Mysterious Lameness... How long to wait until vet?

[Rescue_Rider9]

So I noticed yesterday when i pulled my horse out of the pasture she was lame. Not terrible and once she trots around for a min, it goes away. I went through all the prceedures of trying to figure out which leg it is, if there is any swelling or heat anywhere, and then check her hooves for any signs of abcess or tenderness because we were XC schooling and in some spots there was gravel so I thought maybe she got a stone bruise on sat. I couldnt find any heat, swellings, tenderness, or anything. So now I am thinking maybe its sore because XC was pretty intense and we jumped training level jumps which she has never done before! So I put some liminent on her and put her back out to pasture. This morning I go out to check and same thing. Legs look fine. I think I have narrowed it down to her back left, but im not super sure because the lameness is off and on... So I streched her out and she is back in the pasture at the moment. Should I hope on her and see if its just a soreness (my leg is pretty sore from XC Sat still this morning.) and it can be worked out or should I wait a bit to see if it goes away or should I just go ahead and call the vet.

My horses are rarely ever lame. The only other lameness she has ever had was when she had an abcess at 3. None of my other horses have come up lame so this is all new to me (just with my horses. I have seen a many school horses lame, which is why I know what I am looking for a little).

TIA.
Paige

[AKB]

My routine is to check the horse carefully for anything that could be severe. Is there a puncture anywhere? Go over all 4 legs very carefully. Clean the hooves thoroughly looking for a puncture. A puncture in a bad spot is an emergency. Therefore a puncture usually involves a call to the vet. Next, I look for swelling. If the tendon areas are swollen, I want a vet who is very good with ultrasound and has a good, expensive, machine. Next, I assess the degree of lameness. If the horse is sound at the walk, I figure that a fracture is unlikely. A fracture would be an emergency. My last step is to decide if it could be something systemic. Is there a fever? Is there anything to make me think that the horse is not feeling well? Are there increased pulses or anything to suggest laminitis?

If the horse is sound at the walk and the rest of my assessment is ok, I wait a week to see if whatever is present heals. If our horses were competing and needed to be sound immediately, I would call the vet right away. Once, I called a surgeon at the vet hospital on a Sunday to say one of our horses had been lame for an hour. She replied that I should bring him in the next morning, as she knew he was headed for pony club championships that week. After coffin joint injections for his long time navicular disease, he was sound in 48 hours. Generally, I am slow to get the vet out for a lameness, but there are times to call immediately.

[Rescue_Rider9]

You make me feel better! She is sound at the walk! and everything else I have already assessed and she is good on. I guess I will sit back and wait.