what do you think i should do.

china

china

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i try and compete as much dressage as i can BD and unaffiliated. i did my first novice 2day!! yay
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i got 57% which i dont think is bad for a first time and 66% in my prelim. anyway, a while ago i was doing BD and he wasnt go his best, he was quite hollow. the judge got out of the car and said that he is very irregular on 3 feet and that i should get it investigated, i spoke to my boss who said what horse isnt going to go irregular when they stick there head up in the air and throw themselves off balance. i havnt heard anymore for a couple of months and have done test since, today in my novice, the person who was judging me used to teach me when i was a student on the college horses so i know her fairly well and she said to me he looks irregular on the left rein inconsistently but he definatly does not look sound all the time. he warmed up absolutley fine and was being a spooky fool in the novice so i dont rely know what to do, i might get the back lady out but dont really know if its a coinsidence or if he is genuinly unsound.
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I think Dressage judges pretty much know what they are looking for and are quite good judges when a horse doesnt look sound, I have written for one before and she was very knowledgeable. May be a good idea to get your vet out for a lameness work up, at least you will know. Would do this before paying for a back person to come out.
 
Could he be going "bridle lame" during the tests? We had one horse who was as sound as anything but would often appear to nod during tests so it is worth looking at your riding first because your tension may be affecting your hands and when a horse is trying to almost "stay" behind the bit they can become tense through the shoulder and "appear" irregular or lame.

So a lesson or two may put you right or get an expert to watch your horse being schooled on an ever decreasing circle (spiral) or watch your horse yourself doing this exercise with an experienced rider on board.

Then you can look at physical causes but worth considering.
 
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I assume he isnt unlevel on a trot up? What's he like schooling at home or on the lunge?

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yeah fine, it just when hes ridden, he feels fine schooling at home but then there is no one on the ground to say he is unlevel. and he seems absolutley fine. if anything i think our left rein is the better rein as he is much more forward on the left then on the right rein. how much roughly would a full lameness work up be?
 
I would get it checked out to be honest.

Don't take this the wrong way but he might be lame & you just might not notice. This happens more often than you might think as you get very used to the way a horse goes.

If 2 professionals have mentioned it to you without being asked I think it is worth investigating.
 
When I had the vet out to trot my lad up, it was the cost of a normal routine and examination visit. He trotted him, flexion test and trot on the lunge...if it was me i would get the vet out first just in case. I know the feeling as my lad wasnt going as usual and i called the physio out thinking it was something with his back, it ended up being a tendon (Not saying thats what it might be) but just get it checked
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how much roughly would a full lameness work up be?

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Depending on your excess, I would expect your insurance to cover it.

I would call the vet personally, at least then if there's nothing wrong you know that you can look at other factors. Are you more tense at shows? My horse goes totally differently at a competition - at home, he schools nicely and is great in lessons away too, but because I get tense at a comp, so does he. He once bucked throughout every canter in a test because he was just so worked up, and I was riding him totally from my hand instead of properly. If the horse only seems to be going lame away from home then you need to look at everything. Do you have an instructor who can come out to you at home to look at him?
 
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