Abnormal gait in hind legs

[EventingLady]

Hoping for ideas on horse with gait abnormality in hind end. Swings hind legs wide when stepping forward, and drags toes sometimes, at the walk in hand. Otherwise is sound; bucks and runs around the pasture with no problem. Stable, well behaved and healthy, no tripping. Main finding on neuro exam is very weak tail pull test.

Had X-rays done of neck, hocks, ankles, stifles… all were clean except very tiny OCD in one hock. Vet does not think OCD is root cause of issue. Vet going to test for EPM; neuro specialist did not suggest myelogram after looking at neck X-rays (no evidence of wobbler syndrome).

Got any other ideas what this could be?

[sascha]

Weak stifles can present with outward flight path of hind leg/s and/or toe dragging and not much else. Horse will probably flex fine and have no radiographic abnormalities.

[stargzng386]

When my horse had very mild epm with a very mild negative tail pull result my vet said it’ll affect the whole way he carries his hind end don’t do anything else until the neuro issues are resolved. If it’s epm you’re going to want to start treatment ASAP, focus on improving the neuro deficiencies then see where you’re at.

[EventingLady]

Thanks - we should get the epm test result back on Monday. Of course if that’s what it is then we will treat. However, if the test is negative… then what could it be? Vet suggests bone scan for next step if epm is negative.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

Did you test for Lyme?

[stargzng386]

Keep in mind that the EPM test isn’t super accurate it’s just a titre to see if the horse has had exposure. My horse had a very low positive test result but we treated the symptoms and she had me start treatment even before we got the test results back. We started with a cheaper compounded treatment (toltrazuril) and saw improvement in a week so stuck with that. If his results were higher we would have jumped to a more expensive treatment. There’s a great fb group you can find and join that will answer any questions you have too.

You can test for lyme disease that can also cause neuro symptoms. If both are completely negative and you try treating for epm but there is no change you might need to consult a specialist vet or go to a larger vet hospital if you have one available.

My main point was just bottom line if he has neuro symptoms and a poor tail pull focus on that and fix that first that could easily cause him to have a weird swinging gait because he doesn’t totally know where his hind feet are.

[NaturalSelection]

I have a young WB gelding just as you described. I bought him as a 2yo, didn’t notice the wide tracking when I bought him from somewhat dubious living conditions. He probably didn’t have proper nutrition before I got him.

At 4yo when he had been started undersaddle, I decided his movement was odd and had a few vet work ups. Fancy lameness vet said weak stifles after hock and stifle X-rays were clean. Unfortunately the horse didn’t improve with the prescribed exercise regime (walking hills and cavaletti).

Second vet thought neurologic, we tested for EPM and he showed mild titer, I treated with Protazil, no improvement in symptoms. I supplemented with 10,000 IU natural VitE and the toe dragging resolved and seems as though he tracks less wide behind. Vet thinks Wobblers. I haven’t done neck X-rays or myelogram because I don’t think there will be much possibility for treatment. He lives on our hobby farm and I don’t have any expectations for serious riding career…but he is athletic and shows off canter pirouettes and clean flying changes with ease when playing with his friends. I’m going to try to make him into a walking trail horse for me and try some liberty work.

[NaturalSelection]

@EventingLady how long has your horse been exhibiting these behaviors?

[EventingLady]

Horse has been exhibiting symptoms for about 6-9 months.

We did not test for Lyme yet. Horse has been supplemented daily with Vit E its entire life (we don’t have grass pastures available).

[EventingLady]

EPM test just came back negative

[leesa1]

What breed is the horse? and when you got the neck xrays did they check for c6/c7 malformation?

By Popular Demand: Here's How You X-Ray for the C6-C7 Malformation

[EventingLady]

Yes, full neck X-rays were taken. No malformations.

[EventingMaff]

Any update on your horse? Facing similar issues with mine and trying to figure out root cause. Currently doing the “weak stifle” strengthening regime and seeing some progress (only a couple weeks in) but would be good to know additional avenues to explore.