Lame downhill,sound uphill....

[fleabitten]

Ernie arab is head bobbing lame nominally on the flat and noticably downhill, but perfectly sound uphill!
Would love to know if anyone has any ideas!
He is shod on front, but is only on his second set of shoes after being barefoot for a year or so. It's really hard to tell which leg it is, but his head bobs when his off side fore hits the ground.
Am having vet out tommorow, but what do you guys think?

 

[Britestar]

Shoulder? More weight on shoulders going downhill. What about saddle? If it was too tight he would feel it more downhill as well.

 

[emmiec12]

check to see if he has any reaction to you moving his sholders. Also check for soreness in the withers and even the poll area.

I also agree with checking the saddle.... when you take it off is there one side that is hotter/sweatier than the other? does it seem to pinch at all?

 

[teddyt]

More weight on front end when going downhill so thats why lame downhill but not uphill.

 

[CBAnglo]

It depends - if he is going slowly downhill and is lame or rushing downhill then I would say there is a problem with the back end as it is being used more downhill. Walking slowly downhill is a great way to get a horse to transfer his weight onto his backend, so if he cant do it, then I would say it is a hind leg + possibly a back problem (probably caused by the hind leg problem).

 

[Patches]

I was wondering about hocks. How old is your horse?

My horse used to really struggle to walk downhill before she had her hocks treated (slight changes in them on x-ray).

She's fine now. Happily walks downhill.

 

[Nudibranch]

Lame downhill generally equals lame in front. Happened to mine when her knees became arthritic (not that I'm suggesting he has arthritis!). As teddyt says, more weight on the front going downhill hence the lameness.

 

[BeckyD]

Ronnie has sacroiliac back problem and both hind suspensories are injured, and he's much worse downhill than up. Could be back or front I'm afraid!

Hope it's nothing too serious x

 

[hussar]

As Nudibranch says, lame downhill = lame in front. One of the early signs of my Arab developing bilateral navicular (not that I recognised it at the time - thought he was just getting stiff) was a tendency to shorten going downhill. He was fine in all other respects until the navicular was very advanced.

 

[Bossanova]

Generally it's an indication of front foot pain but can be other front limb problems- def worth a full work up

 

[fleabitten]

Vet came today and he showed up lame on flexion tests on his off fore, from the fetlock down.
So in for nerve blocks and x rays on Monday!