Going down in hind legs when being mounted?

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UKa

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Hi, I am just curious to hear what this could mean: lately my mare seems to have more trouble with me mounting, she sort of ducks in her hinds and struggles for the first few steps to get herself fully up. She was seen by her physio about a month ago and was declared ok, only sore bit was behind the saddle which was seen to by treatment. She has a history of a very sore back, normally through the withers and saddle area so thought this was a great improvement... a little concerned what this may mean as it seems to be more pronounced lately :-( ??
 
TuscanBunnyGirl said:
I'd be pretty concerned that the physio has declared her as okay o.O have you had the vet out? Could be possibly SI related??
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Haven't had vet out for this yet, no. Sorry if I am sounding stupid what is SI? I am concerned too now... She has tied up in the past so has muscle related issues going on in general. A scan of her back 3 years ago showed no abnormal signs.
 
a lot can change in 3yrs-get vet out and get them to see what is happening if she does it every time you mount if not get someone to record it so they can see what is causing your concern
 
UKa said:
Haven't had vet out for this yet, no. Sorry if I am sounding stupid what is SI? I am concerned too now... She has tied up in the past so has muscle related issues going on in general. A scan of her back 3 years ago showed no abnormal signs.
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the sacroilliac joint..Can be weak joint/injury prone/sensitive part of the horses back.

Okay, maybe gets bloods done and see if there's any abnormalities there? Perhaps get the physio and vet out together? Has she done this before?
 
Difficult to say how much she has done it in the past. I think to some extent it has always happened a little bit but I can't say for sure. Sorry this might sound neglectful but she has always had issues over her back I am always on the alert! In the past it would mainly constitute signs like "cold backed" or arching under the saddle a bit. When she has been really sore she would just show reluctancy to work. With this, she is happy after the initial few steps and strides out fine and lifts her hinds up properly. We have moved to a new yard where we do more hacking and she gets quite excitable out and will jog a lot... this may aggravate any weakness in the motor, I suppose?
Have used this physio on recommendation of the vets who came out for her very sore back last year so not some random "back person" but I did not remember to mention this particular problem as it didn't strike me so much then if that makes sense...
 
If she is sore in her saddle area, could it be the saddle? Have a look at the Balance International pages - they do extremely comfy saddles, and also have loads of useful information on saddling issues on their website.
 
Also, why are you still riding her? You say she has 'lately my mare seems to have more trouble with me mounting' :eek: Meaning she must have been like this for some time and getting worse. A horse should never struggle when the rider gets on. There is something very wrong.

A physio cannot sort out a sore back in one session either. Ask any person who suffers from a bad back and has physio. The cause needs to be addressed. Why has she always suffered from a sore back? Saddle? Rider too heavy? Physical injury?
 
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Ditto everyone else - that screams back pain.

My friend's gelding had a very similar issue (she hadn't long bought him), in fact if you ran fingers either side of his spine, his hind end buckled. He had extensive muscular problems - back lady managed to sort him eventually.
 
The last time I saw this it was traced to hock issue making the back sore as everyone has said this is a job for a vet.
 
My gelding went through a phase of doing this about ten years ago. We got the "back man" out who did something - I was away at uni at the time so I wasn't there - but it seemed to have sorted the problem.

Last year he started doing it again. I'd describe it as him "sitting down" when I put the saddle on and when I got on him. It turns out he has kissing spine and bone spavin. He's had steroid and tildren injections in his back and so far he's doing great.

I'd say get the vet to have a look xx
 
Ok, ok, why she has suffered from a sore back? Not sure. various consultants I have used over the years said it was from before I had her. Rider too heavy? She is 16hh fine built and I am 5 foot 3 and weigh at most 9 stone. I have also switched to a synthetic saddle years ago to make it as light as possible. I have the saddle checked and adjusted by a master saddler regularly and been in consultation over her back with the vets. She was checked over 3 years ago with x rays and bone scans including the hocks and nothing abnormal was found (hence now her back is excluded from my insurance...) so have been working with a physio (regular visits, not just one!) I was not trying to solve the problem via the internet just interested to hear what this could mean. I have gone through all sorts over the years to address her apparent problem and she means a lot to me I am not a cruel person that just ignores, hence these questions. Thank you for your concerns and ideas.
 
Our horse did this, he has kissing spine. You need to get her x rayed. I bet she struggles to collect and maintain a contact as well.
 
UKa said:
But kissing spine was ruled out by X Rays ...
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How old is your horse and how long ago dis she have xrays ?

Sometime kissing spine can develop with age up until the skeleton has stopped growing.

Also have you ruled out it being when she maybe in season.

I would take her to a specialist rather than local vets you may get a bit further that way.
 
Hi, thank you, she is over 18... x rays and bone scans done 3 years ago. The season could be a factor, had not thought of this. What specialist would I choose? As her back is now excluded from my insurance I am unsure as to how much I am going to be able to do so would need to go into right direction as early as poss.
 
Should add my mare use to do exactly the same.

Then she went lame going round corners she had torn a ligament in her nf foot, while she was there they xrayed her back with showed kissing spine, they also did hind flexions which were positive for lameness in both hind legs they think it could have been ware and tare in the sacroiliac joint probably all starting from the kissing spine.

She was however 100 % worse when in season .
 
UKa said:
Hi, thank you, she is over 18... x rays and bone scans done 3 years ago. The season could be a factor, had not thought of this. What specialist would I choose? As her back is now excluded from my insurance I am unsure as to how much I am going to be able to do so would need to go into right direction as early as poss.
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Sorry I only just read this after posting my last post, I used pool house vets there based in Lichfield probaby a bit far out for you but they are great.

sounds like si joint or hock then but you could be racking up a hefty bill finding out with no insurance :(
 
OH Gosh, thanks, not at all sounding too promising... did you have her treated for kissing spine and did this help and did you have to address the sacroliac joint issue too?

So frustrating I seem to pull her up from problems every year we get a good patch and then I get deflated again
 
UKa said:
OH Gosh, thanks, not at all sounding too promising... did you have her treated for kissing spine and did this help and did you have to address the sacroliac joint issue too?

So frustrating I seem to pull her up from problems every year we get a good patch and then I get deflated again
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I'm afraid she would have had to have her foot operated on then her back then there was no saying she still wouldn't be lame behind also the foots did not have a very good success rate . She was only 6 and not the easiest of horses in the first place I decided to have her pts.

On the up side yours can't have ks if its been xrayed so if its si joint I'm guessing that would be rest.

Stupid horses nothings easy I feel for you x
 
Three yrs is a long time, our horse was x rayed last November, no kissing spine, by Feb this year he had three processes touching
 
UKa said:
Ok, ok, why she has suffered from a sore back? Not sure. various consultants I have used over the years said it was from before I had her. Rider too heavy? She is 16hh fine built and I am 5 foot 3 and weigh at most 9 stone. I have also switched to a synthetic saddle years ago to make it as light as possible. I have the saddle checked and adjusted by a master saddler regularly and been in consultation over her back with the vets. She was checked over 3 years ago with x rays and bone scans including the hocks and nothing abnormal was found (hence now her back is excluded from my insurance...) so have been working with a physio (regular visits, not just one!) I was not trying to solve the problem via the internet just interested to hear what this could mean. I have gone through all sorts over the years to address her apparent problem and she means a lot to me I am not a cruel person that just ignores, hence these questions. Thank you for your concerns and ideas.
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Ever had a lameness work up done on her, with her feet blocked? An awful lot of back problems stem from the feet.
 
amymay said:
Ever had a lameness work up done on her, with her feet blocked? An awful lot of back problems stem from the feet.
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No, when she was at the clinic for her back and hock scans they found she was slightly lame but not lame enough to do a full lameness work up... worth considering as one option!
 
UKa said:
Ok, ok, why she has suffered from a sore back? Not sure. various consultants I have used over the years said it was from before I had her. Rider too heavy? She is 16hh fine built and I am 5 foot 3 and weigh at most 9 stone. I have also switched to a synthetic saddle years ago to make it as light as possible. I have the saddle checked and adjusted by a master saddler regularly and been in consultation over her back with the vets. She was checked over 3 years ago with x rays and bone scans including the hocks and nothing abnormal was found (hence now her back is excluded from my insurance...) so have been working with a physio (regular visits, not just one!) I was not trying to solve the problem via the internet just interested to hear what this could mean. I have gone through all sorts over the years to address her apparent problem and she means a lot to me I am not a cruel person that just ignores, hence these questions. Thank you for your concerns and ideas.
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Obviously not too heavy then! I was not trying to be rude by the way. You'd be surprised at how many people who are underhorsed do not even consider it may be a problem.
 
UKa said:
No, when she was at the clinic for her back and hock scans they found she was slightly lame but not lame enough to do a full lameness work up... worth considering as one option!
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Do. My horse had a bad back for 18 months. A full lameness work up revealed problems in his feet. Sorted the feet out - back problem solved.
 
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