At 19:17:21 on 06.01.12, stardust wrote:
Hey I have a 7 year old cob who had an accident in the field 3 months ago , he came in badly lame on his right hind leg . He had swelling and heat on his hock , we had vet out who diagnosed a week box rest and exercise plan (diagnosed with a pulled muscle or ligament ) he leg got worse over that time and could not hold weight properly or pick up hooves .we called the vet again who said he's leg was much worse and Bailey then was taken to their hospital for scans and tests . They did nerve blocks which had. A result of him being sound when they blocked out under hock , no abnormalities on scans .he had a shockwave treatment before we got a second opinion from Newmarket where he stayed for a week , they could not find why he was lame but found the pain to be under hock .so put him on 3 month box rest with in hand walking twice a day and we had vet out for a check up 2weeks ago which was when the 3 months had ended . The vet then said that he leg has not improved as much as he expected and has recommend more rest in a small field for 3 months and after if he is not sound then he suggested a neurectomy to act where the nerve block was on a permanent basis , but I am not sure whether this would be a good idea . What's your opinion ? Is this safe ? Riding wise ? Xx any help would be appreciated xx

At 19:34:32 on 10.01.12, HorseVet wrote:
Hi.It is illegal to interfere with the structures of your horse in this way without good reason. Pin-firing and de-nerving are both in this category. There are no abnormalities on scans so what is the reason for de-nerving? What nerve are they going to cut - the whole supply to the lower leg? This would mean your horse has no perception of what the de-nerved part of the leg is doing which would make your horse dangerous to ride. De-nerving is most usually done to treat proximal suspensory desmitis (PSD) but it doesn't sound like your horse has been diagnosed with this and if the scans are clear then it isn't the problem. Your horse is lame for a reason and why this is needs to be identified so that proper targetted treatment can be started. If the conventional vets can't find the reason then you should consider an alternative route. I'm more than happy to take a look from a different perspective and I'm frequently seeing horses where de-nerving has been suggested for PSD that is totally unnecessary - in every case. If you'd like to email me more then contact me through my website and we can see what's possible. Best wishes, HorseVet
http://www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk

At 14:09:33 on 07.02.12, luckylucy wrote:
I agree so much with HorseVet. There is a tendancy to inject or nerve block all manner of presenting problems. But as is so often the case the lameness is a manifestation of a unattended niggle. When a horse 'breaks down', it is seldom on the day of injury there will have a long run in on shortening stride, stuffy gait, apparent unwillingness to follow through, which often is largely ignored by the rider. Acupuncture/acupressure is a truly undervalued aid to us all. It creates a dialogue within the body, when different parts can no longer speak to each other (too much info to jot here but look it up) I treated racehorses for several years with acupressure as a way of preventing injuries by early signs spotting and it really worked. As an absolute last resort inject, we tamper with the body's own healing intelligence at our horses peril.