My horse constantly rests her back legs. Should I worry?!

Fee Fo

Fee Fo

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My mare rests her back legs all the time. Sometimes if I am just wandering in from the field and stop for a few seconds so my gelding can catch up (I don't bother putting a rope on him!) she rests a back leg then. There does not seem to be any pattern to it, and she rests both legs, not favouring either in particular. She was lame on and off last Summer for various reasons (cellulitis, gravel etc etc) each time in a different leg, other than feeling very unlucky and not getting much competing done, none of the lamness was that significant.

Should I be worried or see it as any sort of warning sign?! Anybody else experience this?
 
Hi, my horse does the same! every time i look at him he is resting one or the other back legs, and he is only 5! he has never been lame,even when galloping about in the field, he will stop to get his wind , and rest one or the other back legs, get his wind back then carry on, weird! i dont worry about it, think maybe he is just lazy? had his back done twice so far, no signs of trouble so im guessing he is fine.
 
Captain started doing this, he had never done it before, in fact the backman had commented the first time he met Captain that he could tell he had no probs with his limbs or back because he stood 4 square. We had Mike, the physio.out and his pelvis was slightly out, Mike put it back. He no longer does it. So could it be that or is it something she has always done? If it is new I would definitely get her checked, if not then I still would get her checked to be honest. Better safe than sorry.

Hope she is okay.:)
FDC
 
Thank you, it's good to know I am not the only one! I think she has always done it, but I have only owned her for 18 months, and she is now 14. So I wouldn't know her history on that side. She doesn't seem to favour any particular leg, and is as sound as a bell currently and still doing it, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing! I have to get "vitnary" to yank a couple of wolf teeth out, so it might be worth my while mentioning this at the same time. (Can you believe she got to 13 and still has wolf teeth, with previous owner??!!)

Thanks all.
 
Fee Fo said:
Thank you, it's good to know I am not the only one! I think she has always done it, but I have only owned her for 18 months, and she is now 14. So I wouldn't know her history on that side. She doesn't seem to favour any particular leg, and is as sound as a bell currently and still doing it, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing! I have to get "vitnary" to yank a couple of wolf teeth out, so it might be worth my while mentioning this at the same time. (Can you believe she got to 13 and still has wolf teeth, with previous owner??!!)




Thanks all.
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My old boy is 19 and still has a wolf tooth, it was picked up at vetting years ago vet said it wouldnt be a problem and it hasnt been? I wouldnt have had them 'yanked' unless they did. Are they causing problems?
 
my tb always rested his legs and then last year he was diagnosed with spavins in both hocks, dont know wether its related or not.
 
mmm.... she can be a bit one sided if I am not careful. She can also get very tense in her jaw if she leans or I let the contact get too firm. When dentist first found them he said they were worn; I think she leans on them occasionally.
 
Yeh as Fanny (lol sorry Rosie couldnt resist) said cld be back - our gelding did this alot when recently hurt pelvis in the field x
 
china said:
my tb always rested his legs and then last year he was diagnosed with spavins in both hocks, dont know wether its related or not.
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^^^ this. Same happened to my boy and he had periods of slight lameness last summer on both hinds. Could be something and nothing :)
 
best get them checked over (back person, chiro, physio, Bowen therapist), just in case, ask around for recomendations (on here?) for someone GOOD in your area.

i go to a fair few horses who rest their legs, and who stop doing it after treatment. it doesn't always mean discomfort, but can imply it. as long as you get someone decent out, there's no harm in trying.

good luck xx
 
My tb did this a lot but it was more one hind leg & he turned out to have high & low ringbone but you can usually see if they have something like this as there are usually bumpy boney areas around the pastern joint.
 
My mare did this with both back legs at age 6 and I assumed she was fine as never showed a hint of lameness and was VERY forward going.... She was written off age 8 :( Serious osteoarthritis in both hind fetlocks :( Best get it looked at sooner rather than later if I were you.
 
I always thought that was completely normal to rest a hind so long as it wasn't a front, infant I think I've seen very fee that don't do that when left tied up!
 
Please get a vet not a back person to look at the horse if there is a problem with the legs it will probably be causing pain in the back as result so yes they will find something and treat the horse but without the root cause sorted the pain will resurface and you will have wasted your money. I had countless treatments done on my horse and eventually my new physio advised the vet who found spavin in his hock. One of his symptoms was resting his legs . It could well be nothing but something like spavin caught early have a good chance for treatment
 
vieshot said:
I always thought that was completely normal to rest a hind so long as it wasn't a front, infant I think I've seen very fee that don't do that when left tied up!
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When left tied up, maybe. But OP says her horse does it if she just pauses for a few seconds whilst bringing in - that's not so normal, IMO.
 
Puppy said:
When left tied up, maybe. But OP says her horse does it if she just pauses for a few seconds whilst bringing in - that's not so normal, IMO.
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i agree, it's perfectly normally to occasionally rest a back leg, when resting - or even when about to run (it can be a sign the horse is nervous). but, like Puppy said, not all the time. and i think the OP must be concerned to have made a post about it. best to get it checked out... just in case.
 
my mare very rarely rests a back leg even when tied up but my tb would constantly rest. he still does now but i know he has spavins so i just leave him to it. but you could nudge him to stand straight and he would immediatly rest the other leg. he also had kissing spines aswell as the spavins. this thread has been interesting. makes me wonder how long he has actually had the spavins.forming. :-/
 
Fee Fo said:
Thank you, it's good to know I am not the only one! I think she has always done it, but I have only owned her for 18 months, and she is now 14. So I wouldn't know her history on that side. She doesn't seem to favour any particular leg, and is as sound as a bell currently and still doing it, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing! I have to get "vitnary" to yank a couple of wolf teeth out, so it might be worth my while mentioning this at the same time. (Can you believe she got to 13 and still has wolf teeth, with previous owner??!!)

Thanks all.
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Fany has a wolf tooth and she is 15 . Our EDT says it is not a problem and is not concerning , hurting her or damaging anything so to leave it. So yes I can believe it and do. Not point in fixing what doesn't need fixing and putting the animal to the stress of being sedated when unnecessary. That said of course your mare might be having trouble so need it removing.

FDC
 
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