wobblie legs

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felicity1

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has any one got or had a horse whose leg or legs have just gone occasionally and horse ended up stumbling or on its knees if so can you tell me how and why if possible !!!
 
An old mare of mine does this on a hind due to a tendon injury in the field 18 months ago. Basiclly back leg gives out every so often.
There is a known condition known as woobler syndrome, your vet can test for it.
Good luck X
 
thanks my 16 year old gelding had massive injury when 3 on foot due to barbed wire never heard of wobbler syndrome could explain a lot
 
Do you mean if the horse isn't picking its feet up and it stumbles? Could be due to anything but in my horse's case it's when he isn't paying attention or I'm just riding around on the buckle end with him slopping along!

If there's something wrong with your horse then you need to get a vet out.
 
i have wondered if it is a stumble as he can be lazy but he has done it 7 times in 4 years , and i mean down on his knees once in the road when he finished up on his side before that he rolled over me and how i am alive today i dont know i dont want to give up on him , but do i retire him or do i carry on , 7 times is not a massive amount but enough yo knock my confidence
 
Wobblers is a condition where the spinal cord is pinched (or worse) usually due to a problem in a horse's conformation. It is most often seen in young horses but can also happen in older horses following an injury that mimics the damage to the spinal cord. What did your vet say? Does your horse show any signs at all of pain when this happens? I had a horse that developed very severe djd and navicular in both front feet. Because they both hurt as much as each other (called bilateral lameness) you don't see a lameness at all! Owners are usually only alerted to there being a problem when the horse starts to stumble for no reason, usually going down hill or on uneven, sloping ground. Thank god, I read an article in one of the horsey mags on bilateral lameness and decided to have a thorough lameness work up done on my horse, expecting some age related stiffness to show up. It was shocking when they nerve blocked one foot and the horse immediately became hopping lame on the other foot. This meant that he was hopping lame on BOTH feet but as they both hurt the same amount, no lameness showed - poor lad couldn't favour one foot.

If your horse hasn't see the vet I'd be very cautious riding him. A total collapse like that at the wrong time in the wrong place and you could both be crossing Rainbow Bridge together.
 
I have a welshie who has been seen three times (twice ridden, once in the field) to have his front legs seem to collapse whilst the hind legs just keep powering on, driving him into the ground. It's only happened when he's cantering and both ridden times have been in lessons in front of experienced instructors. Horse was very shocked both ridden times so we made the decision not to investigate but to retire him from ridden work. He just seemed to accept the fall in the field as one of those things that happens when you are playing with a youngster.

If you are going to keep riding then you'd be as well to get yours checked out and make a decision based on the vet's findings. My old boy was into his 20s when it happened and can live happily at home with us so it was a no-brainer for us.
 
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