JJ Is Limping, HELP!!

[TBOY30]

JJ is 14 year old QH Geilding, he broke his left leg about six years ago right above the knee. He healed nice after the surgery which left 3 screws in his leg. He was able to run, lay down and get up without any problems. About a year ago he started with a limp. We called the vet and he said it was a absess. We called the farrier and he couldnt find no absess. The limp came and went for the first six months. Then it became more frequent. Te tried putting corrective shoes on him. They seemed to help but only for awhile. It continued to get worse and i noticed that the limp was coming from the right leg more than the left. Went for x-rays and they showed a lot of authiritis in his left knee (which is to be expected) but also the cannon bone on his right leg was also inflamed. Doc said the only practacle way to heal it would be to keep him off of it (pick him up in a harness) but that it would come back because he uses it so much more than the left leg. So he put him on bute tablets daily. Which doesnt seem to be offering much comfort to him. He has been on a flex supplement for quite a while. So what next???????? Keep in mind that this is Penny3069's big baby. We will try to find a way to heal him no matter what the cost.<br><br>Post edited by: TBOY30, at: 2006/08/20 14:08

[mic2]

Spoke with several friends and they said something in the lines of your vet - he needs to give the leg a rest, let it heal and than he can use it again.
Unlike your vet, they think that after the leg heals he will probably be ok since he was living 5 years with the surgery without limping. The left knee was probably working harder than the right all the time, but it's problem was probably triggered by an irregular event (a rough walk, extra cold temp., ...).

I wonder what other people think.
Try PMing lethal ( http://www.horsesring.com/Lethal_White ) and maybe arabianwoods ( http://www.horsesring.com/arabianwoods ) too.

[TBOY30]

Ok, what do they mean by a rest? We havent ridden him in a long time. What about a suspensory boots?? The vet siad he would have to be suspended in a harness. If that is the case we will have to find somwhere to send him for that. We are not set up for it. Any ideas are appreciated and we will definatly follow up on all leads.

Thanks TBOY

[mic2]

They were speaking about a harness too, but maybe a suspensory boot would be enough.
Their main point was that after he's healed it's not "just a matter of time until the problem returns" since he was in good shape for 5 years with this healed injury, so it is definitely worth the effort.

Another point that Anna raised - did you check out his hooves? If he's using mainly the right leg, the hooves might not be simmetric in their grinding, which might causes further stress to the leg.

[TBOY30]

Good piont on the hooves, We have all the horses hooves done every 6 weeks religously. The Farrier put corrective shoes on him and set them back a little to help the hoof break over easier. That seemed to help for a little while. We just took the shoes off of him last week. For the first 1 1/2 years we had him barefoot and he done fine. We only put the shoes on when he started limping. Penny will start looking for a facility that can suspend him as soon a she reads this thread:lol: . All ideas are welcome.

Thanks
TBOY

[magaju]

Did your vet x-ray his hoof too or just his leg?