A case for Dr Green?

When a horse has slight or intermittent lameness, it can be tempting to see if he improves with rest rather than investigate fully straight away. But there are issues with this route, finds Ellie Hughes

- Ellie Hughes

MOST riders will recognise the sinking feeling that their horse just isn’t quite right. He may take an occasional unlevel step, lose a bit of movement or there may be nothing to see at all.

You are left with a dilemma - should you call your vet immediately or wait to see if the issue resolves on its own? And if there is a minor problem, do you step in with intensive management and treatment, or turn your horse away for an extended period of time and let Dr Green take the case on?

Both approaches have their pros and cons, and there are myriad factors to consider along the way.

WE have a saying that vets often take the credit for what nature can do," says David Sinclair MRCVS, who runs Sounder Equine in Kent, alongside nurse Ruth Gravenell. "Put simply, there are a lot of lameness issues that respond extremely well to time and rest, but sometimes vets are needed to put right what's wrong."

As a general rule, David advises that "a forelimb lameness of any appreciable degree should be investigated promptly, while a very low-grade hindlimb lameness that won't necessarily interfere with your horse's wellbeing and day-to-day activities is safe to give a little more time".

"It's always best to run any concerns past your vet promptly, though," David cautions, "in case the problem is likely to deteriorate."

Kate Granshaw MRCVS of Lingfield Equine Vets has an interest in poor performance issues. She points out that where lameness is intermittent, the timing of any veterinary assessment is key to finding a solution.

"It's really important that the vet sees the horse at a time when lameness is apparent because otherwise it will make diagnostic analgesia - or nerve blocks - difficult,” she says. “In the absence of signs such as heat, swelling or pain on palpation, analgesia is the most accurate way of locating a lesion, but you need lameness in the first place to try to abolish.”