Horse that walked on her "tiptoes"

[Nicki85]

A while back a friend and I went to see a horse for her to potentially share. It was a lovely little (friend is only 5ft1) piebald mare, full feathers and a lovely full mane. Owner admited that she had not done much with her for the past couple of years. Anyhow (getting to the point) the horse walked on her tiptoes on her hinds, as in she didn't put her heels on the ground. The owner said it didn't affect her, and she wasn't lame but it was odd. Does anyone have experience of this?

 

[Jennyharvey]

Could well have tendon issues or something else wrong. Perhapes ringbone, but you said she hasnt done much so this is unlikely. If she were mine, i would get vet to see her. Maybe its just a comformational problem, but i would want a vets opinion on her soundness.

 

[Natch]

I would hazard a guess at tendon issues, or heel pain, as this is how I walk when I have problems in my heels (which transfers up the leg to my calf and tendons). I guess it could also be coming from higher up like pelvis or back.

Either way I wouldn't loan or buy unless I had a vet's opinion

 

[corriehorse]

My horse suffers from arthritis of the high hock joint in her right hind. As a result, she walks on her toe on that foot. Been like it for about 3 years now. Originally, only very, very slightly off her heel, and has progressed to more on toe as years have gone by. Causes her no real problems, just means she has to be shod more often behind as she wears the toe of the shoe away. She is still worked approximately 4 times a week including hacking, schooling, lungeing. No jumping only because im to much of a wimp to leave the ground but she loose schools over 2'6" - 2'9" no problems occasionaly. Occasionaly looks lame on hard ground, but only because she pushes right hip higher on putting that foot down on toe, not whole foot. (imagine somebody running in 1 flat shoe and 1 slight heeled shoe, same sort of effect.) If both legs are effected, can imagine there is no obvious sign of lameness, as both balance each other out.

 

[Fransurrey]

Beware of this. Has the cob had any driving history? There was a lovely mare on our yard, back when I was in livery, who used to stand on her tiptoes on the hinds, sometimes resting her bum on the wall. She walked like that, too. People thought it was 'cute' and just one of those things. The vet was called for an unrelated issue months later (the cob was new to the owners) and it turned out she had tendon issues, caused by years of hard driving. According to the attending vet, it's quite common in driving horses, especially ones used in draft, rather than trotters.