# Sudden Lameness in Horse - Favoring Front Leg



## barefoothooves

My guess, unless the "feed incident" was less than 72 hours ago, is that your horse has an abscess. 
Try soaking his foot in 50/50 apple cider vinegar and warm water for about 15 minutes, every day for a week or so. If nothing else, this won't harm your horse, as I doubt you'll be riding him on rocks while he's limping (water logged feet are more easily brusied than dry, hard ones, shod or bare). This will help soften up the hoof to allow the abscess to go ahead and drain on it's own. 

The on again/off again stumbling could be symtomatic of an abscess, as they sometimes take a while to really brew, and it's common for them to cause three-legged lameness, and yes, can even cause swelling in the leg. They are very hard for even a vet to find until they are about to blow. My guess is that this is one that's going to pop in the hairline somewhere, because, I've never seen one pop in the sole that cuased leg swelling, but this could be the first! 

Try taping a foam pad on the bottom of his foot, to offer some cushion. May not make him much happier, but sure makes YOU feel better, and again, it won't hurt.


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## ilovestitch

Couldnt have said it any better barefoothooves!


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## FriesianCatRider

Hi all:

The vet was out early this morning and though my horse was a bit better (no stumbling out of the stall or limping) he was still favoring the leg. He said more time is still needed to determine the cause because of the swelling in the leg is making it hard to feel. 

He has swelling in the tendon so the only conclusion I can make is that he did this to himself in the stall! Unless there is some type of delayed reaction to this type of injury since he was last worked regularly on Wednesday. Maybe he was already lame on Thursday but I just didin't notice it when I did the trick training but he did not seem sore in any way lifting both legs high when asked. 

So, now I have to wait and walk him twice a day and hose the leg along with applying some mask (Stay Sound). The farrier is still due on Tuesday so I will ask him about the abscess as well and get a proper hoof test done just for piece of mind.

The vet likened the injury to us hitting our shins very hard and working off the pain that is why he is limping. It is not necessarily the hoof which he checked for sounds with an instrument.

Thanks to all for your replies.


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## PaintHorseMares

barefoothooves said:


> The on again/off again stumbling could be symtomatic of an abscess, as they sometimes take a while to really brew, and it's common for them to cause three-legged lameness, and yes, can even cause swelling in the leg. They are very hard for even a vet to find until they are about to blow. My guess is that this is one that's going to pop in the hairline somewhere, because, I've never seen one pop in the sole that cuased leg swelling, but this could be the first!


This has been my experience, too. The ones that pop at the hairline can look very much like a sprain with the heat/swelling in the fetlock area. The only difference I've seen is that (for an abcess), as it works toward the band, they will get tender to touch there.

Good luck...lameness can be frustrating and does often require a lot of patience and 'wait and see' to determine the cause.


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## mayfieldk

I wouldn't rule out the abscess because there is swelling in the tendon just yet (unless he popped a splint, which could be possible). My gelding was pulled out of his stall a few years ago, and was DEAD lame with an abscess--and was swollen all the way up to the knee. They actually thought he might have fractured something.

Good luck, and keep us updated!


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## sillybunny11486

i thought my mare had an abcess. it was two winters ago. i never saw her so lame. she tore her suspensory in the front. it was a very small tare but it looked very painful. i dont think shoeing usually causes navicular disease but i could be wrong. hope you get to the bottom of it soon.


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## kevinshorses

Ninety percent of lameness in horses are in the hoof. An abcess can cause swelling in the leg and up into the belly. I would have called the farrier first and tried to leave the vet out of it. DMSO and Iodine mixed together and applied to the sole can help with abcesses. I don't know where you are overseas but with vets and hoof problems here I have found that the vets hear hoofbeats and think zebras and the farriers hear hoofbeats and think horses.


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## FriesianCatRider

Hah! That was a great! I was thinking the same thing especially since I am going to be hit with a weekend emergency charge and the fact that the vet was leaving on holiday and did a quick once over and said "yep, he is sore and swollen". No bute, no additional advice - just suck it up and deal with it. 

I just had one of my trusted colleagues check out my Friesian tonight while we wait for the farrier tomorrow morning. She is great with horses and knows her stuff. When I explained on the phone what happened, she thought maybe it was "muck" in the feathers which is a huge problem with alot of Friesians. She has seen muck cause an entire leg to swell up.

Thankfully my guy has been OK so far but even so, I completely cleaned all of his feathers (the trick is with Palmolive soap but unfortunately I cannot find unflavored Listerine here which is another good thing) until she arrived at the barn to check him out. One she saw him she said it was not muck (which is great because I was going to shave off his feathers - the horror!), she is leaning towards him hitting himself really hard in the leg, almost like us hitting our shins. It is a bone bruise, nothing to do with the tendon. He probably hit himself when getting up from sleeping or something like that because it was not from work.

Regardless, I will continue to hand walk him and slowly get back into riding him at the walk (the vet did say to do this and walk him twice a day). It will be a challenge because he was bucking left and right (complete kick outs while standing on two front legs) tonight while I tried to walk him a bit outside (tried to keep his feathers cleaned instead of getting hall sand back in there!). 

He did not look lame at all so please wish us luck! Thanks to all for your advice.


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