How Things Go Wrong

Lame Larry is an 8-year-old Quarter Horse gelding who came up suddenly and acutely lame after a competition. His owner took him home, and gave him bute for a couple of days before finally calling her veterinarian. The vet (an experienced general practitioner) looked at Larry and identified that the lameness was coming from his foot. He recommended radiographs, but Larry’s owner wanted to save money and decided to give the horse a little bit more time.

Two weeks later, Larry was still lame, so his owner called the chiropractor to come out and adjust Larry’s shoulder. Convinced the shoulder was the problem, Larry’s owner scheduled an appointment with a new lameness vet she’d heard about— who agreed with the chiropractor’s assessment. He injected the shoulder joint with steroids and recommended weekly massage sessions with a body worker. After several months, not only had Larry’s owner spent over $2,000, her horse just seemed to be getting worse and worse. She called her original vet in desperation; he reminded her that the lameness had been traced via nerve- block to Larry’s foot. She finally agreed to radiographs, which had no abnormal findings.

At this point, Larry was lamer than ever, and the vet explained that it was likely Larry had experienced a soft-tissue injury, which might require an MRI to diagnose. He suggested referral to a lameness expert who had the necessary equipment. Unfortunately, after spending so much money already, Larry’s owner simply couldn’t afford the diagnostics or treatments that might be needed.

Here’s how it could have gone. When Larry’s lameness first occurred, it was isolated to the foot. With an acute, severe lameness and normal radiographs, a soft-tissue injury to the small ligaments within the foot would be suspected, and an immediate MRI easily could have resulted in a specific diagnosis. Larry’s owner would have known the exact cause of her horse’s problem, and would have been advised about potential treatments and a rehabilitation program. Chances are she’d have spent the same amount of money for these answers as she did on unnecessary treatments, and Larry could have been well on the way to recovery.