Lame behind / tracking up

[Simbapony]

Would a horse that was lame behind still track up/over track ? I wouldnt have thought it would , but my friend seems to think it could still track up/over track and be lame ?

 

[AmyMay]

Depends on what’s causing the lameness.

 

[mavandkaz]

My boy with quite bad hind suspensory issues has never stopped over tracking, so would agree that it's not a clear indicator.
But will depend on the reason for the lameness

 

[Simbapony]

No other sign , friend thinks the hip is dropping a bit more I think the more you look the more you convince yourself ?! Feels fine , is happy and moving very well . Physio was happy when trotted up etc

 

[AmyMay]

Who’s horse is it?

 

[greenbean10]

No other sign , friend thinks the hip is dropping a bit more I think the more you look the more you convince yourself ?! Feels fine , is happy and moving very well . Physio was happy when trotted up etc

If he feels fine, is moving well and physio is happy then I’d ignore your friend. I learned a long time ago to ignore people who decided to diagnose my horse with something...I listen to my physio, my farrier, my instructor and my vet and that’s it!

 

[ycbm]

If your friend thinks he's dropping a hip, can you video him from behind with some bright colour markers stuck to his hip points? That's a good way of seeing whether he is or not. If he is, then he has an issue of some kind even if he is tracking up and appears sound.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

Both my horses have hind end joint issues and they track up. The one with bone spavin had unlevel hips which you could see more clearly when lunged on a circle. He also dragged his hind toes and there was uneven muscle development on the quarters. If loose schooled you could see he wasn't quite straight - his quarters were slightly 'in' on one rein, 'out' on the other. Videoing your horse in slo mo may help you spot any anomalies and to be fair only a vet can really tell you if your horse is lame. Physios in my experience wouldn't necessarily tell you anything outright as I think they prefer to leave diagnosis to the vets. I've had lots of physos/chiros tell me my bone spavin horse is fine. Only one chiro was brave enough to tell me there was something wrong with him. She then phoned my vet (with my permission) to discuss. Investigations were carried out & the bone spavin was diagnosed. Interestingly enough, however, she thought it was his neck - but his neck was fine!

 

[BBP]

Yep. Mine is lame due to damage to hind suspensory, sacroiliac and spinal ligaments, but can still track up. Always over tracks in walk and can track up in trot, but often doesn’t. So yes, physically lameness behind doesn’t always prevent them from doing so.