What illness/injury could cause disunited canter? (Also in NL)

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alpha1

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Hi,

My horse always goes disunited in canter, both on the lunge and when ridden.

I've not had her long and she is only 5yo. At first I thought it was lack of balance but I tried her on bute for 24 hours and she cantered correctly....we obviously have a pain related problem!

She has passed three 5* vettings in the last 18 months (she was imported from Ireland through a dealer hence number of vettings), she trots up sound after flexion tests and does not appear lame at any time. She had a foal at 2/3 yo, not sure if that could cause anything?

Of course at some point I will need to call the physio/vet but if anyone can offer any opinions on what might be causing this i'd be most grateful. Thanks
 
Is it possible she could have an ulcer?? We had a horse who did this - we checked everything - back, legs etc. and found nothing wrong.

For another reason, we had him scoped and found an ulcer - treated it for a month on gastrogard, and he has never disunited since! :) Vets reckon he disunited because of the discomfort.

BTW - don't use bute if you think there could be an ulcer!
 
Both leads? My first thought might be SI or something else "spinal" but could also be hip/stifle/hock. It's such a standard "symptom". I might look at hocks first, as they're easy to examine and treat, and pain there (or anywhere) will cause problems elsewhere as well.
 
My 5-year-old started doing this and it deteriorated in the space of a couple of weeks. She turned out to have a chronic issue with both hind suspensories :/ She had come over from Ireland just before I bought her and I had her vetted (five-stage). I'd only had her about six months.

It is unlikely to be that unlucky with a young horse though! More than likely it's just muscular so probably worth getting the physio out in the first instance.
 
shakia said:
It is unlikely to be that unlucky with a young horse though! .
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I dont know about that...I lost both my last horses due to lameness....i'm not sure whether to lol or cry! I'm sorry to hear about your horse Shakia.

TarrSteps - yes it is on both leads.

Who should I get to look at the horse in the 1st instance? Vet/physio/Mctimoney? I know the vet will do a full work up which will prob cost me ££££!
 
We discovered 1 of ours had kissing spines after he began going disunited in canter. I would have your horses back checked. Good luck, I'm sure it won't be as bad as my experience!
 
TarrSteps said:
Both leads? My first thought might be SI or something else "spinal" but could also be hip/stifle/hock. It's such a standard "symptom". I might look at hocks first, as they're easy to examine and treat, and pain there (or anywhere) will cause problems elsewhere as well.
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This! Start with the hocks, and work up. It is a classic symptom of SI, but in a young horse I'd be thinking OCD hocks or stifles. Basically the horse doesn't want to take the weight on the outside hind leg to push off for the canter stride, and if it is bilateral they will disunite on both leads.

Don't waste money with chiros etc, they shouldn't treat a horse without vets permission anyway. You will probably end up paying twice. Get the vet out, explain the symptoms and ask them to bring the xray machine if they have a portable one, so if they need xrays you are only paying one call out fee. Get a diagnosis, then you can start thinking about physio/chiro etc.
 
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Could you please explain what SI and OCD are? Sorry to be thick!

She strikes off correctly but changes after about 1 - 1/2 20m circles if that helps?
 
when my mare did this, the first thing the vet said was Spinal, kissing spine... Although it turned out to be a joint problem (in her coffin joints), and she's still not right. However Ballet is 15.

Good Luck, I was also told (by the vet) that, a physio is often far better than a vet at finding anything to do with deep muscle tissue, or muscle related problems. And then the vet can go from there.
 
Basically, OCD is a developmental joint disorder, so can cause "unexpected" lameness in a young horse. Some horses have it and no one ever knows, at least not until they're x-rayed later in life, some go seriously and permanently lame, most are somewhere in between. It can cause anything from mild inflammation to the formation of rough areas, even "chips" in the joints.

Vet first, definitely. The problem is now we can find so much, it can be a case of too much information. So approach it methodically, starting with the most obvious and easiest to investigate options. If your horse does have hock pain she will likely also have "back" pain, as well, so you're quite likely to get a "false positive" by investigating that first. Treatment like chiro/physio may even improve things short term, but it's not the long term solution if there is something else underlying. By the same token, if you do find a hock/stifle problem and address it she may also need some help recovering from the affects on other parts of her body.

I know this all sounds a bit grim for something that maybe seems "behavioural" but the quicker you get and answer, the quicker you can find a solution.
 
My last horse was PTS with an unconfirmed lameness. I spent ££££ trying to find out what was wrong with him and never got an answer. I'm trying to avoid this by taking all your suggestions and then deciding the best route. I feel if I can offer the vet/physio suggestions i'm not going in blind...
 
have you had back man out ?Could be pelvic pain my boy didnt like to trot and cantered really slow vet couldnt see it but back man sorted it
 
JDChaser said:
We discovered 1 of ours had kissing spines after he began going disunited in canter. I would have your horses back checked. Good luck, I'm sure it won't be as bad as my experience!
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My horse has just been diagnosed with Kissing spine, he goes disunited on the lunge but no signs of it when ridden, he also showed inconsistancy with jumping but after x rays kissing spines was confirmed, he is being treated on wednesday with a quarterzone injection then a course of Tildren intrevenously

good luck with finding the cause of the problem

xx
 
My boy would canter disunited, heavy/falling into the hand and I felt I was propping him up in canter through a strong rein contact. He was found to have sacroiliac injury plus PSD (he was 5 at the time). Both of those problems have now been fixed as well as they can, and his canter is 300% better - uphill, bouncy and never disunited and we can now do trot transitions without nose-diving into the arena surface.

I really think it could be anything for your horse, including being young and without the muscular strength that he needs. I'd try to get a referral to a specialist equine unit if possible, where they can do a full workup. Believe me, it's worth getting it fixed if it's anything like the problems we've had! I could comfortably canter him all day now :D
 
I had this problem with my then 6 year old 2 years ago.
He would also tank off & buck in canter only, walking trotting fine & no lameness in the trot ups.
I spent £££s with the vets & they couldnt figure out the problem (he had scans, x-rays, nerve blocks) & we could find nothing. I was about to give up hope when somebody from another forum suggested I get a physio out to see him (vet didnt off this advice :mad: )
He needed about 6 months worth of sessions but he is now fine.
She thinks it was an SI injury, deep in the pelvic region (she says it wouldnt have shown on scans, x-rays & nerve blocks as the muscle is such a large area)
He is still having treatment every 6 months, as he is very reluctant to do simple changes so I still think I have a small issue still, but my physio says it could be pysicological (SP??) after being in pain for so long.

Good luck-I would get the vet out first to explain problem & then get a physio out (as you will need vet permission) to see what they can find :)
 
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