement within 48 hrs - obvious, clear improvement, or I would be talking to my vet.

Not all vets are very good at figuring out what is causing a lameness. I prefer vets who spend all of their time diagnosing and treating equine lameness. I simply don't feel it is so easy to do a good job at it. I treat lameness very aggressively. Meaning if I don't see very rapid improvement, if I am not EXTREMELY sure of what caused it and what and where it is, I get the vet out immediately.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
hhmmmm, maybe...but when we were cleaning her left foot it looked fine and she seemed fine. It was just her right one..The last time we did her feet they were all fine. How quick can an abscess form?

Pain when weightbearing is not necessarily accompanied by pain when NOT weightbearing e.g. when you're picking out THAT foot. So, feel carefully for heat in the foot and lower leg (compare to other foreleg), and look for lameness when in motion.

An abscess can blow up within almost literally hours (obviously it is brewing longer than that, I mean, but the pain can come on that fast). You do not necessarily SEE anything at all -- indeed, you don't usually see anything til after it has ruptured and drained, which usually *ends* the pain

Not that it's necessarily an abscess, of course, but that is a common possibility if this is a lameness issue.

My money is still on lameness in the opposite foreleg, but if not, two other possibilities would be that she is hurting in the particular part of her ankle (or etc) that you grab to pick up that leg (perhaps a cut, or a thorn, or a bruise), which would not necessarily produce observable lameness on that foreleg; or joint or tendon pain in that foreleg (the one that she collapses when you pick it up) which *would* likely produce observable lameness.

Not everyone is equally sensitive at seeing subtle lameness however.

If it were me, if she's still like that tomorrow I'd call the vet or at least have someone really good at checking horses over for lameness take a whack at her.

Good luck,

Pat