Young horse close behind and wearing outside of hind feet

[whiteflower]

Anyone come across this before and has it been indicative of a problem later on ?
I've got a 4 year old, been backed 6months but done very little under saddle and been taken very slowly. He's completely sound, fantastic to mount, not girthy, has quite bababyish moments under saddle which isn't unexpected and is generally quite a sharp horse. He can be a little nappy but never tries to get you off and is something we are working on which seems separation anxiety related.
I have however noticed he's very close behind (not brushing) and is wearing the outsides of his (barefoot) hind feet so they are not level. He's very unbalanced on the lunge (i rarely lunge him) and often goes disunited in canter but my instructor says they believe it's a balance issue as he's young, unbalanced and not very supple. They believe as he strengthens and starts to do more work the issue will go.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this with a young horse as I'm currently over worrying as this one was brought to bring on after another one of mine has broken and I'm panicking I'm in the road to another one that's going to break !!

 

[Luci07]

yup. Horse dished which vet and farrier advised he would grow out of. He did. As he muscles up he will change shape

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Maybe get a qualified physio to look at the horse.They can give there professional opinion rather than people on the forum who may not be as experienced no disrespect intended.But something this important with a young horse needs professional opinion imho.

 

[Lanky Loll]

It is worth getting checked out but many years ago we had a 4yo with a similar issue in large part due to being weak behind. Whilst building her up we kept a small sausage boot on her near hind, this served to "bounce" the off hind away and encouraged her to move wider behind. She did much of her early jumping work in trot rather than canter (getting her BN double clears all in trot ) and just allowing her to canter when she offered it rather than pushing for it IYSWIM by the time she was 5 she had strengthened up and it was no longer an issue for her.

 

[whiteflower]

Thanks for the replys. He's been seen by an acpat physio who although noticed he was weak and close behind found no other tightness or issue. Again she believes he is just weak.
Asking on a forum is to ask for others experiences not as a substitute for proper care. That's the beauty of forums like this, someone with similar experience can often give a new angle to think about.
It's reassuring to hear others have improved with age/building muscle

 

[katastrophykat]

Hi! My boy is 8 this time and has only this winter straightened out- he's gone up another inch too ��

He's native x tb x Hanoverian x trotter, and a big lump! Til last year he 'tipped' his back toes and brushed behind, and wore the outside edges, but this was ear is a lot more level. Gentle schoolwork, lots of hacking over different terrain and playtime needed.

 

[whiteflower]

Thanks katastrophykat, that's interesting to know, he is quite gangly still, he still looks like his legs are too long for his body, I'm hoping he's not still growing at 8 he will be a giant !! Sounding like i need to carry on slowly and build him up and just keep a close eye.

 

[DabDab]

Yes, quite common for young horses to be close behind and to straighten out as they build strength over their SI. Might be worth asking the physio about whether the uneven wear on the rear hooves is likely to make the issue worse, and whether some supportive farriery for a short period may be a good idea (if it isn't very pronounced and doesn't get progressively more severe then it is probably fine but worth checking). Other than that just look into exercises to help build the SI musculature and core muscles and just build him up slowly.
How is he bred out of interest?

 

[Fiona]

Our ID x mare moved so close behind at 4 that she had to wear sausage boots to protect her hind pasterns.

She strengthened up though

Fiona

 

[gunnergundog]

Not having seen any pictures of the horse in question I would x_ray the feet to exclude any imbalances; I would also consider scanning stifles as a young horse and in my experience more likely to be problematical than hocks unless ocd expected.

 

[Tyssandi]

Anyone come across this before and has it been indicative of a problem later on ?
I've got a 4 year old, been backed 6months but done very little under saddle and been taken very slowly. He's completely sound, fantastic to mount, not girthy, has quite bababyish moments under saddle which isn't unexpected and is generally quite a sharp horse. He can be a little nappy but never tries to get you off and is something we are working on which seems separation anxiety related.
I have however noticed he's very close behind (not brushing) and is wearing the outsides of his (barefoot) hind feet so they are not level. He's very unbalanced on the lunge (i rarely lunge him) and often goes disunited in canter but my instructor says they believe it's a balance issue as he's young, unbalanced and not very supple. They believe as he strengthens and starts to do more work the issue will go.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this with a young horse as I'm currently over worrying as this one was brought to bring on after another one of mine has broken and I'm panicking I'm in the road to another one that's going to break !!

I would say unbalanced too, and not knowing your farrier it could be the way he shoes or trims, speaking from experiance here. I suggest you get a second farrier/barefoot trimmer to give you another perspective.

 

[whiteflower]

Hi dabdab, that's a good point about the feet, the farrier thinks they are not that bad and he says they are only slightly uneven but he's monitoring it and when he trims he balances the feet again. Physio is coming again in a few weeks to check again that nothing has changed so will mention to her re the wear on the feet. He's warmblood, calypso, Houston, ferrous lines. He's a very sharp tricky character !!

 

[whiteflower]

Thanks Fiona, that's what I'm hoping !
Gunnergundog, if things don't improve or any discomfort becomes apparent a full work up would be my next port of call as i wouldn't want to miss anything. The farrier is not concerned re the wear it's more my paranoia and looking for issues due to another of my horses breaking quite catastrophically and me worrying that I maybe missed some early on signs.
Thanks tyssandi, it's always worth considering a second opinion, my farrier re balances the foot when he trims (it's minimal amount of change) and then i just noticed before he's due again for a trim i can see a slight imbalance

 

[Goldenstar]

You must not just keep working a horse with lateral imbalance in feet without getting a vets advice .
You need to understand why the horse is wearing unevenly and if you need to leave it or level the balance .
It's very important you get this right .
It might be you need to stop work a while to leave the horse to mature .

 

[Sussexbythesea]

You must not just keep working a horse with lateral imbalance in feet without getting a vets advice .
You need to understand why the horse is wearing unevenly and if you need to leave it or level the balance .
It's very important you get this right .
It might be you need to stop work a while to leave the horse to mature .

I agree with this. If there is an issue the last thing you want with a young horse in particular is to keep working it. Close behind and disuniting may just be a balance issue but they are also signs of neuro and other issues.

I know some will groan at this but I've just started to try my hand at inhand straightness training and the programme is very good at helping you understand horses natural imbalance and how to help straighten and strengthen them to carry a rider hopefully soundly into the future. There is a free booklet you can download off the straightness training website. I'm trying it out with my 22yr old who rolls his eyes at me thinking 'what is she up to now?'

 

[whiteflower]

You must not just keep working a horse with lateral imbalance in feet without getting a vets advice .
You need to understand why the horse is wearing unevenly and if you need to leave it or level the balance .
It's very important you get this right .
It might be you need to stop work a while to leave the horse to mature .

This is my thinking. The vet has seen him as I voiced my concern when he was having his jabs a couple of weeks ago. He trotted him hard and soft, straight and circle and declared he was sound. He stated he felt the feet were not badly balanced just slight wear to the edges ?? He said that he did not feel it was anything to worry about and to call him out again if anything changes. I even asked if he should have time off in the field and he didn't see any need to and again like Physio said, he's just a young week horse and to carry on at the slow pace we r going. This is a equine specialist vet.
I understand the professionals vet, farrier, Physio and my instructor all think it's a non issue but my concern was although not an issue now could it be a sign of problems further down the line. I have no issue getting vet out again if needed but he does seem to think it's just something that needs time and not as big a worry as I seen to think it is !
Sussex by the sea, I have looked into straightness training with my broken horse and find it quite interesting. It's a good idea and maybe something I should incorporate from the ground, thank you

 

[Landcruiser]

I have some thoughts and observations on this which may or may not be relevant depending on the OP's horse. I have a 16yr old barefoot horse who is very close behind and always has been - he brushes (as in the inside of his fetlocks ate always streaked with mud) but he never catches himself, and I gave up on boots years ago. He's built like a brick 2hit house, sound as a pound, but has a horrible swinging walk as he's almost weaving his hinds. On the upside, he keeps my hips and lower back very supple! In faster gaits he's nimble and comfortable.
Anyway, he wears his hooves very unevenly, as you would expect. We do a lot of miles on the roads, and his hoof capsules are clearly very uneven, worn much lower on the outsides, but with some deviation which gives support to the outside wall. He pretty much self trims, and apart from removing the odd sharp inner edge (which would eventually chip off anyway) I never really touch them.
Now I'm not saying DONT try rebalancing hooves, but if I tried to rebalance my boy's feet he'd be crippled - his hooves work very well for his conformation, which is unconventional. This is just another angle to think about, albeit a rather extreme case. But I find myself questioning the whole "symetrical hoof/imposing a balance" thing, when horses are often so different, conformationally and in their way of going. What I'm saying is, consider whether his "unbalanced" hooves are just the hooves he needs to support the way he's going at the moment...
This isn't original thinking on my part, by the way, although it has been my gut feeling for many years. I just read "Performance Hoof, Performance Horse" by Nic Barker - she puts it a lot better than I could.

 

[npage123]

My horse had medial-lateral imbalance on his left hind when I bought him as a 10 year old, the right hind not so bad. I have tried him barefoot in the past (whilst feeding a barefoot-friendly diet) but it wasn't a possibility for him to be without shoes. The farrier carried on with his 6 weekly work over the years, whilst the imbalance gradually got worse, to the point where he too was brushing himself with his opposing hooves, low down, on the level of the coronet band at least. I started putting overreach boots on on his hind legs, which provided a lot of protection. It wasn't until I joined a new yard a few years ago, owned by a very knowledgeable wonderful owner who rehabs horses with all sorts of problems successfully, that she suggested hoof/feet balancing x-rays, with an excellent farrier present to discuss all the findings with the vet. I'm ashamed to say that in all the years that I owned my horse, I wasn't even aware that such a procedure was available. Also it's a mystery to me why no other vet, visiting equine professional, or the farrier I've used previously over the many years, haven't suggested doing this. By using the x-rays, my new farrier has worked wonders over the last few months by simply more correct and appropriate trimming, and using wedges on some feet and graduated shoes on one foot. The new x-rays shows that my horse's pastern angles are almost perfect, he now choose to stand square or choose to use either hind legs to rest onto, looking from behind his actions is now straight, he doesn't rub himself any more as both hind legs move straight. What the new farrier has achieved is amazing. I'll never forgive myself for not having had the x-rays done years ago.