Front legs giving whilst being ridden

[Tapir]

I have a 19 year old cob who I've had for 3 years. When I hack out it occasionally feels as though one or the other of her front legs gives way. She just catches herself with the other and carries on totally unconcerned but it is worrying me.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Love]

I did with my old pony and never found out the problem (he was very sadly pts shortly after the problem started) so am interested to hear replies!

 

[CobsGalore]

My cobs front legs do this occasionally if I let him just amble along. He never does it if he is walking along with some impulsion, never does it in trot etc. He is only just 6.

Does your horse do this in the school too, or only on hacks?

Is this a new thing or has she always done this?

 

[wyrdsister]

My older girl did this from time to time when she was having problems with arthritis in her hock. I initially called the vet to investigate a soft-tissue injury to her right front fetlock, as this was the leg that intermittently seemed to 'give.' Like yours (from the sounds of it), she was never bothered, always caught herself immediately, and carried on, but I didn't like it much! After a lot of poking around, running her up and down, and flexions, he eventually traced the problem to her right hock (which hadn't been showing obvious symptoms). Now that's been medicated and she's using it properly again, her foreleg is back to normal as well. May not be the same thing, but if it were mine I'd have the beastie checked over.

 

[LynH]

This happens to my 22yr old TB following a check ligament injury. When she was younger and stronger she was able to recover pretty quickly so it felt no more than a peck. This winter she dropped a lot of condition and as her muscles didn't seem as strong any more I stopped riding her because I didn't want to run the risk of her falling either on the road which could cause an awful accident or out hacking where if she did fall I wouldn't be able to get a box to her to bring her home.
A Physio helped me at first giving me lots of twisting and turning over unlevel ground to help her recover as quickly as possible. Whilst they can recover safely there isn't really much risk of them falling but as they age and get weaker you need to weigh up the benefit of riding against the risks of a fall and the horse being worried about falling. As my horse loves to be ridden and hasn't actually fallen when her leg gives way it was very hard to make the decision to retire her but I do feel better now the decision has been made even though she does try and get in the school at every opportunity. If I were you I'd check with a vet to see if there is a physical reason or if it is a case of not paying attention.

 

[Tapir]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

She doesn't seem to do it in the school or when trotting so I suppose that does imply that it's because she's not working properly (she is rather lazy but I'm working on it)

I think I'll ask the vet to take a look when she gets her jabs done

 

[NU ABO]

My boy does this sometimes when he's being lazy on rougher ground. I've pretty much put it done to laziness as he never really does it when he's lovely and forward going and always starts doing it again when he's had prolonged time off work.

I will mention he has mild arthritis that's under control with Cortaflex and he's only been lame once in the 2+ years I've had him.