Parking out and extreme laziness

[Bays4days]

I need help figuring this out….
Here we go :

Irish sport horse, 7 y/o gelding

I’ve had him for 1 year; he came to me very green

Currently competing first level dressage and novice eventing.

I’ve noticed from the get go that he stands parking out behind; In his stall, on the crossties, @ x. You name it. He has difficulty transitioning in the canter. He’s EXTREMELY lazy. I have to work very hard to do anything. (I will not entertain the idea that it’s just his personality, this is not normal).

My first course of action-

Scoped him, treated him for stomach and hind gut ulcers.

Maybe he’s weak behind? A lot of strength training has gone into him for 6 months

Added Vit E , smart gut and cosequin to his diet

Next train of thought- PSSM.

Put him on ration balancer (he’s fat-ish too), and
A hay low in NSC

He’s sound, has 4 shoes. Doesn’t seem to have any muscle tightness. My farrier is coming this week to make sure he doesn’t have any hoof and heel pain. He works 5 days a week and is on night turnout

I can’t get past the exercise intolerance and parking out. Thoughts?

My vet doesn’t want to do a muscle biopsy while he’s competing.

[GraceLikeRain]

Hoof x rays? I wonder if he’s NPA behind with low back discomfort? He’s lucky you’re being an advocate and not assuming it’s his disposition. Has his sheath been well investigated for some mega beans or something else that could be causing chronic discomfort?

[CoffeeLover]

Did your strength training include core work? My 8 yo gelding also was lazy, had sloppy canter transitions, and stood parked out. We worked to develop his core muscles with lots of hills, walk/trot poles, more transitions, and carrot stretches. After two months of consistent work, he rarely stands parked out anymore. Also has done wonders for his topline.

[candyappy]

I would guess foot/ heel pain.

[RMJacobs]

My guess is he needs his sheath cleaned–could he have a very large bean that is interfering with urinating? I’ve seen a horse park out for that reason, and he stopped after a good cleaning.

Rebecca

[MorganMaresVT]

Before I finished reading I was thinking PSSM. For P1, the UC Davis hair test is the diagnostic, so you could start there: https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/pssm1

Biopsy if you go down the rabbit hole of the other PSSM/MIM derivations.

[jvanrens]

@Bays4days

My vet doesn’t want to do a muscle biopsy while he’s competing.

Like @MorganMaresVT said PSSM1 is diagnosed by a hair test so simple to eliminate at least that. I’m surprised your vet didn’t recommend it since they don’t even have to submit it.

ETA there are a couple of different labs that do the MIM (PSSM2) testing through hair samples, but I have no idea how accurate they are.

[Bays4days]

I just ordered a hair test from UC Davis. It’s a start

[Bays4days]

Good thought.
I’m going in

[jvanrens]

Good luck! I hope it’s that simple.

[Xanthoria]

Do a fecal sand test. A friend had a horse constantly parking out who had a significant sand load. Cheap and easy test!

[Pansonfyre]

There’s a teen gelding at my barn that is very lightly ridden. He stands parked out constantly as well (in stall, drylot, cross ties). He wears bell boots 24/7 - not sure why as his hind feet are never anywhere near his fronts. I know he wears special order shoes in front as I heard the farrier talking to his shareboarder about it…again not sure the reason, but his stance seems foot related.

[sara78]

Mine had cronic back pain and hind Gut pain, he constantly was standing parked out and was extremely lazy.

[Bays4days]

Thanks everyone for your input. Very helpful!!!
I’m now anxious about all the things I can look in to! yay horses!

[B_and_B]

How straight is he behind? I have a 5 year old Shire (with 1/8th Morgan) who has always parked out. He, unfortunately, like his mom is stupid straight through the stifle. (I rolled the genetic dice and lost, he looks Nothing like his dad and is a carbon copy of mom) I’ve struggled with locking stifles with him. He seems to have grown out of that, but his preferred stance is parked.
Here is a picture of him looking his best. He was 3 in that photo and butt high. So you can imagine how straight he is!

[PaddockWood]

From the day I got my guy I described him as “reluctant to move”. So unusual for a young horse and he was 8. We finally have him going under saddle but it’s just walk, trot. No canter. The only canter I see in a straight line out in the pasture.

UC Davis hair test was neg for PSSM1 but the biopsy to MI State came back positive for PSSM2 and very interesting because he had not had an “episode” which I’ve seen some people say is required to test positive. For what it’s worth. He also has never had elevated levels of the muscle enzymes in his blood work.

My guy didn’t park out but did rest one hind leg then the other and very, very lazy. DNA test showed 36% European Heavy Horse. So the draft thing…meaning a good suspicion of PSSM.

I too think xrays of the hinds is a great idea just to r/o NPA.

My guy is also very tightly muscled in his hind end.

Did you see any improvement in behavior after treating for ulcers?

Is your guy stalled?

How much grass does he get and is he gassy? Mine can barely handle grass and is on a leaky gut supplement which has helped him a lot.

Please keep us posted what you find and good luck!

[Bays4days]

Mine also doesn’t have any episodes! But his symptoms make me suspicious

Not so much of a change in attitude but treating for hind gut with Misoprostal fixed his months of liquid diarrhea
He is on night turnout right now. I don’t have any dry lots so he is on grass (not the greatest quality).
He wears a muzzle in spring and fall. But yea he does get gassy! Mostly when it’s really hot and sometimes traveling
I will look into getting his feet xrayed

[PaddockWood]

I DO find if my guy is gassy he’s MUCH more reluctant and I suspect it’s painful. I have given GasX and it helped.

[Bays4days]

How long did it take for you to get your hair sample back from UC Davis?

From my crazy googling, horses with NPA behind camp under not park out?
I’ll get the rads regardles

[PaddockWood]

Seems could have been a couple weeks. Maybe based on how busy they are - reach out to them.

Right, I’ve read that about NPA too. Attended a DVM lecture not long ago and her number one recommendation to prevent issues was annual foot xrays. Maybe good just to check that off the list?