21 year old horse with unsteadiness in hind limbs

roxy007

roxy007

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Hi - Wondered if anyone can help. My gelding is 21 and has had a busy life prior to coming to us for semi retirement last year. He is very fit and healthy and is still able to go light hacking 2-3 times per week. He isn't asked to do a lot other than, walk, occasional short burst of trot and very occasional canter.

He does however have a slight problem with his hind legs and appears to struggle to find his footing sometimes although more evident if backing him up or turning in a circle. When standing at the mounting block he can have a bit of wobble but when he walks off he seems to be fine. Last time I rode him he had a bit of problem mid hack at a walk and nearly fell over so I had to jump off. I can only describe it as if his back feet are on ice or could this be some sort of pain related problem, I've had our vet out three times now and he can only say maybe its his hocks or back and our farrier reckons it could be sacro iliac problems. He's been for investigations just recently but nothing conclusive came out of that and a suggestion of bone scanning was made which would cost almost £2000. However in a horse of that age I would imagine there would be lots of interesting hot spots that would show up and i wondered if anyone has had anything similar happen with their horse and what the likelihood of a definitive diagnosis would be. He has had neurological tests and these are fine. Really at a loss as was so looking forward to riding him this summer and now that doesn't seem possible.
 
It's called old age - and happens to many of them.

Sounds like his riding days are over, but he may enjoy the odd quiet walk in hand.....
 
I would suggest it's not a good idea to ride him at the moment...

Have you discussed with your vet about maybe a physio coming out to look at his back?

My boy had a phase of loosing his back end and it tuned out he had hurt his hindquarters. He had intensive physio and it was all sorted... He was only 12 however.

Not saying it would cure it, but maybe worth a look?
 
roxy007 said:
Hi - Wondered if anyone can help. My gelding is 21 and has had a busy life prior to coming to us for semi retirement last year. He is very fit and healthy and is still able to go light hacking 2-3 times per week. He isn't asked to do a lot other than, walk, occasional short burst of trot and very occasional canter.

He does however have a slight problem with his hind legs and appears to struggle to find his footing sometimes although more evident if backing him up or turning in a circle. When standing at the mounting block he can have a bit of wobble but when he walks off he seems to be fine. Last time I rode him he had a bit of problem mid hack at a walk and nearly fell over so I had to jump off. I can only describe it as if his back feet are on ice or could this be some sort of pain related problem, I've had our vet out three times now and he can only say maybe its his hocks or back and our farrier reckons it could be sacro iliac problems. He's been for investigations just recently but nothing conclusive came out of that and a suggestion of bone scanning was made which would cost almost £2000. However in a horse of that age I would imagine there would be lots of interesting hot spots that would show up and i wondered if anyone has had anything similar happen with their horse and what the likelihood of a definitive diagnosis would be. He has had neurological tests and these are fine. Really at a loss as was so looking forward to riding him this summer and now that doesn't seem possible.
Click to expand...


It might be that he has a neuro problem due to arthritis too and it might be sensible to check the vet to see if he could have some impingement along his spine to cause problems regarding ataxia.
 
my horse does exactly this, has been diagnosed with hock arthritis, hes currently on injections and synequin to help.


Its was onl evident if asked to rein back but more recently because more apparent by him resting one hind
 
amymay said:
It's called old age - and happens to many of them.

Sounds like his riding days are over, but he may enjoy the odd quiet walk in hand.....
Click to expand...

At 21? I know they are all different, but this is a previously very fit horse, so I wouldn't necessarily jump straight to this conclusion. When my horse got spavin, at 11, he would suddenly 'go down' on one leg, like a bad mis-step, which could have been described as a stagger. I'm really glad he wasn't retired out of hand.

I would go for a small amount of further treatment and investigation, but obviously his advancing age might dictate how much I was prepared to spend. To write him off having read the above (although it is very well summarised!) is, I think, a little hasty!

Lucky horse to be allowed retirement by degrees.
 
I'm not writing him off :- ) waited 20 years for him so regardless of whether he can be ridden he has a home with us for life as long as he's happy and enjoying himself then why not - he's a great boy and looks amazing for his age.

Got our report back from the vets today and this is what it says -

The horse presented with an extremely shortened gait at walk and severe bilateral hind limb lameness, left greater than right, the horse did not show proprioceptive deficits. The horse improved sequentially to a low six point left hind, low six poin right hind, left TMT joint block and right tmt joint block. At this point the horse's movement had improved dramatically but some lameness remained. Radiography showed mild Osteoarthritis of the tmt joint bilaterally and an old remodelled apical fragment of the lateral sesamoid in the right hind which was not thought to be significant at this time.

They have advised Bute/Danilon twice a day for for 2 weeks then once a day for 2 weeks then start bringing back into light work and see how he does. Got physio to come and work with him in that time too and also keen on lookinginto joint injections as well - vet mentioned adequan but to wait meantime to see how he is when he starts coming back into light work. Anyone used Adequan and if so what were the results - thanks so much
 
Imo 21 is not old and these symptoms are not normal. He doesn't have any soreness in his hooves does he?? Just thought of this as you mention this wobble being evident on backing up and circling. Hope you get to the bottom of it good luck.
 
My 22 yr old has this, looks like hes drunk when walking away ? Vet says it is possibly arthritis in spine, narrowing of channel where nerves go so pressure on nerve. He was v bad two years ago, rested for 6 months, came back into very light work, but has deteriorated again. Retired now. Not saying this is the same thing though
 
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