Because we are doing a pre-purchase on monday! He is a 7 year old and has been in mild work for 2 years due to owner moving and changing life but evented prior . He seems get better after warming up. When trotting his right hip drops noticeably, not terrible but noticeable. And he really isn’t reaching under himself on both rear. But he is overweight and out of shape. Have a really good vet doing the exam. We will probably ultrasound his stifle and of course xray hocks and flexions. What differential diagnosis do you see?
Some type of previous injury to the hip/pelvic area, SI, possibly. Seen out of shape create stiffness, little soreness, reluctance to use self properly but never dropping the hip…that’s a failure to bear weight. Id be careful.
Was the current owner the one who Evented him? I so dont like the not having time line…others might have a different opinion based on their experience.
Does he drop his hip with each stride, or have an occasional flat tire moment?
So he stopped eventing at 5? How much had he done? Dropping a hip makes me think weak stifle, and being so young I wonder if he never got strong enough behind. Of all things, weak stifles aren’t the worse thing in the world.
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Dropped hip is a hard pass for me… means ongoing issues in an area that is very hard to fix and improve. I as a general rule dont want to see any sort of issue or unsoundness on a prospect. Dropped hips and slip to me would mean possible SI injury, stifle injury or KS compensation.
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Agree with Beowolf.
Hard pass. Its an unsound horse if it has a hip drop. And there is no point in going forward with a PPE if the horse is not sound.
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Current owner evented him. BN as a 3-4 y/o, 3 Novice shows as a 4 y/o, Training as a 5 y/o , now 7.
The horse had been jumping enough to go to (Im assuming) schooling HTs as a 3 year old?
ooopsies.
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I looked at one that dropped it’s hip, but tracked up well & equally - equine physio reviewed the video and said not to touch it. Also commented that it’s a complicated area - very difficult to diagnose and treat. I passed
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As mentioned above, it can be a difficult area to work with/diagnose. It seems as though you’ve already committed to the vetting. So, see if that brings any info to light. Could be out of shape, could have a stifle issue, or SI issue. My TB used to have a tendency to have his pelvis out of line, but with strength and chiro visits it wasn’t an issue.
My horse was dropping a hip occasionally, but he is young, growing, and generally weak in the hind end. His left stifle was rather loose, but the ligaments ultrasounded well (no tears) and 4 vets (yes, I’m crazy) all thought it was fitness related. He has improved with his vet prescribed workout program over the last 2 months. However, even through his weakness he always tracked up and stepped under himself remarkably well. He’s also a wee bit straight in the hind end/butt high and growing.
So, both of mine were ultimately young horses in need of fitness.
FWIW on my current horse mentioned above I x-rayed stifles, entire back, all leg joints and feet. All clean.
May be unrelated, but what is his foot situation like? Some horses can really be effected by a crappy/incorrect trim and/or shoeing.
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What kind of diagnostics has the owner done? Do you trust that the owner is telling the truth as to why the horse has had the last 2 years off?
My horse that tore his meniscus ~3 years ago moves like you are describing. His x-rays were pretty clean and the stifle did not block at the time he was diagnosed by US. So as others have said, be very cautious. I would run away.
Over here we don’t jump until the horse has 4 yo teeth in wear as the knees have not closed yet.
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Pass
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I’d throw the vet a $50 and say thank you for scheduling. Esp if you may still be shopping in that area and may use them again. Pass. Cheaper than going thru with the exam.
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Pass unless you want a paddock ornament.
Pass
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You have a lame horse that you are doing a PPE? Save your money, cancel PPE, and run for your life.
Horses that are lame behind drop a hip when trotting. Diaganostics are $$$, Rx is chancy.
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OP, don’t have time to dig right now but haven’t you been posting about soundness problems leading to some long running, pricey vet work in one of your other horses?
Just going to get into some $$$ to run the Dx needed to identify anything in the pelvic/hip/SI areas compared to the much easier look at the stifles, even if stifles show something you think you can work with, might be related to worse, chronic problems higher up.
JMHO, I have never regretted the times I passed on a horse with questionable soundness. Even when one went on to be a 4ft jumper…with questionable soundness.
We passed.
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sorry for you… I know you are looking and deserve a sound horse but I’m glad, I think you dodged a bullet with that one. Did you end up doing PPE? What did the vet think?
