Today we finally got a diagnosis for Francis's hind leg lameness. But before I tell you about that, let's start at the beginning of his story :)
Exactly 7 weeks ago Francis arrived at my Senior Retirement farm from NY, having been retired as a NYC carriage horse to Pets Alive, a no kill animal sancutary who I adopted him from. I knew he had issues with a hind foot that abscessed, but that's about all I knew of any issues with him. He was lame in the right hind leg when he arrived and had been given bute for his long journey down here to keep him more comfortable. As the days went by unmedicated, I could see that he was most uncomfortable and began scratching my head as to why.
So my vet, Dr. Nathaniel Wright from Tennessee Equine Hospital, came out for a look. What he found at this time was thrush, seedy toe and white line issues with the right hind foot. So clean it up, wrap it and give him some anti-inflammatory and see how it goes. A week later with no improvement I have the vet come out again, this time prepared with his x-ray machine. He took x-rays of all four feet. What he saw was some chronic laminitis and dropping of the coffin bones, but no fractures or rotation.
I then order and put him in Soft Ride therapeutic boots on the front feet. He is more comfortable in them, however it does not improve anything in the hind feet & legs. So I have Dr. Wright out once more for nerve blocks to try and pinpoint where the issue is exactly. He blocks both hind feet from the pastern down to the feet and no there's no improvement which tells us the issue is higher up the leg.
So today instead of having the vet make another farm call, I trailered him over to their nice new state of the art facility. The actual logistics of trailering this horse anywhere made me a bit nervous. When he gets upset, he can be really hard to handle. As my vet put it--he's a bulldog! Meaning he will drag and push you around in a nanosecond if he gets upset and doesn't want to do something you are asking of him. Francis is VERY attached to Mary and I knew she had to come along for the ride today. I had already planned on lightly sedating both of them (safety first!) but they were so calm and quiet this morning, I did not have to :) They did however get calming herbs, oils and Bach's Rescue Remedy--and don't think I didn't use it on myself too! So the load up went fairly well and we were off to an early start. Thank you Rachel and Amanda for helping today!
When we led the horses into the facility, I could actually see Francis smile as he stepped onto the cushy pavers that line their entire facility floors! Their clinic is newly remodeled and just beautiful. Mary got put in a stall while Francis was held by an assistant, a small statured girl--poor thing, while the vet worked. I had decided that I was going to be an observer and let a paid staff member handle him in case he got hard to handle. After all, wasn't I paying for that service??
After attempting to use a hoof tester on his hind feet unsuccessfully (I told Dr. Wright that he must just want to make Francis mad as whenever he tries to hoof test him, it never ends well). He just can't support the weight of the other foot and once actually kicked him. I thought he would have learned by now :) My horse is getting a reputation for being a big brute!
We had already determined that the right hind tendon was much larger than the left one and he palpated it and had some other vets look at it and feel it as well. It was now time for the sedation to keep him calm and still. Then he took ultrasound imaging of both hind legs starting with the left one explaining what we were looking at the entire process. The left hind tendons appeared normal. It was time for a little bit more sedation as he was very alert. When the right hind tendons were ultrasound there was a remarkable difference--what we saw was an old tear/lesion/injury or whatever it may have been at the time, with lots and lots of scar tissue-huge amounts. The Deep Digital Flexor Tendon (DDFT) was the one affected. I can only speculate that at the time he sustained this tear or injury, it was not treated and he then was retired from carriage work. So now he is left with a contracted tendon that is most probably painful as he steps that leg down and walks on his toes because the tendon just won't stretch enough to allow him to place it normally. We can only guess that what is going on there is causing his left hind leg to move in a stringhalt/hitchy like action.
While we were at the clinic, the vet wanted to take x-rays of his hocks, thinking that he had bad arthritis, but he was astounded to find none! He could not believe how clean they were.
There's really no treatment for him, all I can do is have my barefoot trimmer continue to work on his feet and have my Ttouch/Energy Worker do what she can for him. I will look into the possibility of using therapeutic boots on his hind feet.
Oh and guess what came in today's mail? The vet bill for the 3 times Dr. Wright was here--ugh--can't wait to receive the one for today!
Do I have any regrets about adopting such a special needs older horse? Absolutely None! He has a forever home here no matter what his issues are.
Mary and Francis after they got home. Francis was looking for a good spot to roll and he found one!