Can the canter become worse as the horse ages?

[erikaeq]

Hi there.

I have an 8yo warmblood gelding who I have owned since he was 4. Recently I have been watching videos of when we first got him vs now and I feel like his canter isn’t as nice as it used to be. I think in the old videos it is a lot more long and flowy looking, and in recent ones it is not bad, but definitely doesn’t look as nice as it used to. A bit more short-step and choppier looking

Please help! He is a pretty nice mover overall and his canter is still nice, just not AS nice as I feel it used to be. What do I do? Is this natural? Is it just the perception of his legs being more proportionate to his body? I have never seen anyone talk about this and I want to see if anyone has dealt with this before as well.

[Bristol_Bay]

There could be a few reasons, like if his hocks are stiff or his saddle doesn’t fit well.

[iberianfan]

Not a H/J person, but I would say check what @Bristol_Bay says and check for soreness anywhere. 8 is not old. I had a mare whose gaits deteriorated and she had sore s/i joints.

[Willesdon]

As @Bristol_Bay said and check things like foot balance and even if his winter rugs fit properly so his movement can remain uninhibited.

[erikaeq]

I will definitely check this out! He was out on lease for about 2 years and they did inject his SI joint which had helped but I don’t think entirely. I’ve had him back for about a month, and I will definitely look into my saddle fit and his hocks. Do you think that shoeing could also be a factor? He was barefoot when I first got him and was for a while, and then my trainer had us put all four shoes on.

[erikaeq]

We have injected his SI joints within the past year, id have to check exactly when that was. I thought I was going crazy! His lease kept not placing well or at all in hacks and had even said he just wasn’t fancy enough. I thought it was weird because he is a nice mover but I assumed maybe she just wasn’t riding him forward enough.

[Bristol_Bay]

Whatever it is, it sounds like your vet should be involved. It could be a simple fix, like changing his shoeing or getting a different half pad.

[iberianfan]

This. A thorough lameness exam. Xray his feet to check angles and any other joints the vet recommends. I would not expect gaits to deteriorate by age 8. If anything, they should improve with proper work, strength and balance. These should be some of his peak years.

[Rumorhasit93]

If he was leased out for two years, it could very easily be the training or the rider. If anything, as the horse gets more developed, more trained, and stronger, the gates should improve…IMO.

Of course soreness could also be a factor. But I wouldn’t fret, especially if the horse has been out of your care/management.

[paw]

Horses are athletes, but are not motivated ones. If your young horse isn’t moving as well as it used to, chances are that it’s realized that it can get by using its body incorrectly, which is going to (eventually) lead to soreness.

You likely have no idea how the horse was ridden while leased out. The fact that it was injected suggests that it wasn’t using itself properly during that time - likely wasn’t really strong enough in the proper muscles to do what was being asked. For the horse’s sake, you now probably ought to start back at the beginning, working the horse properly through on the flat so that it can develop the correct muscles to do its job properly. This isn’t going to be a quick fix.

And while saddle fit can be a factor, no saddle is going to fix a horse who isn’t using itself correctly. Go back to working on the longe if you’re worried about that (in fact, proper work on the longe would be a good thing in any case).

[mvp]

In short, yes this is possible.

Age eight seems young for that to be happening, but from what you describe, you all have a good eye and you can see when a horse is NQR without being officially lame.

If this were my horse, I’d bring him to a high-end performance horse vet. Let that guy do a thorough work-up on him. X-ray what he tells you to. I would do hocks, the front feet/coffin joint and maybe pastern or fetlocks in front.

After that, I’d consider higher up things like how he’s ridden or saddle fit. That’s especially true if his top line looks bad. If he’s ridden badly, address that. But on the physical side, I would start at the bottom/simple-- front feet/pasterns, hocks, think about the beginnings of arthritis. Then I’d look for more complicated/higher up things.

And maybe (again, speaking as if I owned this horse), I’d do a course of Adequan first and correct riding/conditioning in a saddle that I knew fit before spent a ton of money on diagnostics with the caliber of vet that you need. If I were working with that kind of vet, though, I would expect that I’d get told about correct riding/conditioning if he/she thought that was missing piece.

[islgrl]

All other things being okay, with a warmblood of that age I would investigate PSSM/MFM if the canter continues to be the issue…

[erikaeq]

Thanks everyone for your advice! We just had a bodywork lady out and she noticed one of his stifles seemed to be carrying some fluid and was a bit puffy. We are going to have it checked out, and I will do my best to follow up on what everyone is saying. He’s never been lame (knock on wood) but he can get a bit tense and stiff throughout his neck and back which I think can be due to him not using his body properly. I’m going to discuss with my trainer and do my best to figure it out! Thank you guys so much, I will keep you all updated!

[Baybear]

Your horses change in canter may be from how he’s been ridden for the past 2 years. When I first got my horse he would evade the bit and carry his head low and behind - that was due in part to his being weaker in the hind end. Now that he’s stronger he carries his head and is using his back better. All his parts are working better.

I would suggest continuing to get regular chiro and rather than rely on that ask what you can do between treatments to help him get and maintain suppleness. The chiro I’ve been using always gives me suggestions of what I can do, what to work on in between sessions. These are a combination of simple in-hand work and mounted exercises. I also give him the next 24 hrs off after a treatment.

[ParadoxFarm]

@Rumorhasit93

If he was leased out for two years, it could very easily be the training or the rider. If anything, as the horse gets more developed, more trained, and stronger, the gates should improve…IMO.

Yes. This other rider may have ridden him short. Maybe she never let the horse ride long and low, stretching his back. It’s possible he just needs to be re-conditioned (of course, if all physical reasons are ruled out).

[Joyrider]

We had a choppy mover a few years back - not saying yours is a choppy mover - and he did something to himself that required the vet to come out. I can’t even remember what. It was cause for the vet to block both front feet for an evaluation of whatever it was that we had called her out there for. WOW totally different horse on the line with his movement. We had had him for about a year I think at this point - just doing some low level lessons. Once we made him comfortable in his feet, he was a whole new horse.

[Pennywell_Bay]

My vet saw videos of my guy and said- his canter looks lateral, came out, did a quick exam and yup- needed his hocks done. They weren’t bad enough to bother him jumping YET that we could tell, but caught it on the flat. (Trainer had remarked his canter to the left wasn’t as good but it was the vet who caught it). Went back to near perfect and now she looks at his hocks biannually as a touch base.

[Ponyplusaninch]

I’ll just add not to discount looking at shoulders, depending on the horse. Mine is very narrow through the front. I would never have thought to look at his shoulders but boy did we get a different animal.

In that same vein–if anyone rides my horse in a saddle that is not “his,” it turns up in his movement–specifically the front end. He looks short and choppy at best; lame and head bobbing at worst if the saddle fit is really off.

So if your horse was leased out and has a more unique back and didn’t have that proper saddle fit for two years… that could also be contributing to the different movement. He could have figured out other ways to compensate to deal with poor fit. Body work and consistent, correct flatwork in the right fitting saddle should help.