Is this normal? Horse rope walking downhill

[alteredcarbon]

[ using an alter because this is supposed to be a sales horse and a few people know me IRL. Obviously anything legitimately found will be disclosed or she can live here forever ]

I have an early teens mare that I acquired from an acquaintance - she had a minor tendon injury in the pasture and the previous owners chose to turn her out rather than rehab. It’s been over a year and the ultrasound is clear enough my vet said he wouldn’t have known there was an issue. I purchased her in the hopes of getting her going again and selling to a good, lower level home - she’s super quiet and safe safe safe. Vet has cleared her to do flatwork, trails, and jump to 2’6”, maybe higher if she proves able.

I’ve just been hand walking or hacking (walking) her around the pastures for a few weeks. What concerns me is the way she navigates going downhill. It’s almost like she’s walking a plank. Not quite rope walking, but instead of swinging her legs straight forward, she sets them more towards her midline. She also flings her feet out with each step while going downhill. She walks normally, maybe a little pony strided otherwise.

By itself, this wouldn’t bother me so much. But the mare also drags her hind toes when walking, and is a little klutzy. She has a cute jump and is pretty good in a flat ring (I knew her before the injury), but she’s definitely not a candidate for XC. She doesn’t seem to care about whacking the crap out of a ground pole so she probably shouldn’t be trusted to pay attention to her feet on cross country. She also has a bit of a trip, usually around the end of a trim cycle. Add all this to her tendency to stand in weird positions while grazing and I’m wondering if it’s more than klutziness. She will almost cross her front legs while grazing, to the point where I’m worried a stiff breeze will knock her over.

Could all this be lazy out of work horse things? She’s got some loud opinions like most mares, but she’s also not as body aware or generally smart like most of my others have been. She seems to be pretty lazy, never picking her feet up more than she has to. She’d be perfectly happy to stand around and be a couch all day. But I haven’t had many horses as klutzy as this, or seen them walk downhill the way she does!

[QuestionMark]

This sounds a little like my mare who was diagnosed with cervical arthritis (at age 19) that (when inflamed or irritated) impacts her ability to know where her feet are. This first became apparent when watching her go downhill. She also trips more than your average horse and failed a neuro exam when this was first being investigated.

She has done pretty well for the past few years on daily anti-inflammatories and (most helpfully) regular acupuncture.

[Bristol_Bay]

I would suspect a neurological condition. That’s exactly how my neuro horse walks.

[alteredcarbon]

I have been worried about neuro. In fact, the old owners had a vet out to do a Lyme test and neuro/lameness exam when they found the tendon. Lyme came back negative. Neuro didn’t receive a score. I think the vet basically said “hmm that is a little weird” but when they found the tendon they ran with that instead.

However, mare did just get trimmed and came out a little bit tender on the crazy hard ground we have. She did the funny steps and tripping stuff before, but I’m wondering if maybe she’s also protecting her feet and making something look worse. Could that be a factor? The old owners let her feet go a bit, so we have been trying to get her heels up and back.

[trubandloki]

Wondering, did you do a PPE when she changed hands?

If you did, having that vet back out for another look might help you know if this is different/new or if she was this way when you did the PPE since they have recently looked at her.

[endlessclimb]

Riding Uphill and Downhill

While a vet taking a look would not hurt, I think going down hill a little more “flingy” looking legs is normal, as well as a different placement of the feet. They’re trying to balance and navigate and listen all at the same time. Watch the video in full, but 11:08 has a good view of the horse going downhill. Legs a little flingy, feet way closer to midline than the horse’s normal stance.

[alteredcarbon]

I did do a basic PPE. Flexions and an ultrasound of the injured leg. I’ve texted that vet and he basically said she’s weak and a bit dense, but he’d come look at her if I really wanted. If I want a really good workup I’d need to haul to the school. I like this vet but he doesn’t do the detailed lameness stuff.

[alteredcarbon]

I’ll look at that video at lunch! I’m well aware that I don’t walk completely normal either.

[luvmyhackney]

I’d probably X-ray the feet and get a neuro exam done. My pony will walk like that downhill when his front feet are sore.

Have you tried adding some hoof boots to see if that helps? Sometimes it’s sore feet and sometimes it’s the ole’ crap… I forgot about those feet down there.

[alteredcarbon]

Okay I watched the video posted, and this mare has a much more dramatic fling and placement. Maybe in part because she’s not carrying western tack and an adult man?

I have thought about boots but have no experience with them. I would be happy to order some, at least to try. The farrier thinks her feet are fine and just need to toughen up. I do know she used to toss shoes in turnout all the time due to forging and over tracking. I think boots might be better than trying shoes.

[Chall]

Both of my horses rope walked downhill. The eventually-permanently lame TB also flicked his feet and stumbled, but he had attention deficit problems, he was always looking around at interesting things.
But my very sure footed, very healthy Arab also rope walked on downhills, sat back on his haunches and took his sweet, sweet time on descents. I always had to trot on the flat to catch up with others when we finished a downhill section.

I’m not sure I’d make much of downhill behavior without other signs of abnormality in different situations.
Eh, reread your post. Weird positions while grazing is notable. Does she cross her legs when resting too?

[trubandloki]

@Chall

I’m not sure I’d make much of downhill behavior without other signs of abnormality in different situations.

This was my thought too when I read the OP. The careful walking down hill sounds just like so many horses I know. But the other stuff makes it all weird.

[alteredcarbon]

She does not cross while resting. I guess the thing she does is when grazing or eating hay she always has one front foot forward and the other back under her belly. She will rearrange to maintain this stance. Sometimes she will keep the belly foot in place and just rotate the forward foot around it, to the point that her fronts are crossed. I have pushed on her lightly and she doesn’t always correct her stance. Maybe she doesn’t think I’ll push hard enough to knock her over.

[Chall]

Is one foot dished and the other not? Maybe it’s a comfort thing with the dished hoof.

Now I’m sounding as if I know what I’m talking about, I’m going on my own two horses only.
My Arab had one foot dished, and a relatively short neck but was totally sound, by TB who crossed his front legs when standing in ties for a long time, had real problems.

[atr]

I think her front feet are sore.

[alteredcarbon]

Hmm I don’t think her foot is dished. They are both long in the toe and flatter than I like. I am working on it.

I think I will see about boots and try to address any foot soreness first. That will be the least involved thing to try before calling the vet or hauling somewhere. Already she seems better as we get farther from her trim.

[hoopoe]

Please get an exam for both neuro and cervical spine issues

[DMK]

I have what can only be described as the soundest horse I have ever owned or known. He is also a pony and therefore much smarter than most of us. When we first started to teach him half steps to encourage him to tuck his fjord butt under his fine self and think about a greater degree of engagement. He very quickly figured out that we were asking him to not cover much ground and engage. He was ok with the first but thought the latter was a real waste of his time and energy.

His response? Rope walk up front so he could take shorter but not engaged steps behind… kind of like walking down a hill when you don’t want to sit on your hindquarters.

[alteredcarbon]

Neuro exam is done. Not a high neuro rating, but we found kissing spines. I started a new thread regarding that diagnosis, but thank you everyone for pushing me to get the vet out!