Horse losing power in hind end/unhappy when ridden

[BritishEquestrian]

Hi all,

I bought a showjumper around 6 months ago and in the last couple of months of building her up I have noticed she has begun to feel as though she loses power behind and drops out of canter looking as though her hind end comes underneath her a little bit and sometimes appears to slip behind. Also beginning to look unhappy working after 20/30 minutes. We had her 5 stage vetted and passed that absolutely fine and built her up slowly to increase muscle over the winter.

She is a 10yo and has jumped 110/120 for a couple of years so understandable she may have a little wear and tear. The vet came and looked at her, did full flexion tests and trot up and she was completely sound and back/SI joint etc felt fine, we then did a bute trial (2 sachets a day), however this has made little to no difference and still loses power through hind end/very ears back and obviously a bit sore ridden. She recently saw a physio around a month ago and did feel improvements were made but only lasted a week or so.

Vet initially suggested hock injections to help her as she is a big powerful mare but unsure if the bute hasn’t made a difference if we will pursue this. Said horse does have relatively bad conformation of her feet and the farrier did shoe her laterally (Different to what she has been used to) to help straighten her movement up, but I am not sure whether this would have such a significant effect on her? (Particularly since she has been shod like this for several months). Other than that I am unsure what could be wrong/what has caused this, especially since the bute not working has me at a bit of a loss?

Our vet is coming back out next week to see her ridden and hopefully make some progress on getting to the bottom of this but until then any suggestions or past experiences (Preferably positive ones!) welcome, just want to get this sorted and find a solution!

Thank you in advance

[halt]

i would look into suspensories…

often the first thing riders note is “loss of power” and “slipping” or “toe drag”.

the hooves may very well be the root of the problem though; bad shoeing behind can certainly aggravate suspensories. i would hold off on injections and ultrasound both suspensories behind and see what they look like.

[merrygoround]

You have a 10 year old and your farrier is trying to improve her conformation by changing her angles? Straightening her up? Perhaps time to rethink that.

[joiedevie99]

I agree that the shoeing decision sounds wonky, but I’m also inclined to think high hind suspensories. Time for a direct block and/or an ultrasound. The shoeing may be a contributing factor to suspensory soreness.

[findeight]

Don’t know what a stage 5 vetting would include but hind suspensories often do not react to flexions as joints like hocks and stifles can and don’t really create any obvious lameness until they get quite advanced. Have you done ultrasounds on the lower hinds?

Don’t think changing angles is a good idea either, they were working fine in past years jumping around.

[gumtree]

@halt

i would look into suspensories…

often the first thing riders note is “loss of power” and “slipping” or “toe drag”.

the hooves may very well be the root of the problem though; bad shoeing behind can certainly aggravate suspensories. i would hold off on injections and ultrasound both suspensories behind and see what they look like.

“loss of power” and “slipping” or “toe drag”.

IME this is more indicative of a possible SI condition/issue. IME a hind suspensory issue show/feel other subtle “signs”

IME my expensive education SI and suspensory issues can be difficult to figure out, diagnose when using anyone other then a very experienced Sport specialist. I would avoid using a general practitioner. No mater how “good” they are or think they are. No disrespect intended.

SI or hind suspensory issues are quite often misdiagnosed as hock or stifle issues. IMO in the long run it is usually better to spend the bucks to take the horse to a clinic with a top sports vet. Spend a few hours to “block and ride”. Stem to stern.

[khall]

I would also think about PSSM possibilities.

[halt]

@gumtree

“loss of power” and “slipping” or “toe drag”.

IME this is more indicative of a possible SI condition/issue. IME a hind suspensory issue show/feel other subtle “signs”

what other signs, exactly?

one of the first symptoms for hind suspensory issues is loss of power. toe-drag is another pretty big symptom for suspensories.

it’s easiest to feel under saddle, can be hard to see – even if it is bilateral, it’s pretty distinct whilst riding the horse. at least, i’ve always felt it distinctly. it can feel like the horse slips out from under you, especially in upward transitions and collection. to me it mostly feels like the horse just can’t rally with that hind leg. especially in collection, it’s like the horse has gotten a flat tire. the gait might be even relatively speaking, but there’s not much energy coming from the hindquarters.

of course, horses react to pain differently. horses with SI injuries can be funny around turns and slip too.

in my experience horses do not always react or palpitate with hind suspensories even when ultrasound shows a ligament that looks like a tattered rope. i wouldn’t put much stock in passing the flexions especially with the symptoms you have, that doesn’t sound like a sound horse and i bet the changing the angles are to blame. the suspensories have a very thin threshold for that kind of thing, slight inflammation can make a big problem.

in my experience SI and stifle injuries can present similarly but usually don’t; they’re accompanied by a hip-hike, crookedness, and loss of balance. they can slip, especially around turns, but tend to be fine with transitions. they tend to be easy to feel under-saddle too where the closest thing i can describe it to is like watching an uneven-sided “wheel” - clumpy and you really feel it under saddle.

i agree this is something that’s it’s better getting the big guns out for. time for an ultrasound at a clinic.

[OneTwoMany]

@merrygoround

You have a 10 year old and your farrier is trying to improve her conformation by changing her angles? Straightening her up? Perhaps time to rethink that.

Totally agree.

[IPEsq]

How are the transitions upward and downward? With SI or stifle issues, sometimes the downward transitions can be worse than the upward. The horse will brace through the back for the downward transition and not come under. The canter may look a bit like a bunny hop, and you may get crossfiring behind, especially on a small circle. With upward, I’d look maybe more at hocks, suspensories, elsewhere in the back.

With something like stifle or SI, I feel lack of push when the limb is on the outside, and there will be toe drag more when the limb is on the outside. You may also see some shifting from side to side with the lameness. With hocks or other distal limb problem, I find it’s more of a lack of push when the limb is on the inside and the toe drag may be worse when the limb is on the inside. You may find the outside limb is brought a little bit to center to take up the load. With a stifle or hip or SI issue, that outside limb is more likely to move wide, with the inside limb coming more to center.

[asterix]

I too would be suspicious of suspensories and would NOT jump straight to injecting the hocks…unless hocks flex bad and X-rays show deterioration from prior films. The injections can actually mask early signs of suspensories issues. Agree with everyone else - a careful sport horse vet workup, probably including ultrasound, is in order.

[Garnet_Z]

My horse was very unhappy being ridden and his problem took time to figure out. The first couple of vets who saw him didn’t notice anything obviously wrong. He passed flexion tests fine and pre-purchase X-rays of his feet looked fine. However, my horse frequently had tantrums (kicking out) when I asked him to trot or canter, and I had a riding instructor so my riding couldn’t have bad enough to cause that. It turns out he had hind suspensory problems (confirmed by ultrasound). It was a vet who specialized in lameness who figured it out. The same vet figured out that my horse had Cushing’s disease, which was the likely cause of the inflammation.

Edit: Also, bilateral lameness (which my horse had) can be difficult for a vet to see.

[Nevada10]

I’ve been through the same thing, twice. Vet initially suspected SI, and when that injection didn’t help, we did a scintigraphy and it turned out to be the suspensories.

I agree with the person who said don’t waste your time using a farm vet — go to a lameness specialist.

[2tempe]

You might want to have the vet do a neurological test. I had a TB who developed cervical arthritis; its early signs were some loss of backend power and unwillingness to maintain canter. Later there was the feeling of a wonky stifle - like the one hind leg would just be left behind…The first neuro test pretty much eliminated the more usual suspects, we did EPM test to be sure but films of the neck showed the problem.

[BasqueMom]

My first thought was EPM. A neuro exam might be in order.

[pony_baloney]

My BO’s horse was doing something similar. He was finally diagnosed with MFM. Search it and see if your horse shows any other signs of it.

[blitzkrieg]

@khall

I would also think about PSSM possibilities.

This was my first thought as well, but I’ve had a horse with PSSM so it sits in my mind whenever anyone describes a toe drag, slippage, and misery when worked in a horse that has not historically had issues. Add in the 20/30 minute change when worked and it climbs in my mind as the potential culprit.

My thought would be to find a reputable sports med specialist to come do a thorough exam and see where that leads. I would test for PSSM, which I don’t think is expensive, perhaps switch the diet over to a PSSM diet which doesn’t hurt non-PSSM positive horses anyways.

OP - do you know this horse’s dietary and turn out history vs what you are feeding and how she’s housed?

[alibi_18]

@merrygoround

You have a 10 year old and your farrier is trying to improve her conformation by changing her angles? Straightening her up? Perhaps time to rethink that.

This.

Your farrier is wrong in this situation.

You don’t change what worked for so long.

It might have caused a soft tissu injury…

[OneTwoMany]

@merrygoround

You have a 10 year old and your farrier is trying to improve her conformation by changing her angles? Straightening her up? Perhaps time to rethink that.

Totally agree with this. Changing angles on a sound 10 year old can be inviting soft tissue injuries.

You have received some great advice. Don’t waste resources calling in a general practitioner or a chiropractor. Time to reach out to the best lameness specialist in your area.

[findeight]

@BasqueMom

My first thought was EPM. A neuro exam might be in order.

OP has not been back but " 5 stage vetting" and " Bute sachets" hints she’s not in the USA or even North America. That would rule out EPM and might make it harder to find a good clinic and specialists. We’ve had several non NA based posters note it’s harder to find the depth of specialists and diagnostic equipment we are used to here.