Should I be worried?

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kikiD

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I've just bought a new horse and when picking out his feet I have noticed that he does something funny with one of his back legs. With one leg, when you let go he returns it straight to the floor but with the other he pulls it right up into his body before putting it down. I've never seen a horse do this before, is it a cause for concern or am I just been paranoid?
 
hmmmm I would get vet to check as sounds like possible stringhalt. Can he back up ok? what about crossing legs over if you turn him in a tight circle in both directions..

Did you have him vetted?
 
Was just about to ask if you had him vetted as well? Stringhalt or stifle problems? Or nothing, could be a strained muscle or tightness through his quarters which a bit of physio can help - but best to ask your vet if your worried :)
 
soulfull said:
hmmmm I would get vet to check as sounds like possible stringhalt. Can he back up ok? what about crossing legs over if you turn him in a tight circle in both directions..
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He seems fine when doing both of these. What is stringhalt? It's something I've never encountered.
 
It could be stringhalt TBH though your vet will advise best on it. Pidge has this and he snatches his hind leg up and then places it down again. I've had great success by putting him on NAF D-Tox which has helped tremendously. Let me know if you want anymore advice or help?
 
My horse does this, but she also does it when rugging or saddling so I've always just figured its stroppiness!! She's never been lame (apart from one hoof abcsess) and has cast iron legs! Been seen by vet & oesto several times & they've never mentioned anything. Nor has the farrier. I thought stinghalt would have been evident when ridden? And surely horse wouldnt have passed a vetting with it? Hers is more of a "snatching" motion though.
 
My friend's horse passed a vetting with stringhalt too. It often doesn't cause any problems, although it can get worse with age, and is officially classed as unsoundness. I think its a listed hereditary disease for breeding?
 
echo others as mostly it doesn't cause too much trouble, especially if treated with diet or supplements. Same as most things there are varying degrees of it
However as you have only just purchased horse you do need to consider if you wish to keep horse or find out if it is definitely SH and return if possible
 
SuperSonicMare said:
My horse does this, but she also does it when rugging or saddling so I've always just figured its stroppiness!! She's never been lame (apart from one hoof abcsess) and has cast iron legs! Been seen by vet & oesto several times & they've never mentioned anything. Nor has the farrier. I thought stinghalt would have been evident when ridden? And surely horse wouldnt have passed a vetting with it? Hers is more of a "snatching" motion though.
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Like I said there are varying degrees of it and if horse doesn't actually do it during the vetting it might not be picked up. It can be an intermittent problem made worse by certain feeds, or too rich grass even.

Don't scare yourself by doing a google search as I have done this to see what came out and these ARE EXTREME cases mostly caused by poisoning in the US. SH in the UK is different.

Your mare may have SH as it is a 'snatching action' is it worse or only on one hind, if so this is a good indicator. However as you have not had a problem with it I would just make sure you feed her a low starch diet and if it gets worse ad a de tox or rapeseed oil, if you add oil make sure she gets enough vit e and selenium
 
I had a welsh section D that did that with one hind leg. He would pick it up and hold it right up to his stomach. He passed a 5 stage vetting and was never lame or had an gait abnormalities. We asked our vet and she wasn't too concerned as it didn't seem to affect him.
 
not in my experience as had Pidge over 5 years now and competed him at BE90 this year :D oh and he passed a 5 stage vetting with it. Doesn't affect him in any way other than picking his foot up, ridden work he's fine :)
 
Pidgeon said:
not in my experience as had Pidge over 5 years now and competed him at BE90 this year :D oh and he passed a 5 stage vetting with it. Doesn't affect him in any way other than picking his foot up, ridden work he's fine :)
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Thanks for that Pidgeon, that's very reassuring. With regards to using NAF de-tox, do you feed it continuosly or just every so often?
 
I feed it continuosly TBH and it has helped lots :D Feed it on high dose to start with and then maintenance level until he needs a higher dose for a while.
 
there are a lot of horses that have it and it never affects their ridden work. However I do know at least 2 that it does affect them. they can find it more difficult to engage hind quarters etc, owners prefer not to hunt them as the hanging around isn't easy on them. However I know Pidgeon has been hunting with no problems.:D
 
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