Pedigree Query

I'm asking a question for a friend who has an OTTB mare. They got her last fall and noticed right away the her front right leg trembles. The mare is quite upright through her pasterns, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. Anyone experience anything similar?

I would assume this is from pain. Have they given her some bute to see if that makes a difference?? Usually if there is a trembling it is due to pain or weakness. Have they had a vet check the foot and the leg?

She has now been off since last September and still the leg trembles? There doesn't seem to be any pain at all anywhere in that leg? She does seem to have recent issues in behind, they are not sure what it is.

I've seen this before. OTTB mare that we brought in the fall and we laid up in the pasture. She was fine for about three months, then she foundered after first symptoms of trembling in both forelegs. We caught it in time and change her diet and moved her to a small paddock. She suffered few side effects other than a loss of weight. Took a couple of months to put the weight back on her.

Our mare also had a "little hitch" in her rear end giddy-up. Vet thought it was arthritic. Our mare had raced for eight years. My thoughts on this is that racing takes a physical toll on the horses and the effects often are cumlative even after leaving the track. Have your OTTB checked out by your Vet. Keep an extremely close eye on her activities.

Good luck with her. Hope it is nothing to worry about.

is she very over at the knees?I had some trembling because of it,especially very upright pasterns will not help.But i would get her check or as suggested but her to see if it stop.

She is not over at the knee at all, just very upright through the ankles. When she came off the track she was in general just "body sore". You couldn't pin point a lameness but she just looked in general stiff all over. She seemed to be getting better, then about a month ago she went through a really bad colic episode, almost had to be put down, but somehow pulled through and a few days after she was really really lame in behind. We weren't sure if it was due to the thrashing maybe she pulled something or kicked the wall.
She would just seem to be getting better and would come up dead lame again. It has been going back and fourth for a few weeks. She has had the trembling right foreleg since she came off the track, I assumed it was maybe because she was so upright but now were thinking it could be somehow related to her compensating from being sore in behind? She had a quick vet exam, and has been treated by the chiropractor with no improvement. I'm hoping maybe she has just slipped in the paddock and pulled something, or possibly while she was colicking and hopefully nothing serious. Was just wondering if the foreleg could be a symptom of something to try to figure it out.

You said she had a severe episode of colic. Was she examined for ulcers? Ninety percent of all OTTB suffer with gastric ulcers. Abdominal pain and discomfort threatens performance and often is shown in many ways including what appears to be lameness.

Was the horse vetted prior to coming to you? Did you check with the track or barn vet to see if the horse had been treated for any maladies or physical problems? If you are in the dark, it might be worth the effort.

Shammy Davis wrote:You said she had a severe episode of colic. Was she examined for ulcers? Ninety percent of all OTTB suffer with gastric ulcers. Abdominal pain and discomfort threatens performance and often is shown in many ways including what appears to be lameness.

Was the horse vetted prior to coming to you? Did you check with the track or barn vet to see if the horse had been treated for any maladies or physical problems? If you are in the dark, it might be worth the effort.

Hmm I never thought of that, I think it may be a good idea to check her for ulcers. She was not vetted, but she came from the trainer I work for, except she came from a string at a different track. So I didn't know her personally before seeing her, but I trust him when he said she had nothing serious wrong with her, just a little muscle sore from a hard year.