Does your horse fake lameness??

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annbal

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I swear my horse fakes lameness???? He only does it if its raining. Once tacked up and I am on he is fine.

Does this happen to anyone else? are they really that crafty :-)
 
Monty ALWAYS does fake lameness!! He does it at the same point on our favourite hack. It's really bizarre!

My friend didn't believe me but then she rode him and I let her know about 30 seconds before he usually does it and then, right on cue, he did it.

He kind of drops a shoulder and then hops at the back. It's very annoying!
 
No, my horse is lame at the moment, but acting quite the opposite!
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A mare of ours years ago I am sure used to do this very occasionally, it would just come on suddenly out hacking for no apparent reason, and upon meeting my mate from over the mountain on her horse, Gemma would miraculously be fine! She was a smart TB x!
Was weird, not sure what it was! She never seemed lame outside of this rare occasion?! We hacked alot too
 
At the riding school where I used to keep the horses, there was a horse that went dead lame every Saturday!

He knew that hard work was on its way, so when he was led out of the stable he was on 3 legs - totally hobbling. There was no way that YO could have used him as clients would have complained....
However, as soon as Herbs was led back from the school he'd be trotting sideways! Even if he was turned round to go back to the school he'd be lame.

Intelligent horse! He only ever did it at weekends!
 
I have an old Thoroughbred mare who is terrible for faking lameness, illness etc. I've had her for 15 years and she has always been the same. She's lame when your watching her and she gives me them eyes as to say 'mum i'm so poorly but i'm sure a big bucket of my favourite food will make me better' and as soon as you turn your back she's off galavanting round the field! I fall for it eveytime!!!
 
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How on earth do you know your horses are faking their lameness?
I can't imagine that a horse would know how or why to fake something
 
No.

And for all those 'he was sound as soon as we started doing something exciting', adrenaline does a lot for a horse. Mine tore a check ligament out hunting, wasn't lame until a few hours after we got home, when all the adrenaline was out of his system.
 
I another who thinks it's more of a case of the horse is lame but when it's excited enough it over comes it.
Same with us if you feel ill and are bored your feel a lot worse than if you had something interesting happening.
 
I disagree to a point since I have a horse that does it! However, with Monty we also call it mini-spooks.

From the ground you can see that he is actually poking his nose and doing a little spook every stride. However, as he drops a shoulder and does a little hop, when you're on him he feels lame. He only does it on one of our hacking routes at the same point towards home. He also only does it in walk so if you trot him on he's fine.

It's no different to horses that jog etc on the way home. He only does it for about ten strides.
 
Exactly Polar Bear.

An old X boss of mine made one of her ponies trot up and down the road saying she was faking her lameness and the poor thing turned out to have a star fracture and was pts that afternoon
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She tried it with my mare too. Said she was faking it when she had a fractured sesamoid bone.
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I get what you're all saying, however people often comment that people shouldn't get off when a horse bucks/naps/rears etc since it teaches them that they can get out of work that way and reinforces the behaviour.

I don't think for one second that they actively think 'I'll pretend I've hurt myself and then they won't ride me' since they are animals at the end of the day however, like with Monty, perhaps they start spooking or change their stride and they learn that this change of gait means that they get out of working so use it to their advantage?
 
There was a pony on my yard years and years ago, that used to fake a kind wheezy asthma attack when he saw the lorry being backed up to take him to a show. They had the vet out contless times who could find nothing wrong with him at all, and he never ever did it except when the lorry was coming, but then loaded calmly, traveled beautifully and behaved well at the show. I wonder now, whether it was some kind of anxiety reaction, but it was very odd!
 
well i know my mare is quite clever in general really (comando crawls under electric fencing on her knees kind of clever) and she always seem to go lame if i plan to take her to a show or sponsored ride i think it might be cause she notices all the fuss and preperation so we never end up going anywhere this year she went lame at the start of the summer holidays i had my vet out for vacs and asked him to check her and he could find anythind wrong so got my farrier out to check her feet and shoes and even he said he thinks she fakes it lol but she is that kind of pony really lol
 
I had a horse when I was a younger that was tremendously work shy, and I swear he faked lameness. The number of times I would go out for a hack and then turn round after getting down the hill from our house, get off and walk him home - only to find him miraculously sound once we got back. Once I got wise to that one and pushed him through it he tried having coughing fits......again would worry and take him home, only to find him perfectly alright.

My commonsense tells me they can't fake it, but he was a particularly clever horse - the hugest equine character I've ever known. If I hadn't experienced it I wouldn't believe it
 
Our cob used to, but once we realised we kept him going, and he stopped faking. Now if he shows any lameness, we know it is genuine.
 
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