Anyone heard of this?

Ave Sodalis

We have a three year old TB mare who we were reschooling after a short racing career. This was going good until she started going lame. Once she recovered, a day or two later, she would go lame again. Now we have noticed that, when she is tacked up with someone on her back, she would walk with her front legs crossing eachother, as in her right leg would pass completely to the other side of her left and vice-versa. This is not the case when she is ridden bareback or has no tack on her. (please know that we discovered the strange way of walking after a week or two of no sign of lameness and that we only rid her bareback in walk so as to see if this made a difference. We were not riding a lame horse... just in case anyone thinks that:o)

Has anyone else experianced this? We are getting a vet for her but I just wanted to know if anyone else knows anything about it. Neither I nor anyone else I've talked to has seen it before.

ramblingroisin

i never heard of that before but i was told by a young girl last week that her pony kept goin lame with no problems vet could find and when a back specialist looked at her informed them it was due to wrong fitting saddle . not sure if thats any help it must be very frustrating on ya .

convert

On-and-off lameness could also be the first signs of a splint? But I've not heard of of horses crossing their front feet like that (apart from when they're messing or spooking).

Could it be to do with the girth? Sometimes fillies/mares can be a bit 'marish' and object to the girth, especially if there's foam on the inside (causes my point-to-pointer (gelding) to buck all day when it's put on him (which is very rare now)? Or it could be due to the saddle been uncomfortable. Best to get the vet out first (which you're already doing), and then take it from there.

Kens

Sorry no help to you on the leg crossing but the On/off lameness could be suspensory ligaments I'm sure your vet will come up with a prognosis

Bellemz

It could be early signs of Wobbler's (neurological disease caused pretty much by OCD somewhere in the neck) but I would get the vet out definitely. If he finds nothing then try a back person (chiro-, physio-, osteo-, whatever you prefer) as that's also a possibility if it only happens under saddle. Have a look for uneven muscling which would be a sign she may have her shoulders/pelvis out of joint (chiro can fix that). Let us know...

eilo1

what does she do in trot / canter?
did you try lunging her with the saddle on?
is she hanging to one side or turning her head/neck in/out. Iv had lots of racehorses do this especially in walk when getting worked up or waiting to go.
It may not be related to the lameness she may be just fresh from standing in while lame. Or trying to avoid a girth sore??

Ave Sodalis

Hi. Thanks guys, you have giving me somewhere to start. I'll let you know around Saturday or Sunday how the vet went.

No, eilo she doesn't hang or turn her head. In trot she's reluctant to put her front feet down, as far as I can remember. We haven't trotted her in a while. She is out in the field currently.

We have considered the girth and we are going to ask the vet about it. We are going to consult a chiroprator too, after the vet.

Ave Sodalis

Hi, sorry I haven't been on in a while. Haven't heard anything until yesterday. The vet could find nothing wrong with her legs so we got another woman. She discovered damaged around the back of the ribs (i.e the last few ribs). She doesn't know whether it was the saddle we had on her rubbing or a former injury from racing. She treated the injury with what she called 'equine touch' which was quite interesting. If this does not work, she is starting a course of massage next week. Hopefully all goes well and she's back to normal by the end of next month!