Short in front down hill only

L

longdog

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We have a 5 year old cob who has started feeling rather short striding when going down hill in walk.
He is fine on level going & uphill in walk & feels sound in trot.
Shod in front, feels as if he is "slapping" his front feet down, rather than placing feet heel first,, then toe.
Any suggestions?

Thanks LD
 
Is this a very recent change and has he been out on grass?

If yes to both check his digital pulse could be start of laminitis.

I may be way of the mark here but footy and short downhill can be a sign of the onset in my mare.

Or it could be something completely different obviously.
 
This is a classic sign of bilateral front foot lameness. The horse won't appear lame when walked or trotted up as normal because both front feet hurt the same amount so no lameness is visible. Get one foot nerve blocked and the often shocking truth is revealed and the horse is very very lame on the unblocked foot.
 
Agree with both the above.. My horse was like this suddenly on a hack.. Xrayed, pedal rotation etc.. His nerve blocks last week showed him crippled lame on his non rotated foot and I sadly lost him Tuesday after fighting 18 months..

Vet all the way.. I am super paranoid about feet..
 
Agree with boxoffrogs

Don't want to panic you but us a classic sign of lameness, sometimes severe, other times less severe and more easily solvable.

I hope its the latter, get the vet to check
 
Sounds like good insight above but before you panic do try without a saddle as if horsey's got wider in the wrong spot and is restricted in the shoulder it can make them go quite dramatically short in front downhill.
 
I'd recommend getting a physio to check his back. My friend's cob used to be very short going downhill and infact when he first came to her he used to do anything to NOT go down the hill. Turned out he was very stiff in his back. A session with our physio sorted him out and he sees her regularly now.

Hope you get it sorted soon :)
 
Mine used to be awful going down hill. Turned out had ringbone in both fronts. He is much better now as it has settled a bit. Also gets a stiff back and neck from time to time which makes him struggle more down hill. Also agree with the saddle problem. Would get saddle fitter and vet and also worth maybe chatting to the farrier x
 
There could be several causes but I doubt very much if the cause would warrant PTS. Have you done a full lameness check i.e. walk and trot in small circles on hard ground on a longe and and walk trot canter going straight? Saddle could be a problem for sure and was he shoed recently? As one person asked did this happen overnight and can you recall if anything happened the day before if it did?
 
Hope that you have solved the mystery ... if not, here's my two'penneth!

My young coblet was like this, the lameness gradually got more pronounced to me riding him, although a very good vet still couldn't see much of a problem. I persisted with them and insisted he went in for work ups. Nerve block in one foot showed up a fairly severe lameness in the other (i.e. lots of pain bilaterally)! Poor little guy! We have put it down to side bone, as his foot conformation and balance changed considerably over the same time period (now a bit pigeon toed, lovely!) - 6 months of remedial shoes did the trick, he is now absolutely fine...

Moral of the story, if the physio, vet and saddle fitter give him the all clear, get him nerve blocked...
 
Just to update! Vet called - found nothing except a small splint coming on NF. lunged etc on hard standing - ok both ways - rested a few days, back in work, changed gullet in saddle. Went to Dr comp - 63%!! so very pleased - looks like I panicked over not v much, but lami was at the forefront of my mind.
Many thanks to everyone for their response!

Longdog
 
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