Tail catching between hind legs in walk

[BBP]

This feels like a novicey silly question but better to ask I guess!

As my horse moves in walk and trot (we aren't cantering at the moment) his tail hair drags forwards between his hind legs, rather than flowing behind him. I assume this is not desirable and indicates tension in the back? I'm trying to think about the physiology of it but it's a bit much at 8am! He doesn't object to it being lifted but is finding hind legs not as easy to pick up as he used to.

(horse is under vet for sacroiliac, muscle myopathy and ulcers, going in for rescoping and back x Ray's in 2 weeks so I guess I'm really looking for markers of things that he does now that may start to improve as he feels better).

 

[tallyho!]

Hi, I belong to some classical riding groups and I came across your post (which is not novicey!) and it reminded me of an article I read a while ago... I hope it helps.

http://www.manolomendezdressage.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Equinology-Hamstring-Massage-Recos.pdf

My filly's tail catches but you expect it from a youngster and she clamps her tail anyway, but for your horse I would think that perhaps he does have some tightness or soreness given his issues. Maybe think about an osteopath/mctimoney/physio for the future.

 

[applecart14]

Its my understanding that horses who have sacroilliac pain experience loss of tone in the tail. So I think part of the reason your horses tail is like it is, and he is reluctant to lift his hind legs is due to his SI diagnosis.

More dramatic reasons for lack of tail tone can be due to EHV1 or Wobblers Syndrome. My Wobblers Horse could not hold his tail up, and when you moved the base of it upwards there was little resistance. Obviously neither of these two scenarios relate to your horse.

Maybe when the vet is next out, you could ask him if the tone of your horses tail is a good indicator of whether there is improvement in your horse. I would also ask if it would be of any benefit to bring in a vet physio to assist and suggest any exercises you could do with your horse at this stage in his treatment plan.

Good luck, seems like you are doing all you can to remedy the situation x

 

[Merlod]

I have a herd of native ponies, all in very good health. I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but I find that in the winter that some of the length of their tails does get stuck between the hind legs and wiggles around between their legs and sometimes evening flicking them in the manly parts when they move (even in the field) but they grow long and thick tails naturally so I think it's just a combination of having so much tail and the damp and mud making it heavier than it would be in the summer.

My remedy is to chop them a bit shorter than normal and thin the ends out to a point (which is how they are kept for showing so isn't a problem for me really )

 

[paddi22]

my ish did that when he had pain issues... it's the first thing i look for when he's moving.

 

[BBP]

Thanks for the replies. I e been looking back at old videos and it looks like it happens more when he's tense, either through excitement at shows or more recently discomfort. When he's relaxed he seems to carry it more. That said he does have a very long and quite thick Spanish tail so imagine it would be more noticeable than if he had a skinny one.

 

[little_critter]

It's very interesting you should post this. I have never noticed my pony's thick tail catching between her legs .....until yesterday when I noticed it for the first time and thought it unusual.
She has also just been diagnosed with an issue with her SI joint so maybe it's connected.
Her tail doesn't look clamped down but she must be moving differently for it to happen.

 

[DressageCob]

My horse's tail goes in between his legs in walk and trot. He's perfectly healthy and pain free. However, he has a huge, thick, very heavy tail. The suggestion appears to be that it is too heavy to carry upwards and behind him, like you see with horses with thinner tails.

This is a mini example. It's sometimes worse than this. He occasionally has his tail behind him but that's normally in canter or when it's windy

 

[gnubee]

I suspect it varies a bit from horse to horse, but my instructor showed me that my mare's (quite long) tail goes between her back legs when she is trolling along, but if I get her moving with impulsion and tracking up properly it pretty much stops catching.

 

[Illusion100]

I'm just going to be a numpty considering you are already on top of any potential issue and suggest a combination of a long tail and/or a refusal to allow to expose ones bumhole to the cold weather until warmed up sufficiently! Very scientific and helpful!

 

[BBP]

I'm just going to be a numpty considering you are already on top of any potential issue and suggest a combination of a long tail and/or a refusal to allow to expose ones bumhole to the cold weather until warmed up sufficiently! Very scientific and helpful!

Maybe that's it!! I'd be happy with that as a reason! I think it's one of those things where all of a sudden one day you stare at your horse and think 'has he always done that?!'. Tail was no where near clamped down this evening, whole pony was high as a kite!

 

[Crugeran Celt]

Very interesting question. I have a friend's mare living with mine and all last summer she did everything at a canter in the field. Never walked unless she was grazing, if she wanted to get to water she would canter over to the trough. Noticed the last couple of weeks she had stopped doing this and was walking everywhere. Her tail had grown very long so yesterday I cut it hock length and gave her a good brush, she lives out and has been to wet for weeks. She immediately cantered off with her short tail in the air looking a lot happier. She is back to her old self this morning and cantering in for her breakfast. I never knew the length of tail could make such a difference.

 

[milliepops]

I'm just going to be a numpty considering you are already on top of any potential issue and suggest a combination of a long tail and/or a refusal to allow to expose ones bumhole to the cold weather until warmed up sufficiently! Very scientific and helpful!

^^ I'd go with this as a theory too, given what you already know about your horse and how you are on top of his health problems.
My cob x WB mare has a giant tail which flips around between her hind legs sometimes. She never carries it much unless really lit up.
She also carries hers slightly left. Always has done - no physical issue to be found, it's just *her*. Sometimes it really is nothing.

 

[applecart14]

From what I know there is usually a medical reason why a horse has no tone in its tail and it is flaccid and the horse cannot hold it in a normal carriage, so it drops between the hind legs. If it is doing this consistently then it has nothing to do with the weather, the speed of the gait, length of tail, mud, excitement and any of the other reasons stated.

A horse with back problems has a limp or flaccid tail. This ties in with what the OP has already stated.

 

[Illusion100]

From what I know there is usually a medical reason why a horse has no tone in its tail and it is flaccid and the horse cannot hold it in a normal carriage, so it drops between the hind legs. If it is doing this consistently then it has nothing to do with the weather, the speed of the gait, length of tail, mud, excitement and any of the other reasons stated.

A horse with back problems has a limp or flaccid tail. This ties in with what the OP has already stated.

You know the way horses usually clamp their tail a bit when you first lift it to bandage/wash it/whatever?

I had a horse once that never ever clamped his tail, if I'd wanted I could have immediately got hold of it and waved it around like a flag! At the vetting the Vet did find it very odd but he otherwise passed a 5 stage with no issues.

As it turned out, the horse didn't have the balls to Event and was sold to America with a smart price tag as a Dressage horse.

That said, he carried his tail very nicely under saddle.

This horse had NO sense of self preservation however (dangerously so) and I do wonder if that was connected to the lack of tail 'response'. T'is a mystery.

 

[rachk89]

I'm just going to be a numpty considering you
are already on top of any potential issue and suggest a combination of a long tail and/or a refusal to allow to expose ones bumhole to the cold weather until warmed up sufficiently! Very scientific and helpful!

Think this is my horses reason. He has no issue holding it up when he is in show off mode. But his tail is enormous so when he is lazy he just leaves it down. He doesn't pick up his back legs either when being lazy but with encouragement finds it easy he would just prefer to drag them.

Definitely no issue either don't worry.

 

[whiteflower]

From what I know there is usually a medical reason why a horse has no tone in its tail and it is flaccid and the horse cannot hold it in a normal carriage, so it drops between the hind legs. If it is doing this consistently then it has nothing to do with the weather, the speed of the gait, length of tail, mud, excitement and any of the other reasons stated.

A horse with back problems has a limp or flaccid tail. This ties in with what the OP has already stated.

not always the case, i have one with kissing spines who holds his tail away from his body in a 'normal' manner. i also used to have a native pony with no back/lameness problems who had a naturally lower tail carriage and when his bushy tail was wet or caked in mud it would often move between his back legs.

i think breed can influence how the tail is held as well as back issues, length of tail etc so there could be different reasons in each case. if its a new thing thats started happening with the horses history it may be of note but i dont think you can assume its definitely caused by pain

 

[applecart14]

not always the case, i have one with kissing spines who holds his tail away from his body in a 'normal' manner. i also used to have a native pony with no back/lameness problems who had a naturally lower tail carriage and when his bushy tail was wet or caked in mud it would often move between his back legs.

i think breed can influence how the tail is held as well as back issues, length of tail etc so there could be different reasons in each case. if its a new thing thats started happening with the horses history it may be of note but i dont think you can assume its definitely caused by pain

Hi Whiteflower - So you are saying its normal for a horse to have a flaccid tail and have no tone in it? Okay, lets leave it at that then.

 

[whiteflower]

Hi Whiteflower - So you are saying its normal for a horse to have a flaccid tail and have no tone in it? Okay, lets leave it at that then.

no need to be so defensive !! the original post does not state the tail is 'flaccid' as you put it, it states the tail is coming between the horses legs in walk and trot. in certain breeds with a low set tail that has a naturally low carriage it is entirely possible there is good tone to the tail but it swings between the legs due to the amount of tail, length or it being wet for instance. it is of course also possible that it is due to the tail being clamped down or not held away from the quarters due to pain. without seeing the horse there is no way of knowing.

not everything is always cut and dry and always has one answer, my post was purely giving examples to show that a tail coming between the legs does not always mean there is a problem with the back and the tail not coming between the back legs does not mean there isnt !!

 

[Jericho]

Our pony often holds his tail down when cold or warming up but it does gradually release as he gets moving. His tail is quite long and will catch between his legs when held down. He def has tone because he hates his tail being bandaged and clamps it down like a vice then and likewise when he is being an idiot in the field he does a very good impression of an Arabian stallion!

I was always lead to believe that a clamped down tail is a sign of tenseness or coldness

 

[madlady]

I'm just going to be a numpty considering you are already on top of any potential issue and suggest a combination of a long tail and/or a refusal to allow to expose ones bumhole to the cold weather until warmed up sufficiently! Very scientific and helpful!

I have one with a different tail problem - he carries it fine when he's being worked but can't seem to be bothered when he's having a poo and therefore poo's down the underneath of his tail - dirty monkey.

 

[tallyho!]

Nothing wrong with investigating the potential causes be it too heavy or back problem.

It's annoying full stop and if you need to give it a trim, great, if it's a back issue, get it sorted.

Simples.

 

[AdorableAlice]

It is worth considering conformation. Many common types and many native types have low set tails and of course there is good reason for it. The vast majority of these types will benefit from thinning the tail under the dock, shaping the sides of the dock and banging the tail an inch or so below the hock.

 

[loobylu]

no need to be so defensive !! the original post does not state the tail is 'flaccid' as you put it, it states the tail is coming between the horses legs in walk and trot. in certain breeds with a low set tail that has a naturally low carriage it is entirely possible there is good tone to the tail but it swings between the legs due to the amount of tail, length or it being wet for instance. it is of course also possible that it is due to the tail being clamped down or not held away from the quarters due to pain. without seeing the horse there is no way of knowing.

not everything is always cut and dry and always has one answer, my post was purely giving examples to show that a tail coming between the legs does not always mean there is a problem with the back and the tail not coming between the back legs does not mean there isnt !!

I agree.

 

[tallyho!]

Personally I would only school if the wind were blowing in from the west… such is the position of our "school".

 

[BBP]

Hi everyone, thanks for the responses. It was a curiosity question really so it's good to see a variety of responses. As most of you know my horse is an interesting case study! Last night, baring all these responses in mind I had my sister watch him. In terms of the trot it started awful, stilted and short behind, no engine, tail catching. But this time since he wasn't ear pinning I persisted and the trot got better and better, he started to lift his back and connect better and his tail was more carried. So at this point I think it's a tension/muscular reason and linked to the RER. His tail is long and thick (not cob thick but it's a lovely tail) and the natural set of it is lower than the others on the yard. So I think it's probably easier to let it hang than lift it if he isn't feeling warm and comfortable in his back muscles.

He's going to a trec competition on Sunday for a nice day out before his next vet visit so hopefully I'll get some video/photos then.

 

[BBP]

I thought I'd update this one (in case anyone googles something similar and wants an answer) to say that the tail catching was definitely a sign of tension in the back. Watching him trot out today nice and loose and relaxed his tail was carried nicely behind him without catching his hind legs at all. So knowing what I know now and all the changes we've gone through it's definitely a marker of him not being comfortable when that happens.

 

[Casey76]

Hi Kat, I just thought I'd mention this is one of the first things the vet remarked upon when she saw T being lunged during her assessment prior to the PSSM diagnosis. At the time you couldn't lift T's tail, not that she was deliberately carrying it clamped, but just that the muscles were so locked up, she couldn't lift it.

I use the amount of tension in her tail + presence of panniculus reflex as a guide to assess how bad the muscle tension is on a day to day basis. Often a good massage over the HQ can really help to alleviate some tension.