Lameness, revisited

Poor mare. She is still lame.

When the farrier came out today, I asked him to watch Isis move before trimming her. We brought her into the ring and asked her to trot and walk (briefly) both directions. Clockwise, she bobbed her head slightly and was obviously limping. Counterclockwise, she flung her head and trotted with her tail up with out an evident limp. (Last time she flung her head around like that, she was considerably lamer the next day.)

I’ve wondered if her neck being sore would cause her to have this kind of strange lameness, where she is obviously lame only going one direction.

I asked the farrier which leg — he thought it was her front left. I’ve thought it was her front right. It’s so hard to tell because of the way she’s been moving. I just don’t know what is going on with her legs. Seems like nothing I do helps her to improve.

She hasn’t had a real workout since the trail ride. I’ve lunged her three times, both times about 15 minutes mostly at the walk. The one day when she was feeling great, I asked her to trot — and she didn’t want to stop.

The farrier trimmed Isis and pointed out that rocky ground can trigger a laminitis episode. Well crap. And double crap. And triple…

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