Re: ?lamness in TB

["C Eyler" <eyler@mindspring.com>]

> I have a 9 yrold previously raced TB gelding.....(with the sweetest
> disposition i have seen in along time in a TB)
>
> Heres the rub, he has soft souls on his hoofs esp the lt front.....
> have put shoes on, and am applying venice turp to toughen them up....am
1/2
> way through his 2nd shoeing   the farrier say his soles are tougher
....but
> he still limps on that lt front.......
> no heat, swelling, or obvious signs of injury........he does not always
> limp......loves to be on the trails.....(has a great mind)
>
> can a horse have a pschyological limp??


Dee,

Your horse could have an abscess without showing any of the classic signs.

Last year my gelding started showing intermittent lameness in early July.
Would come and go -- usually slight, but a few times he was three-legged
lame. (One time he went from three-legged to sound between when I called the
farrier in the afternoon and her arrival the next morning.)  Sometimes he
seemed fine and I could ride him for a week or so.  Never any response to
hoof testers (farrier and vet both tried repeatedly) and no pulse.  Finally,
in early October, he blew out an abscess at the coronary band that left a
1.5" long hole, and it was late November before he could do even the
lightest work in the ring without short-striding the next day.  BTW, x-rays
taken in August showed him to have thin soles.

Cindy