Barrel Racer Goes Lame

Mark was a six-year-old quarter horse with a promising career as a barrel racer. He had been in training with a top trainer and in competition on the PBHA circuit for about a year when he began to have problems. His problems started with difficulty making the tight turns to the right and as time went on he got sloppier. His owner, Beth, concerned with his decline in competitive ability and speed, took Mark back to her trainer for a 'tune-up'. After thirty days in training Mark regained about 80 percent of his former ability.

In the second month, the trainer was able to replicate Mark's tight turns, but Beth was unable to get Mark back in the groove herself. Beth felt Mark had something going on that might be more than a simple training issue. She had had similar problems with Mark earlier in the year which she thought were dental and called on Greg McGee, equine dentist, to do a professional float. She was puzzled. Trouble with the tight turns did not clear up after the dentistry and now only the trainer could get Mark through the barrel patterns.

Beth took Mark to Equine Medical in Columbia, Missouri where he was X-rayed, nerve-blocked and diagnosed with navicular in the right front foot. Beth had a hard time convincing herself that a six-year-old horse in a single year of competition could really come up with navicular in just one foot. Mark had a great attitude and Beth was in love with him.

At Indian Creek Equine we had recently done some rehabilitation on another of Beth's horses. She contacted us again regarding Mark. When Mark arrived at Indian Creek, Dr. Linda Harmon-Dodge did a clinical evaluation. This included a musculo-skeletal examination, palpating for muscle soreness, checking for spinal misalignment and also a movement analysis looking for abnormal gait patterns, muscle tension, limited motion, hoof imbalance and obvious shoeing problems. In a physical exam she checked his digital pulses, searched for any swelling (edema) or heat and tapped his hoofs with a small hammer and squeezed his foot with a hoof-tester to locate any navicular pain. Mark's response to the navicular pain test was negative. She did find, however, pain and severe muscle tension on the right side of Mark's neck, tenderness in the right shoulder and limited range of motion and extension in the right front leg. His pelvic spine was rotated and he was hyper-developed in the underside of his neck. This hyper-development was evidence of over-bracing during competition due to previous dental pain and led to an upside down curve in Mark's neck. All four feet were trimmed and shod at different angles. He had not been re-shod, however, with eggbars, wedges or rolled-toes to help him with any potential navicular problems. We began a regimen of photon laser therapy, ultra-sound therapy and herbal supplements.

Mark is a big sixteen-hand horse. When he came to Indian Creek, he could not stretch his right leg in a canter and his stride was short and tight. In less than two weeks, Mark was running with free range of motion and bending his head from side to side. The large bulging muscles under his neck were diminishing and his neck became more balanced. He was stretching out and striding at the canter in a fluid unhindered manner. Jeff Young of Young's Horse Shoeing will be returning to do a consultation and re-shoeing, correcting Mark's hoof angles on all four feet. We expect Mark to make a full recovery and re-enter into competition without pain.