Tail carried to the side

[NooNoo59]

As the above 4 years in still the same welsh section d. Vet wasn't concerned when vetted but people do mention it and there are times when it bothers me

 

[SEL]

Physio had a look? Could be a tight muscle.

 

[ycbm]

I have never known a horse that carries its tail persistently to one side that didn't eventually turn out to have issues in the hind end. I would not buy one.

I kept asking people whether mine was sound and everyone assured me that he was, but he turned out to have hock arthritis.
.

 

[PurBee]

I was going to post and ask about this too as i noticed it this eve walking them in - also welsh D. She does it sometimes, not always. I’ve done neuro tests and she’s fine in every other way, so its always made me curious why the tail sometimes held to the side?

I noticed it more after she foaled - thought it was that - then yrs later continued to notice it - thought maybe it’s her seasonal hormones affecting her? I dont know when she’s in season, she’s constant daily, not mare-ish.

She does have a really thick heavy long tail that trails 4 inches on the ground fully grown, and i trim it to prevent winter mud/fetlock issues, but havent yet this winter, not much mud yet, so maybe she’s holding it up and sideways to lift it higher out of the wet? Never thought of that. Will trim and see if she still does it.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I tried a horse with its tail to the side. I hadn't noticed as I was riding!! Trainer who came with me said to avoid. He was out and about for a month or so after I tried him but haven't heard of him since.

 

[PurBee]

I have never known a horse that carries its tail persistently to one side that didn't eventually turn out to have issues in the hind end. I would not buy one.

I kept asking people whether mine was sound and everyone assured me that he was, but he turned out to have hock arthritis.
.

Would a broodmare be likely to develop hind end issues? My mare had 7 foals previous to coming to me, age 3-10. She's not ridden, never was, is companion, 20yrs old now, does field zoomies and bucking still, and very good in every other way. Lays and gets up fine, field rolls etc. Intermittent side-tail is all i’ve noticed off about her. She’s so damn hardy too, compared to the gelding.

 

[NooNoo59]

Sees physio regularly has had hocks injected!

 

[maya2008]

Our coblet did that two days ago. Got on and immediately felt him swing his quarters to one side. On investigation hard muscle in left quarters. Can be saddle fit rather than lameness but I have only ever known it be one or the other.

 

[Zoeypxo]

I know of a horse that holds his tail to the side, he has pretty bad hock arthritis

 

[stangs]

My boy does this - he has hock arthritis and also a lot more muscle tightness down one side of his body.

 

[Boots*McGruber]

My mum’s cob did this. He developed arthritis when he was in his teens but was sound until then. It was a funny sight if you were hacking behind him though ?

 

[Bellaboo18]

Sees physio regularly has had hocks injected!

When did he last have his hocks injected?

 

[Lady Jane]

He could be tight for some reason, I'd get a physio to check. Its not always doom and gloom, but its worth getting it checked out

 

[Flame_]

My horse has a wry tail. I'm pretty sure it's genetic, I read something about one of his ancestors throwing them. I got him at four years old, he's eleven now and so far hasn't had any hock issues that I'm aware of.

 

[poiuytrewq]

My horse always has his tail to one side. The guy I bought him off didn’t know why but said he did it when he bought him and had no issues, he’s also for unrelated reasons had a bone scan the previous year which showed nothing up.
SW his previous previous(!) owner who told me that when she purchased him at weaning they were unable to load him, literally taken from mum in the field and loaded up on the side of the road. She said he was in a complete panic and the guy lost his rag and ended up hauling and literally dragged him up the ramp with brute force by his tail. So when they got home she saw he carried his tail to one side but obviously isn’t sure if he did before hand, she always assumed some damage was done that day.

 

[sbloom]

The odd one, from what I gather, is okay, but mostly it's a counter-rotation - the horse's spine should be in a smooth curve depending on what you're doing. It should not excessively rotate one way (many do, eg the right ribcage drops most of the time), nor should there be head or tail tilt. Counter rotations, or counter bend through the body, usually indicates some sort of dysfunction and is worth working through with a good bodyworker/trainer/in hand specialist. Even if it's from birth/before backing it can still be from trauma and is worth looking at whether it can be improved without causing other issues.

 

[poiuytrewq]

This is interesting. I’d just accepted what I’d been told and thought no more about it.

 

[Goldenstar]

I had a standard bred that did this it was very marked when he arrived he was a failed driving horse.
He had lots of physio he was very crooked as he had been driven in a team and always on the same side .
He went on to work hard as a hunter he did develop hock arthritis as an older horse but then he had worked very hard .
I sure it’s a indicator of not great things .
However you often see it in standard breds and they are often short in back there’s a picture of horses sire from America stood up with the standard bred huge long tail and his tail is sitting just like my horse.

 

[Birker2020]

I went to view a horse for sale that did this, partner took video of me riding said horse and my friend who is a professional kindly watched it later and said she'd come with me to view a second time so she could assess it from the ground. The seller had initially made contact with me, not the other way around - she said she'd seen my 'wanted' ad on FB and said she wasn't planning on advertising the horse for a few weeks. When I told the seller what the professional had said and that the horses tail to the side was possibly a red flag and the fact that the horse was bringing the one hind midline, but we still wanted to come the following week to view it she was initially fine and we booked at mutually convenient time.

But then a day or so later the seller suddenly decided to put the horse on the market and put the price up £2K - think it was to ward me off because she knew I felt the horse was dodgy.

A few days later I texted the seller off another phone to ask her if the horse was available for viewing as I'd seen his advert and was interested and she said he'd come in from the field lame and the vet was coming. Our feeling was that they obviously thought they'd try it on with me and when I didn't fall for it they decided to withdraw it from the market and attempt to get the issues with it sorted.

When we viewed the horse it was warmed up in a field of long grass. I felt that it was weird as to why it would be warmed up there when there was a perfectly adequate (in actual fact an amazing) arena but I didn't question it at the time. Of course if he was stiff or unsound then the long grass would have hidden this well until he was adequately warmed up.

I also did a bit of stalking on FB (buyer beware and all that) and found that she'd been ejected from the said horse whilst warming up at a competition and there were a couple of other things that I found out that made the horse less than suitable for me.

 

[ycbm]

I think I'd be less concerned by one that does it at rest than one that kinks it over only when ridden. If it happens at rest to I would assume that its more likely to be the shape of the bone somewhere, but if it starts when the horse is moving then it feels as if that would be more indicative of a twist in the horse somewhere.

PurBee, I certainly have heard of mares damaged in the pelvis by difficult foaling. Also their soft tissues go all slack to foal and it would, I would think, be easy to sustain an SI injury at that point of the mare was to slip or trip soon after foaling.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Not entirely the same but Arabi always had a very high tail carriage and I noticed that he wasn't carrying it so high, his recently had treatment for mild hock arthritis, suspensory damage and his had his si joint medicated shortly after the other things were done.

I noticed after 10 days of him having the si joint done his tail carriage was really high again like it was when he was younger his 18 now.

 

[Orangehorse]

My horse has always carried his tail to one side. I questioned it time and time again with anyone who came to treat my horse, and no-one seemed to take it very seriously.

He hasn't any trouble with hocks, but he has arthritis in a hip and he always seemed to have a problem with that side hind leg which always improved with fitness and exercise and wasn't visible either ridden or from the ground when fit and competiting. When he was turned out as a young horse he was in a big bunch with a couple of uncut colts, destined to be stallions. When I bought him as 2 and he came home he had quite a few cuts and looked like bite marks, and the vet thought he saw something in the back end, but wasn't worried, just said he should be covered for vet's fees! It was only a 2 star vetting of course.

So I reckon he had an injury as a young horse, maybe one of the colts jumped on top of him, or he had a fall when playing around.

I would say that if a horse carries its tail to one side, then there is "something" but on top of everything else that they are prone to, it might be significant or not.

I was talking to an expert yesterday, who said 70% of foals do damage to themselves which may or may not have an impact when they are adult horses.

I have certainly recently thought that any young horse, prior to beginning breaking in and being ridden, should be assessed by a physio or similar for any potential pain causing issues.

 

[AnShanDan]

Friends had a pony that did this, he was pulled up by a dressage judge at pony club area once for a vet check but other than that I don't think it caused an issue.

Pony went on to be reserve for Pony European eventing championships with next jockey and competed at that level well into his teens with others.

 

[Red-1]

I have never known a horse that carries its tail persistently to one side that didn't eventually turn out to have issues in the hind end. I would not buy one.

I kept asking people whether mine was sound and everyone assured me that he was, but he turned out to have hock arthritis.
.

I have, it was a beautiful big horse, gorgeous and markedly to one side with his tail. It didn't seem to affect him, but one day a man came to the yard who looked at him in his box and commented that he bet this horse held his tail to one side...

Turned out that he'd owned him as a youngster and he'd been tied to some bars in an American barn. He'd been startled, reared up, the rope crept up the bar but then tightened at the top. When he came down, the rope stayed tight at the top and he was hung. He was cut down, the vet called and he'd broken his neck.

Apparently it healed but the horse held his tail to one side from that day forwards.

I was slightly alarmed, and had our own vet X ray. Yep, a healed break in one of his neck vertebrae.

Horse lived a long and busy life, worked hard, and died from unrelated causes (heart failure). I think the only lameness he ever had was a strain in soft tissue on a hind leg, that gave way a few times in his older age, but always healed with a few weeks off then a few months of walk only work.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

When I worked at an eventing/hunting yard the physio had come out to see some of the eventers . We had a big hunter who had always carried his tail very noticeabley off to one side for as long as anyone could remember ( years ! ) but was a lovely , bright happy chap who was never stiff or lame and would gallop all day and jump anything you pointed him at .
I was bringing him in from the field and walked past the physio who spotted the tail . He called me over and felt all the way along the horse's back starting at his back end and working toward his head . Just behind the poll the physio paused and went " Ha ! " . He stood under the horse's neck , facing forward , put his hands around the lads nose and pulled his head sharply to one side . There was an almighty ' CRACK ' that made everyone jump - except the horse who just looked mildly suprised - and then off he walked with his tail as straight as a die , and straight it stayed !