Help my horse overcome bridle lameness..

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aspen1991

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Hi everyone,

I have an 8 yo kwpn who is a lovely boy and who is perfect in everyway.. except for 1 problem.. He is bridle lame in walk.. and in WALK only.

He is fine when I first get on and walks stretched down, after we have a trot around stretched down, come back to walk again and instantly he goes tense and starts to walk out bridle lame.. he turn his head on the side and takes the short choppy step associated with bridle lameness. He basically hollows himself and goes ewe necked and will not use his body.. the minute you trot he goes back to a contact and works happily in a consistent contact and he does this in canter aswell sometimes he tenses a little in canter but with more leg he overcomes it and goes relaxed again. When you come back to walk he goes bridle lame again..

He does not do this when hacking or jumping, he just has a big aversion to walking on a contact in the school.

He has a brand new Prestige saddle that was fitted about a month ago is schooling in a neue schule starter snaffle and has regular mctimmoney about every 8 weeks and also his teeth and shoes are done religiously.

The vet saw him for a lameness work up not that long ago when he had an abscess and he walks and trots up sound from flexion tests also and he does not do it on the lunge either it is purely in walk when you pick up a contact. He comes from a showjumper background and I feel that he may have been ridden strongly and not correctly in his last home.

My plan of action is to encourage him to walk long and low and not past his natural movement and keep schooling to max 25 mins of positive work and either start or finish with a wander round the forest to relax his mind? I know it will take time and he will never be a dressage diva (hes hot headed and finds it all boring), but I would just love him to walk correctly and comfortably. Does this sound ok? It is all physiological and once he overcomes his worry about contact in walk he will be fine!

Thanks
 
Does he walk on a contact out hacking?

When he's tense in the walk with a contact, what happens if you let the reins go longer but maintain a contact? What happens if you drop the reins entirely?
 
yes he does when hacking, he is a slow walker but he will accept the contact out hacking in walk.

if you drop the rein entirely he walks normally and not tense or bridle lame and if you lengthen them slightly he gets a little better but still a little uneven but the minute you pick him up he goes tense and wary again! Its like he is very concerned about accepting the bit in walk.. he's very sensitive and makes me wonder if he has been whacked in the mouth whilst walking around at some point :(
 
on long rein he is not bridle lame at all and walks out completely normally! but the minute he you pick him up he goes bridle lame and tense.. pick up trot completely normal go back to walk.. tense and choppy, drop the rein.. completely normal!
 
My mare does this although I hadn't realised you would call it bridle lameness. She's not lame she just slows down and strides out less. She does it hacking but not really in the school. I think she just started doing it. I noticed the other day she will walk faster if her head is to one side (slightly) compared to if I am making her walk completely straight (using my legs to keep her straight not the reins). I had concluded it has to be some sort of physical niggle in her neck and/or the fact I am making her work much harder and in a contact where as before I bought her she was solely ridden on a loose rein with her nose in the air. She also struggles to walk down hill except on a loose rein. I haven't had her long and I'm not sure if I've just noticed or if it's new behaviour. She has PSSM which is a muscle disorder and I have seen anecdotal evidence that they find it harder to walk down hill than other horses. I'm not sure if that's the case or if it's because they haven't been in consistent work due to the PSSM and it's a balance problem such as a young horse may have.

Be interested to hear the replies to this, the problem with my mare having this disorder is you are always wondering if this is due to it or not connected.

I have an appointment with a chiro for her in a few weeks as well.
 
sorry ester didn't realise what you meant :) well I haven't long lined him.. on the lunge he is completely sound and not bridle lame and when leading around on the bridle he doesn't do it! just when your on him.. I have taken the saddle off and got on to see if it makes a difference and he still goes bridle lame with a contact..

I wander if he has a bad memory of walking in the school and when you pick up a contact he is very worried about what is going to happen.. maybe he has been socked in the gob really hard...
 
I just wondered whether could walk sound on contact if you are not on, and if so whether you could use that to help him learn it is ok to walk on contact in the school.
 
difficult isn't it winnie,I think my horse associates walking in the school with a bad memory or some kind.. its the only time he does it! I just need to work on showing him that he wont get hurt when he relaxes.. but maybe I don't help as I am anticipating it.. I just need to ride as positive as I can!

you cannot put any kind lunge aid on him that he thinks will restrict him as he just freaks out.. even if it is very loose and no doing anything he just refuses to move and when you ask him to he literally chucks himself on the floor! something before I had him was definitely forced on him and really upset him :(
 
I bought a horse 2 years ago with exactly the same issue, I naively thought 'bridle lame', we can work through it, she has been doing very well at bd despite very low extended/med walk scores.
I am now 2 years on and after extensive investigation turns out she has issues in her t14/15/16 and si :( she passed a 5 stage vetting and wasn't lame on flexion etc, put a rider on board and ask to walk in a contact and that's where the problems were.
 
but then out hacking both on the road and forest ect he will happily walk on a contact... when he's not excited and leaping around and squealing :) haha
 
aspen1991 said:
oh really farma, was she behaving this way in trot also or just walk?
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nope....only evident in walk. Also same as you she was from a jumping background, I thought too strongly ridden, would have been in draw reins from young and could be sorted, its been a steep learning curve!
 
what did she display to make you decide to have a vet have a look at her back? what is happening with her now? does she have a positive outcome?
 
aspen1991 said:
what did she display to make you decide to have a vet have a look at her back? what is happening with her now? does she have a positive outcome?
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After a few too many mentions on test sheets about the walk I took her for full work up including riding in front of the vet where he put us through our paces to show up what was happening, he said we should xray the back as he felt that was the best place to start but I had people thinking it was the neck/ back/si/suspensory everything it just wasn't clear where it was from, anyway, he xrayed the back and found 'activity' as he called it in the spine and injected them and I have to say it did help, she is going back to have si injected soon. There isn't anything majorly wrong with the si or spine but enough to cause some discomfort and show some lameness in the walk. I am hoping with regular physio sessions after this next injection we can move on however I am aware its rather a hindrance, I will mention as well incase it helps I only noticed in walk the issue but when I started going for medium and riding shoulder in at a slightly greater angle than I would during schooling it showed up and in trot half pass, the lateral work brought it out in trot, if I wasn't riding/training at that level it would only show in walk x
 
thanks for the info its really helpful! I am glad your girl is ok! my horse is not working at that kind of level.. he is still rather green and we only do basic schooling but I have been told to do some basic lateral things like leg yield ect to encourage him to use his back end and come under himself!
When I first bought him he was completely upside down and giraffed everywhere and would not relax over his back at all and I imagine its where he was never asked to do this correctly unless he was strapped down and puled around :( I am going to see if doing ground work and some other exercises helps to relax him and if not will have my vet come take a look at him! x
 
aspen1991 said:
!

you cannot put any kind lunge aid on him that he thinks will restrict him as he just freaks out.. even if it is very loose and no doing anything he just refuses to move and when you ask him to he literally chucks himself on the floor! something before I had him was definitely forced on him and really upset him :(
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Farma said:
I am now 2 years on and after extensive investigation turns out she has issues in her t14/15/16 and si :( she passed a 5 stage vetting and wasn't lame on flexion etc, put a rider on board and ask to walk in a contact and that's where the problems were.
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Both quotes above resonate deeply - after 2 and a bit years with my little tb not being "quite right" in the school, although very happy to hack, I went through the investigations, had t14 -17 injected, massive improvement for 6 weeks then significant deterioration, then after much soul searching I bit the bullet and took her for surgery. Now back on board and her walk is unrecognisable, I wish I'd gone for the X-rays etc earlier but I'd hoped I could work through her issues and didn't realise how serious her physical limitations were as she did make a lot of improvements just through correct work, then we hit a wall when I needed to step up the contact etc.

I hope it isn't the same for your horse OP, but if it is don't lose hope!
 
Does he do it with other riders? Does he do it if you ride in a headcollar? It's worth just testing every scenario to narrow down your options. Do you always pick him up in walk? Maybe try first taking a contact whilst trotting and see if he does the same thing. Also maybe try a plastic snaffle, it's the only thing my fussy tb will take forward!

I won't go into details because I don't want to freak you out!! But I would also press your vet to do some basic neurological tests.
 
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