Horse choosing to stand parked out (without previous training)

[aGoodHoss23]

Hi all,

wanted to ask: what has been your experience with a horse choosing to change his posture and stand parked out after exercise (or before)?

When you dealt with this issue, what was your experience with fixing it, and did the remedy work for you?

I have scoured the internet and so far have come up with:

• Could be ulcers

• Could be laminitis

• Could be back pain

• Could have kidneys issues

• Could have an unhealthy gut

• Could have pain in the hind end

• Could be PSSM /have muscle tightness

In my personal experience, it was most certainly bad trimming technique, but I’m sure this isn’t always the case.

[sheltona01]

I associate it with feet. Either triming or navicular.

[sami-joe]

My only experience with this habit is geriatrics with digestive discomfort. i.e. one horse of my own, and one at a ranch where I work.

In my own elder care situation, I put him on omeprazole and added as much alfalfa as he’d eat. He stood normally in about ten days.

Then I was able to put more than 100 pounds on him. In. The. Winter. In. Maine.

n.b., I’m fully aware that correlation is not causation. That said, anyone could see that this big old dude felt better, ate better, drank better, and stood better because he felt better.

[Pico_Banana]

My senior mare did this along with the classic colic symptoms… laying down, pawing, off her food, restless, etc. Thankfully, it resolved quickly with some banamine.

[DMK]

Or bladder issues…

A few years ago when my early retiree was a brand spanking new retiree I noticed him parked out all the time. Nothing else seemed wrong except he frequently looked like he was about to pee.

I also saw him frequently since we had a drought and I kept them in the dry lot 24/7 for about 8 weeks to give spring grass a fighting chance (it’s a really big dry lot). But other than the parking out he seemed fine. He also peed normally which I also saw often since his thing is to pee as soon as I come down to the barn to feed.

When I had the vet out for spring stuff and she thought it seemed like a bladder issue (up to that point I hadn’t thought about that, just that his way of standing reminded me of a horse about to pee). We tested his urine, it was normal so I scheduled him for a bladder ultrasound. Normal too.

The surgeon who did the ultrasound (and was there one who did most of our last ditch, kitchen sink treatment plan before early retirement) then decided to palpate his back, whereupon the early retire almost hit the floor he was so painful. Granted, checking his back would have been option#1 pre retirement, but the dude had been living his best life, untouched by anything human made other than an occasional halter and in his brief working days, parking out was never a symptom (making me a high speed land dart ranked much higher). So I took him home, gave him some bute and in a few days it was time to start adding pasture time to his day and the problem disappeared with movement (that didn’t involve a human on his back).

tl;Dr could be a bladder issue, but save some $, check the back first.

[sascha]

Doubling down on DMK’s back theory. I have the most horrendous pictures of when I first got my current horse. Zero back muscle, zero abs, and a parked out stance that made her appear a full hand lower than her actual height. 10 years later the only time I see anything resembling that stance is when she is peeing. It gradually went away as she gained back and abs strength so anything making the back uncomfortable could certainly contribute to parking out, imo.

[fargaloo1]

In my experience this sudden onset is very consistent with PSSM. My mare who never exhibited any PSSM symptoms when she was in heavy work/actively competing suddenly started parking out a few minutes into exercise. I also thought kidney/bladder problems, back soreness, feet etc. Eventually I sent off a hair sample and she’s heterozygous for PSSM1. This symptom completely went away with PSSM management.

It could be many things other than PSSM, but the test is quick, cheap, and non-invasive.

[Xanthoria]

A horse I knew had this issue and it turned out to be an inflamed gut due to sand, which also caused fecal water