[anna's girl]

My mare limps slightly at the trot, only going one way.
She's fine going the first way and at a walk and canter both ways.
She has shoes and one pad on the front. Farrier seems to think it's in her shoulder, but last year when I had rads on her feet it showed a tiny amount of ringbone. Could that be it?
I only pleasure ride on the flat, if that matters.
My farrier recommended a message therapist, going along with the shoulder theory.
I'm willing to try this and then of course on to vet and or chiro.
What do you guys think?

[atr]

Personally, I'd start with the vet and get a diagnosis before I did anything else.

[Simkie]

You're just tossing darts at a board unless you get the vet out for a lameness workup. Start there.

[Fharoah]

Low ring bone in the foot can cause offness. A full workup would be a good place to start.

[Herbie19]

Which leg which way? That can narrow it down to about a million possibilities (instead of 10 million!) . I'd get a vet out (one that deals with lameness otherwise you're wasting your money)--they will always start with the foot.

[WB Mom]

Check on hard ground/pavement vs. soft ground. If good on hard ground, lame on soft, could be soft tissue injury. Many horses that have soft tissue injuries look lame only one direction.
Please have a vet out. As you can see from the responses, it could be anything at this point.

[rabicon]

It could be so many things. Maybe ringbone maybe sore in her sole or many more issues. I'd have a vet out

[yellowbritches]

Unless you are pretty certain the lameness is a shoeing issue (close nail, etc), I would ALWAYS start with a vet first for lameness, then move on to whatever they may or may not recommend.

Call the vet and do a lamenesss exam.

[joiedevie99]

Call your vet out for a lameness exam. A knowledgeable vet can tell a lot from jogging the horse on hard and soft ground, and on a circle. They can also do flexion tests and nerve blocks to pinpoint the exam spot of the lameness. Once you have a diagnosis, you and your vet can decide whether the horse needs rest, massage, or some other sort of treatment.

[buck22]

I have a horse that is occasionally lame at the trot only, sound at canter and walk, on a 20m circle only, and only to one direction. I had the vet out and its looking like its his shoulder. He gets the winter off anyhow so we're going to go through diagnostics in the spring.

Do get the vet out and get a proper diagnosis, as was said, you're just throwing darts in the dark otherwise.

[anna's girl]

I plan on having the vet out it's just so strange and intermittent.
The farrier says she's not sore in the foot.So that threw me off. He is the one that suggested the shoulder.
To buck22 your vet just said sore in the shoulder?
Thanks for everyone's response.

[Rainier]

Good luck. I have a horse with the same symptoms and he's had 3 different diagnoses. i am currently treating him for a suspensory tear, but it didn't show up in the ultrasound. Unfortunately, he's a couple months into the rest and rehab program and he's still not sound at the trot ...

[buck22]

I plan on having the vet out it's just so strange and intermittent.
The farrier says she's not sore in the foot.So that threw me off. He is the one that suggested the shoulder.
To buck22 your vet just said sore in the shoulder?

No, the diagnosis for the moment is bicipital bursitis, or "swinging leg lameness". Not a muscle soreness, but a tendonitis that originates in the shoulder.

Similar to a tendonitis I suffer from, my horse only hurts under certain circumstances... for him its trotting to the right on a small circle and very occasionally trotting in deep footing.

I say 'diagnosis for the moment' as my vet and I have agreed to wait until spring for serious diagnostics, but my gut feeling is she's right on the money given the horse's history, the way it presents, and other issues, etc.

While there are a few things we can try, the crux is to just cease doing whatever bothers him.

[DieBlaueReiterin]

my mare has ringbone and that's exactly how it started to show up for her.

[goeslikestink]

Personally, I'd start with the vet and get a diagnosis before I did anything else.

me to

[littlecreek]

my mare has ringbone and that's exactly how it started to show up for her.

A gelding I had also. I would get the vet, and hope they would be willing to do some blocking to help pin point exactly where. My experiences over the years has been a shoulder injury as initial diagnosis has about 100% ended up as a low ringbone or navicular type of thing.

[Knight's Journey]

As a equine massage therapist I also suggest you obtain a diagnosis before making any treatment plans if only to rule out serious injury. Continuing to ride her or exercise her with an injury could exacerbate the issue, increasing your future costs, and leaving your horse in more pain for longer.

However, I generally notice that a horse who is weight-bearing lame (throws their head up or down) commonly has a joint issue, while a reduction in range of motion (shorter stride without pain reaction) occurs with muscle tension.

[anna's girl]

Thanks for everyone's response. I do intend to get the vet out very soon, as of Sat and today, she's sound.
The farrier is coming weds, she looks slightly uneven to me.