odd back leg... stringhalt?

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1alex1moose

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Hi there,
My horse is doing this odd thing with his off hind. When asked to move on a small circle he does the "travel boot walk" with it.... picking it up very high and then putting it down quite quickly. he is 99% sound but can get a bit pottery on the leg in trot on a hard surface. There is no heat or swelling in any of his legs and he doesnt appear to have any soreness in them. I've never seen this before... i dont know whether to get it looked it but it does only seem to be the one leg?? Horse has been diagnosed with sore sacro-iliacs previously and been treated by a mctimoney chiropractor - he's due again soon. I'm worrying about stringhalt which i know very little about... help!
 
He saw the dentist a month ago and had a tooth out. The back man treated him after that. A bit worried as he's only 4.... just wondering whether a kick could show up like this as he has just got a new field mate.
 
He's a dutch warmblood. I have recently (in last 2 weeks) moved onto a yard with 24hr turnout and the problem has only shown up in the last few days... i wonder if it could be the sugar in the grass doing it... he's a very poor doer so gets a scoop of mix and alfa-a after he's been worked. he is worked quite lightly every day for about half an hour with 1 day off a week. despite being on all you can eat grass for 2 weeks he's barely put on a pound so I wonder whether something else isn't amiss....
 
I asked how your horse is bred.... because it is certainly worth looking at diet related stuff in anything with heavy horse blood.... which includes warmbloods!

Obviously, eliminate the physical causes, ie, horse has ricked itsself. I would get a chiro, McT etc out. Bear in mind that back end injuries can be a consequence of back end weakness with a myopathy as the underlying cause. ie, the injury is a 2ndry problem.

Then have a good look at digestive myopaties, common as muck in WB's and heavies.

What you describe sounds like a shiver/epsm / ppsm. In heavy horse circles it is called a 'Cumberland hitch' if you go see a few heavies together, chances are that one will have the 'Cumberland hitch'.

Get on the google and see what Prof Valberg and Dr Beth Valentine say about the problems specific to WB's and drafts. To get you started... http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:18089471

And... http://www.draftresource.com/EPSM/Draft_EPSM_Report.html
 
thank you - it does sound quite similar but a friend has also suggested the possibility of locking stifles as he's only 4 and has only recently put on condition and muscle (he was extremely poor when purchased). I have no idea how to spot the difference!! any suggestions?
 
Our Connemara has the same symptoms execpt she has the stringhalt type action in canter, particularly the canter to trot transition. We thought it was a pulled muscle at first, then maybe her stifle. In the end we paid for her to spend 3 days at an equine clinic for investigation. They nerve blocked and xrayed and it turned out to be the hock.

We were very surprised when they diagnosed spavin. It was caused by a knock, probably by a front shoe catching her when she got up from lying down.

It cost £550 for tests and xrays. I would say that after resting her for 9 months and then having to pay for the tests I wish we'd done it straight away. Also, if your horse has done something like ours I'd suggest starting injections straight away.

We listened to the vet who said the joint would fuse and she'd be sound. Two years later it still hasn't fused and now he's suggesting steroid injections. It's well worth asking all the questions at the beginning.

Here's hoping your problems are minor and your horse will be okay soon.
 
My uncle's hunter was doing the same thing as your horse by the sounds of it, snatching up his hind leg. They thought it was stringhalt and retired him as a hunter. They found out some time later that it was actually a problem with the ligament around his hock joint.
 
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