Yearling "trailing" hind leg

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Knockadoon

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Hi. My pony yearling 10hh appears to be doing something strange with one of her hind legs. When grazing, as she's moving gradually forward hoovering up the grass, it's as if she forgets to move one of her hind legs with her and sort of stretches out away from it. When she does bring it under her , she often tries to put down on it with the joint still flexed ie the leg is under her but the sole of the hoof is pointing back. She stumbles and just recovers. It doesn't seem to affect her in an active walk, a trot or if she's startled and takes off suddenly. Only when grazing. She seems perfectly fine otherwise. What is up???
 
Just to add , She also does this when investigating the wheelbarrow or something and just ambling slowly. It's like she's not paying enough attention to one of her legs.
 
It sounds like she might not know where her leg is, is it always the same one? What is she like when she backed up or circled tightly? I'd be a bit worried about a neurological issue.
 
I only noticed it today really. I had seen her stumble a bit before but never as pronounced as today. She did it about six times in the space of an hour. I'll back her up and circle her tomorrow. I did notice that she's eating the hedgerow around the field very enthusiastically, there might be some bracken in itand I think she might have eaten a lot of ash seeds as we had a very windy night last night and the ground is covered. Could either of these have done harm? It seems a sudden escalation.
 
could be neurological, but from your description I'd think possible upward fixation of the patella. could be getting stuck when she is grazing. hard to say without seeing it though as I might have a completely different image in my head from what you've described , have a google and see if it looks similiar!
 
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When she puts down on it, it's placed in the same way as the fixated patella horses but her movement is smooth and not at all stiff. It looks just like she forgets to straighten it. The joints seem totally sound.She corrects it immediately as if nothing had happened. I'm worried it might be neurological as well which is bad news.
 
There can be different levels of patella fixation, some are much worse than others and some only show little bits of it, a good way to tell if it is neurological is to pick up the foot, place it at a funny angle and see if she can tell where it is, she should put it back in a "normal" place. If she has a neurological issue she will struggle to recognize where her leg is and might leave it there for a good while, although some lazier horses will stand with their legs wherever you place them so it's not always a good test! but you can compare it to her other legs. See how she is coordination her legs when backing up and turning tight circles. Of course the best thing is to get your vet to look, but it's nice to have an idea first of what it could be.
 
I'll put her through the circling and backing routine tomorrow to see how she is. Hopefully it's not major. I'd like to know more before I go to the vet. Last time I brought a dog to him, the seemingly on deaths door patient had a miraculous recovery in the back of the car and I think he thought I was some kind of hysterical maniac.
 
Hoof_Prints said:
could be neurological, but from your description I'd think possible upward fixation of the patella. could be getting stuck when she is grazing. hard to say without seeing it though as I might have a completely different image in my head from what you've described , have a google and see if it looks similiar!
Click to expand...

My first thought was this.

But i would also second a neuro condition, especially as she's so young.
 
Wow! You lot definitely know your stuff. It's intermittent fixation of the patella alright. I owe you a pint! She's perfect on the backing and turning but the patella is getting stuck when she moves slowly forward. I can actually hear it clicking now that I'm looking out for it. I know a build up in muscle tone will help but as she's so young and obviously not in work should I leave her or do some exercise with her. She's out full-time for the winter.
 
Don't worry, it's common in growing youngsters (especially cobs) and usually sorts itself out. As much turnout as possible is best as it can get worse if stabled. I'd be more worried if it started as a 4yo, but as a growing yearling, don't worry too much :)
 
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