Lameness - can you always tell if you are in the saddle?

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TheShark

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Just wondering if lameness is always obvious when you are riding? Can you always tell when in the saddle if you haven't noticed anything before you get on? Or has someone ever had to point it out to you?
 
The technical answer is that you should always be able to tell. But in practical terms that will also depend on your level of expereince and familiarity with the horse. Obviously if they were hopping lame you would know. But if they are just a little short or unlevel then you might not realise if you were unfamiliar with the horse or not experienced.

It isn't dissimilar to knowing which leg you are on or which diagonal to rise to. After time you can feel it. But in the beginning you will have to check.

I've been riding most of my life - which is far longer than I would admit to in public - and I would not say that I would always 100% know if a horse was slightly lame under me. If someone on the ground was kind enough to point out a problem I would always take it seriously.
 
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In a word - yes. Have always been able to distinguish lameness - even at 1/10th. Will usually then get someone to have a look at horse under saddle (if it is subtle) or in hand if more severe.
 
I would certainly hope so but of course I only know that I have been correct on the occasions when I have picked it up. What I'm pretty sure I can do is spot an unlevel horse on the ground, mine or someone else's. So actually I don't often have to worry about telling that the horse is lame once I'm in the saddle.
 
Yes. Can't always tell exactly where it is (like our pony..felt distinctly off, but I wasn't sure where. Turned out to be right hip..) but so far I've always been able to tell, then hop off and have a look
 
I can't always tell from the ground, but I'm pretty good at picking up even a tiny bit of un-levelness from on top. My old loan pony once developed a splint, and though I was too young and inexperienced to realise what it was by feeling it and seeing her move, I could tell she was being cautious downhill and my instructor saw her trotted up and confirmed to me that the splint was making her a tiny bit lame.

I rode my mum's horse this morning and could feel she wasn't right - one of her hooves has been crumbling away in the past couple of weeks and she is being cautious with it. I could tell immediately that she wasn't 100%, and I trotted her along a flat bit of road and she still felt "just off". I trotted her up a soft hill and walking down it she was just marginally taking a shorter stride with that leg.

It definitely depends on experience and trusting your gut feeling - that was the way I did it when Maiden tore her tendon... she was very nearly sound but something told me not to trust what I saw and to get the vet out again :)
 
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