# Knee and Lameness issues?



## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Without a vet's diagnosis it's not possible to make any suggestions. She could have a bone bruise, bone chip, arthritis, an infection, a high splint, a sprain, tendon or ligament damage, a host of things or maybe a problem with her shoulder or even her neck.

Many things can be fixed but first you have to know for sure what the problem is.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Hi,

Firstly, if she is lame, please DON'T trot her or force her to do anything like that. Even if it doesn't make the problem worse, it will likely be unpleasant at best, for the horse and not acheive anything positive.:-( *If* she's comfortable doing so, gentle exercise - walking on yielding ground, etc is probably not bad though.

At a guess, I'd say it's arthritis - further bony changes due to the stress on her knee. Perhaps she *can't* flex that knee so much any more. Also possible there's a bone chip in the joint, of which may be removable by arthroscope. An xray should confirm what the issue is. Given what you've told, it does sound like a 'something' that requires further investigation by a vet, rather than something she'll just get over. 

Actually while you're right that not keeping her toes short can well exacerbate it, keeping her unshod would definitely be the way to go IMO, as the restricted hoof function and the added concussion resulting from shoes will not help.

If she's OK at picking her foot up off the ground, but just not lifting it up very high(for the farrier's liking), she can still be trimmed, just not in the most comfortable position for the trimmer!


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## ZuluPony (Jul 11, 2011)

Thank you both for your replies. 

We are getting the farrier to come again to at least take her old shoes off if nothing else, as he didn't evn mange that last time.

We will also be calling out the vet if there is no improvement within a week.

I felt her knees this evening, and although the larger knee was warmer than the normal one, it wasn't enough of a difference to cause me any concern.

And by trotting her, I don't mean pushing her to exercise, it's just for a few paces to see how much she is nodding on it, and at first it was so we could tell which leg it was. 

Thanks again.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

ZuluPony said:


> And by trotting her, I don't mean pushing her to exercise, it's just for a few paces to see how much she is nodding on it, and at first it was so we could tell which leg it was.


yeah, but you know it's a problem now, so there's no reason to put her in more pain and risk making it worse. If she's actually obviously 'head bobbing lame' this indicates it's pretty sore.


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