Any ideas? Not right behind

[Teasel]

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on an issue I'm having with my mare....

Background: She's fifteen, hacked and or schooled most days of the week, shares a field with my yearling filly. Normally sound-as-a-pound, ID X TB type, 16hh.
She had a few days off during the period of heavy rain we have had recently, and on our first hack following this seemed a bit 'off' at trot. Just every now and again felt wrong behind, particularly when rising on one diagonal - not when rising on the other. It wasn't bad enough for me to think that we should stop and go home, and after about 10 minutes she felt absolutely fine. On the same hack we had a canter, and she spontaneously did a flying change - straight track, no apparent reason.
The following day I had a lesson, and from the moment we got into the arena she felt stiff, tense and not off the leg. I again felt the 'off-ness' behind but my riding instructor could not see any lameness. We tried canter to trot and at the point of transition she DID appear lame for a few strides.
She then had a week off and saw the chiropractor, who did quite a bit of work on her for a tilted pelvis - probably acquired hooning around the field when it was slippy with the little 'un.
Brought her back into work steadily with 10 days hacking starting at walk, building in increasing amounts of trot - all seemed fine, although when asked to work from behind into a contact she still didn't feel quite right in the earlier days - almost like there was a disconnect between front and back legs. The day before yesterday we tried in the arena again, and once more she felt 'off'. I decided to stick with a gentle walk down the lane on a long rain, and she seemed better but the walk rhythm was wrong 1-2-34 rather than 1-2-3-4
I've rung and asked the chiropractor to come and have another look, but am now worrying that there may be something more sinister going on... Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for reading )

 

[gooster]

Sounds exactly what I have been going through with Blue since February this year. Had physio out, who found nothing of note, but gave us some exercises to do with him. After a period of time off and walking in hand, he still just wasn't quite right. In the end, I got my vet out to him, who said he was lame on 3 of his legs (only 2-3 tenths, so not massively lame). Anyway, they referred him to Leahurst where he has had a whole load of scans, nerve blocks etc. The only thing of note were some changes to his sesamoid ligament in his left hind leg, so he has been sent home with box rest and controlled exercise.

The interesting thing is that my YO vet was looking for guinea pig horses to trial her new thermal imaging camera on this week, so she scanned Blue. Turns out he has a hot spot in his right hind leg, and she thinks his hind leg muscles feel different in his right to his left leg. She now thinks it could be iliac thrombosis which is causing the problem, she is coming up to do a proper examination on him tonight.

Am sure your horse will be much more straightforward to sort out than Blue, he's been confusing everyone, but what I would says follow your instincts and get the vet out sooner rather than later.

 

[chestnut cob]

Has the vet seen the horse? If my horse had been off for a couple of weeks and hadn't improved with physio (I don't like chiro, only ever use a proper equine physio for my horses but that's personal choice) then I'd have called the vet. At your horse's age it could be hock spavins but then again, it could just as easily be something else. My big horse has spavins in both hocks and when he's starting to feel them, he feels stiff, will bunny hop in canter (sometimes, not always) and just feels "not quite right". I have his hocks medicated periodically, had them done two weeks ago (first time in a couple of years) and it makes a huge difference to him.

I would get the vet out.

I'd also say that if your horse truly had a "tilted pelvis" it wouldn't be able to walk. What your chiro is seeing is uneven muscle development.