Hip pain in young horse

[Nusa]

Hi
For a year and a half now I own a sweet Hanoverian x Holsteiner 6 year old gelding named Corall. For last 4 months I see that his canter work is falling appart. He can not take the weight on his hind quarters anymore and even in trot, he'd rather hurry up than step under himself. He finds it really hard to canter on even the big circle which he didn't last year. I really have to push him to do a whole big circle. He never bucks, just doesn't go and when he finally goes he feels like it's really hard for him to canter.

I had looked for saddle problems but haven't found none. His back doesn't look sore.

He's allways been sensitive to brushing around hips but I allways thought he's sensitive because he was underweight (not critically) for some time until I got him and had no "mass" around the hip bones. Only now I've started to link his sensitivness (pain?) around hips with pelvis pain and him not taking the weight on the hind legs.

Some facts about Corall:
- he's 175 cm (about 17 hands), long back
- still a bit underweight (got him really underweight and gained only about 50 kg in year and a half, no matter what I feed him and how much he works)
- he's in easy work (2-3x a week working slowly in begginer dressage (level A))
- he's barefoot with excellent hooves
- lives in open stable with 5 other horses
- started under saddle when he was 4 years old, no pressure
- very willing horse, a worker

I can not recall any injury or fall which would hurt his pelvis. I'm really worried because he's fairly young horse who has never been overworked...

Also, no matter how much grain he eats (he has hay avaliable throughout the day!) and how much he works, he's not gaining the weight and muscle he should. He is dewormed and had teeth done twice in last year so that shouldn't be the issue in his slow weight gain.

If you have any ideas what could be the problem, please let me know!
Kindest regards,
Nusa

 

[Charlir666]

Get him checked, I know a mare that had similar problems but was a 3yo. Vets thought it may have been dislocated but after extensive testing was found to be early onset athritis

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Just a few thoughts. It is almost impossible to self-diagnose lameness and gait problems. Any vet will tell you that a huge % of suspected back/other problems are actually foot problems. You say barefoot with good hooves but are you sure there aren't any other problems such as bruised soles, abscesses, collapsed heels etc etc. You also say "no matter how much grain ..." does this mean you are outside the UK? What do you mean by grain? Do you feed neat oats or corn or something? I'd be very careful because with a horse that seems to be underweight, the temptation to pour more and more feed into him is enormous. But if you're pouring more and more grain into him you could be heading for disaster. If I were you I'd ring a respected feed company helpline for detailed guidance on the right feed for your horse. I'd also get his saddle checked by a Master Saddler. Does your horse go the same on the lunge or at play in the field? Does he have any time in the field? If not, and he's quite young (are you sure he's 6 and not 4?) then it could be that he never has the turnout time to use and develop his muscles. I'd also think seriously about getting the vet out to do a basic lameness workup and take bloods to try to find the reason for the slow/no weight gain.

 

[Nusa]

Hi, thanks for reply!

@Charlir666
After reserching the web I also thought about this. Fingers crossed it's not it...

@Box_Of_Frogs
Thanks for pointing out those things. Yes, I'm not in UK, I'm from Slovenia

Corall is actually under care of barefoot expert who studied in UK and Germany. He'd never been shoed and I've never had problems with hoof sensitivity even riding on very abrasive gravel road. He never had an abscess or bruised sole but trimmer did say that his heels are a little underslung - not collapsed - (mostly on front feet) because they do take more weight on them as a result of his longer pasterns. His opinion was that it's not such a big deal and didn't recomend raising heels and with that compromising proper functioning of the hoof and it's stability.

He gets 3 liters of Dodson & Horell Pasture Mix a day and hay throughuout the day. In winter I gave him D&H KwikBeet and some yeast but even that didn't help. For barefoot horse owners it's especially important to monitor what you're feeding so I'm swinging from feeding him enough quality food so he maintains his condition (still not gaining! ) to not overstressing the hooves from too much rich food (corn is a very big no no ).

One of things on my to do checklist is of course calling a Master Saddler from Austria. Kieffer which I use is not idal for him, but after checking his shoulder and spine, he was sound, that's why I wrote that the saddle is probably not the cause. Silently hoping that it is...so we can treat it!
But the interesting thing is that his free moving is the same as in riding. Stiff in hind legs and sometimes tripping and stumbling (only on hind legs!). So that's really mind boggling for me...

Yes, Corall is 6 and his turnout is 24/7. I don't know how you call this kind of stabling, before I wrote "an open stable", german: "Laufstall". So, he is out all the time and has proper built shelter with hay feeders.

I will call a vet to check his blood, thanks!