Horse not moving right behind. Any ideas?#long#

charlie76

charlie76

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I'll try and keep this brief! My horse, who is 12 and competing at advanced medium suddenly lost his ability to canter. He went very straight in the hind leg and his canter was four time and dire! I got the vet as I was sure he probably had hock issues. Vet did flexion tests and he was negative on them all although vet did comment that he moved wide behind. He also checked hind suspensories and all was fine. We x rayed his hocks anyway and they were all totally fine. He did show some back pain, he is mega short backed so we also x rayed for kissing spine, again clear. He showed quite a reaction when his back was touched just behind the saddle so we decided to cortisone him into that area, he was then to lunge for a week and come back into work. He has been much better in canter although still not perfect, however he is forging badly and every now and then leave a hind leg in canter and stumbles behind. Today I trotted him up and I was concerned to see that his right hind travels under him where as his left hind swings out and the crosses under him to his right fore. I then lunged him and and watched his foot falls and he actually forges by crossing his left hind over to his right fore so he is basically constant on three tracks. He had a chiropractor last week and they adjusted him but he's still not right. When I ride him he feels under powered in the canter however his lateral work is great. My trainer says he pushes his right hind in and my saddle constantly slips to the left despite having it checked and refitted. I have jaunt ordered him a made to measure sue Carson but need to get the bottom of this strange action. I have called the vet and asked him to call me. I am slightly concerned it's neuro and we did some tests. He walks up and down hill normally, can do small circles and back up, when we did the tail pulling test his quarters pulled towards me?? Any ideas?
 
yes, this exact thing! Horse is green and not at AM but exactly the same leg swing and general weakness behind and inability to canter. He swung the right leg out wide then across and in. Its hard to describe but was very odd to see. He also struggled to cross his hind legs on a small circle on one side.

Rob Jack the horseback vet came to see him just over a week ago, did a manipulation and completely fixed him in a few minutes. When he walked off at the adjustment I nearly fell over in shock. The difference was that dramatic. He said it was a very unusual presentation but that now hes been adjusted he should be fine going forwards.

Hes had a week of slow steady work under saddle and he is a different horse. He moves straight, stands square and is pushing himself forward from behind. He now looks like he could happily trot along for hours whereas before he was uptight with a bit of a sewing machine trot. He sounds awful but to be honest he was only a tiny bit off and to the casual observer he was sound and fine. But once we had him put right we realised just how wrong he was!
 
I would get a acpat trained Physio to assess him the best most experienced one that you can get to him.
Preferably someone who has never seen the horse before .
 
One of mine did exactly as u describe, forging, 3 tracks, swinging one hind, sore back. Turned out to b bilateral PSD, slight changes in sacroiliac and close spinal processes. After PSD surgery horse sound but still displaying the above issues. Vets suggested full ks surgery but i wasn't prepared to do that when they weren't touching. I got an acpat Physio out and it has changed everything horse now goes well but i have to keep him in regular gymnastic work as he naturally has a week core.
If vet has cleared back and spavins i would get an acpat physios oppinion. However just b aware that PSD can b hardware​ to diagnose, mine didn't fully block to suspensories, ultrasound didn't show any issue it was only with ongoing problems that made us go for an MRI and the result was that the damage could b seen so i wouldn't totally rule that out if problems become ongoing.
Good luck, it's no fun trying to sort out issues when it's not an obvious cause
 
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sounds like he needs another examination by the vet
if he's sore behind the saddle it's entirely possible he has just strained a muscle, but back pain and hind limb lameness are often connected.
A week would be a very short time for a signfiicant muscle injury to heal so it may just need time and rest - I personally woudl give 2-3 weeks off turned away to allow any minor strains time to settle before rushing into any further injections etc.
 
Spoke to the vet at length and he thinks its does sound like SI, either way, he's coming out for another look. I'll keep you posted.
 
Sounds to me like Si problems and possibly PSD, it might be worth getting an extra pair of eyes in. My first vet diagnosed DJD in hock and wanted to fuse. I didnt agree but they were adamant. So got another vet who diagnosed PSD. So go with whatever your gut says
 
I would get Rob Jackson out before you do anymore diagnostics.

I would also treat as if he has ulcers and see if he is any better.

Good luck, I sympathise with the hunt for a problem!
 
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