Can a horse fake lameness??

[spaniel]

[ QUOTE ]



... which also developed into a cough... but the minute she turned around to head for home, the horse was fine!). .

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From Tierras earlier post. No suggestion that your own horse coughs.

 

[monstermunch]

An MRI is basically a scan that shows up all soft tissue structures. Unlike x rays whoch focus on the bones/joints, an MRI looks at ligaments, tendons, bursa's and other soft tissue structures.
They are a fantastic way of looking clearly at any possible injuries or diseases in an area that most other scans would struggle to pick up.
It is the best and one of the most comprehensive scans to have done. Well worth the money to enable an exact diagnosis or to eliminate potentially serious injuries or problems.

 

[simone666]

to be honest if your horse is insured why not send to liphook, or get your vet too, i am sure they would test the horse for everything, then at least your mind will be put at rest.

 

[frannieuk]

I don't know about faking lameness but my old mare used to start puffing really badly at the sight of a big hill because her previous owner would always get off and walk if he thought she was tired!!

 

[BethH]

I agree with spaniel - horses don't deliberately try to be difficult there is usually a cause - my horse had flippy fits on occasions for no good reason and I always felt some days he didn't look quite right, was short in stride on back end but if he looked lame, it was a different leg each day and for 2 years I put it down to being a temperamental youngster who was putting up a fight against being bought on. I had 2 different vets tell me there was nothing wrong, eventually he went for a scan as I couldn't believe he was so gentle in nature and could turn in to suuch a monster ridden, he was diagnosed with a kissing spine causing bi-lateral lamesness which is why we could never work out which leg was the problem.

Most of the time it is never nearly as serious but my horse had been trying to explain to me that he had a problem for some time!

 

[SpruceRI]

I think people don't give horses their due in the intelligence stakes. Having owned both horses and ponies I'd say ponies have a better thought process than horses and are certainly capable of 'putting things on' to get out of doing things they don't want to do.

Lameness is a tricky one though as there can be hundreds of reasons why they might be unsound - and having just attended a vet lecture on lameness where the vet stated that very few horses are truly sound in all four limbs - that's scary!

But going back to whether horses/ponies are capable of 'faking it', yes they are. My Shetland used to go out on the lead when I was riding. He'd happily let me drag him up the hills and stop frequently to let him get his breath, but when we got into an open field after said hill and I let him go, he'd gallop off and not a puff or pant to be seen!

I can remember a riding school pony who used to purposefully walk under low flying branches and squash against gates in the quest to scrape the rider off.

And surely all those horses that drag their feet on the way out and rush on the way back are exhibiting that same intelligence to get what they want?

 

[bessie01]

I believe horses are very intelligent and also believe your horse is not faking lameness. If he is lame, there is something wrong somewhere.

Just a thought for those of you thinking of MRI Scans, I am insured with NFU and my policy has an exclusion for MRIs, so may be worth checking your policy. Anyone know how much they cost please?

 

[eventingdiva]

My vet said it would cost nearly £1000 to have my mare MRI scanned...shes having a foal to see if the time off brings her right, as the bit he wanted to scan had been excluded! x

 

[fernando]

I definately think they they can fake lameness, my 17yo, who I have owned for nearly 12 years was known as the "old soldier" in my last yard.

When starting lunging he would be sore on his fronts, but generally assuming he had gotten a knock or a stone bruise i'd put him back in his stable or out in the paddock - where he promptly does a beautiful Black beauty esq!! tail up in the air, canter down the field - perfectly sound.

Drove me nuts and cost me a fortune in vets getting everything checked out just in case.

Even though they do have a small brain, I think they are quite intelligent

 

[kick_On]

i'm going to be simple here
they are either:

lame

OR

sound

and then it the degree of lameness that you have.....

well thats IMO

 

[jo2601]

I've had this problem with my mare, when asked to walk correcly in an outline she used to look lame, she was never lame in trot or canter, nor was she when on a loose rein. Had her checked out by the vet, even had her scanned and x-rayed, found absolutely nothing.

Now, we have found that we just have to work her through it. I'm positive it was her way of being lazy and avoiding work.

 

[Sooty]

I don't know. It does seem unlikely that horses can pretend, but I did know of one riding school pony who always, without fail, came limping out of his box if he saw jumps going up in the school on a Saturday afternoon for a competition. As soon as the last jump was cleared away, he was sound as a pound. It happened remarkably frequently for it to be coincidence.

 

[barkinghorse]

I had a horse when i was a kid, that when ever he knocked a jump would limp round the field untill i got off and rubbed his leg! then he would be fine!
Problem was, i could never compete him in pony club because he would do it there too and everytime i got off to rub it, i got eliminated!! I was only 8 at the time....
Jo