Where do you live? There is a really good cutting edge horse hospital for
dealing
with difficult lameness in VA, it's called Serenity Equine, here is their
website:
http://www.serenityequine.com/
They specialize in severe laminitis, and limb amputations (and custom limb
prosthetics), but they are so good, I'm sure they could help with a shoulder
problem
as well.
Have you got her on joint supplements? Had a chiropractor and acupuncturist out
to
see her? At 7, it may very well be a growth plate issue, as between 5 and 7 is
when
many of them are supposed to close. You'd be surprised how seriously riding a
horse
under age 5 can damage them, the growth plates in the upper spine and neck do
not
close until MUCH later than most people are riding their horses. It can lead to
some
pretty severe lameness (not to mention stiffness and crookedness), and not many
vets
can properly diagnose the problem. You need to find a really well qualified
equine
chiropractor that has experience in growth plate issues. It may not actually be
in
the shoulder, but in the neck, and just causing the lameness in that side.
Growth and Maturity in horses
by Dr. Deb Bennett
The process of fusion goes from the bottom up. In other words, the
lower down toward the hoofs you look, the earlier the growth plates
will have fused; and the higher up toward the animal's back you look,
the later. The growth plate at the top of the coffin bone (the most
distal bone of the limb) is fused at birth. What this means is that
the coffin bones get no TALLER after birth (they get much larger
around, though, by another mechanism).
That's the first one. In order after that:
2. Short pastern - top & bottom between birth and 6 mos.
3. Long pastern - top & bottom between 6 mos. And 1 yr.
4. Cannon bone - top & bottom between 8 mos. And 1.5 yrs.
5. Small bones of knee - top & bottom on each, between 1.5 and 2.5
yrs.
6. Bottom of radius-ulna - between 2 and 2.5 yrs.
7. Weight-bearing portion of glenoid notch at top of radius - between
2.5 and 3 yrs.
8. Humerus - top & bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
9. Scapula - glenoid or bottom (weight-bearing) portion - between
3.5 and 4 yrs.
10. Hindlimb - lower portions same as forelimb
11. Hock - this joint is "late" for as low down as it is; growth
plates on the tibial & fibular tarsals don't fuse until the animal is
four (so the hocks are a known "weak point" - even the 18th-
century literature warns against driving young horses in plow or
other deep or sticky footing, or jumping them up into a heavy load,
for danger of spraining their hocks)
12. Tibia - top & bottom, between 2.5 and 3 yrs.
13. Femur - bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.; neck, between 3.5 and
4 yrs.; major and 3rd trochanters, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
14. Pelvis - growth plates on the points of hip, peak of croup (tubera
sacrale), and points of buttock (tuberischii), between 3 and 4 yrs.
...and what do you think is last? The vertebral column, of course. A
normal horse has 32 vertebrae between the back of the skull and the
root of the dock, and there are several growth plates on each one, the most
important
of which is the one capping the centrum. These do not fuse until the horse is at
least 5 1/2 years old (and this figure
applies to a small-sized, scrubby, range-raised mare. The taller your
horse and the longer its neck, the later full fusion will occur. And for a male
- is
this a surprise? -- you add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand TB or
Saddlebred
or WB gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year - something that
owners of
such individuals have often told me that they "suspected" ).
The lateness of vertebral "closure" is most significant for two
reasons. One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates! Two: The growth plates in
the
limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular to the stress of the load
passing
through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel to weight
placed upon the horse's back.
Bottom line: you can sprain a horse's back (i.e., displace the
vertebral growth plates) a lot more easily than you can sprain those located in
the
limbs. And here's another little fact: within the chain of vertebrae, the last
to
fully "close" are those at the base of the animal's neck (that's why the
long-necked
individual may go past 6 yrs. to achieve full maturity). So you also have to be
careful - very careful - not to yank the neck around on your young horse, or
get him
in any situation where he strains his neck.
Here is a very useful page to compare your horse's shoulder films to, to see if
her
films look normal (you had films taken, yes?), or like one of the most common
shoulder joint issues shown on this page:
http://www.upei.ca/~vca341/equinelimbs/shoulder.html
If none of those look like hers, and if nothing can be found to be wrong in the
shoulder itself, I highly recommend getting someone well versed in growth plate
fusion issues out to do a chiropractic adjustment on her. What breed is she?
Some are
more prone to shoulder issues than others (shetland ponies being one of the
worst),
and some mature faster as far as growth plates go as well (shorter backed
compact
horses, like mustangs mature faster. Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, and other tall
long
necked breeds are very slow to mature).
Here is a very in-depth article on testing horses for vertebral injuries, and
describes some common symptoms that might occur, and suggests tests to perform
to see
these things (that may not be apparent at casual inspection). Has she ever gone
over
backwards, been tied fast with a non-breakable halter and pulled back on it very
hard, or had any other possible neck injuries/strain? Young horses should never
be
tied by their heads to any object where they can pull back and place strain on
their
necks.. many people "halter break" or "teach how to tie" or "sack out" in a way
that
almost assures neck injuries in young horses (and by young I mean any horse
under the
age of 7). http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/1999/56.pdf
I don't know what supplements you have her on, but in addition to anything you
have
her on, adding MSM to her diet may help. It seems to reduce inflammation on many
levels, from skin irritations to arthritis pain.
Jenn
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