Hi there,

I have uploaded Samsons recent xrays and would like to see if someone can please take a look at them.

He has been lame for a very very long time.  It seems to be right front.  Had several vets look at him over past couple years.  He was diagnosed with EPM  3 years ago and thats when the lameness appeared in the right front. Vet said to get the EPM handled, as it was felt that this was the driving force of the front end lameness compensating for the hind end lameness.  Its been 3 years and he is still dealing with EPM and treatment.  The right front has gotten worse in the past 3 months.  

I just had labs redrawn as his insulin was up a month ago.  I have found a lower ss% hay and was hoping this was the issue with the insulin being high.  The hay analysis  and the labs are posted for review along with xrays. 

Vicki,

He has significant distal descent, not uncommon in shod horses.  The RF also shows a good bit of medial -lateral imbalance with loss of  coffin bone density on the low side, suggesting this is chronic. The joint space is enlarged at the coffin joints on both sides, which could be inflammation or from the sinking - or both. There is flaring at the toes. The bevel on the shoes is partially correcting for this but no reason to leave it there. There are mild ringbone changes, most obvious LF, but they don't look active.

My personal opinion is that he would benefit from a few months of rehab out of shoes, in pads and beveled boots fit to him after the trim is corrected.
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Dr. K

Hi Dr. Kellon,

Would all that you described above, be the reason he is lame on the right front?  Also, would it cause issues in the hind end as well?  He is naturally very very toed in on the left front and toed in on the right front. He is circumducting on both hind legs and his hocks pop and vibrate at the trot amongst other things. 

Thanks, 

 It could explain the RF lameness but not necessarily hind. Could you post a video of him walking and trotting on You Tube?
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Dr. K

Here are a few short clips.  The ones done in the arena on the soft surface was taken after the concrete.  I think the concrete made him much worse on the soft surface.  

https://youtu.be/hWRSPY06Uxo

What exactly do I need to tell my farrier about the trim to have him correct it?  

Hi Vicky,

The toes need to be brought back further - RF more than LF. Because the soles are already too thin, absolutely NO trimming of the soles for any reason.  I can't tell for sure but the heels are also likely to be somewhat underrun so need to be left alone, as his HPA is broken back, with a palmer angle that is too low. This is exacerbating his ringbone as well as putting pressure on the tendons and ligaments. Both feet are slightly laterally high, flaring medially to compensate.

Having a current set of hoof photos would help with making more specific suggestions as well as providing mark-ups if you want them.

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Lavinia
Jan 2005, RI

Moderator/ECIR Support

Thank you so much!  Can mark ups be done even though he has shoes on??  Maybe thats a silly question.

Thanks so much! 

Not a silly question.

I can do them even with the shoes but they won't be as precise as ones without because I can't see parts of the hoof.

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Lavinia
Jan 2005, RI

Moderator/ECIR Support

You're not the only one, Ellen.

I think it may be because the links were added manually to Vicki's signature without hitting "enter" after the link to make it "live". You can just copy/paste them into your browser to make them work as is.

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Lavinia
Jan 2005, RI

Moderator/ECIR Support