Nope what
Hi,
My mare is having similar issues. I’m curious what ended up happening with your gelding? When the vet came out it looks like you did some injections.
My mare also slips where it looks like she trips consistently on the left hind. I’m not jumping now but when I did before it got worse she stumbled a couple times after small fences. We also went on a trail ride and she stumbled going downhill twice.
We have injected her coffin bone joints and x rayed her hind feet after she flexed sound twice. The second time her sacrum was sore. Her X-rays showed negative angles so she is being shod differently in the back.
Just at a loss annd made the mistake of googling. I’m afraid it is the neck thing people are mentioning.
I realize this is a 3YO thread but I thought I’d respond since I have a horse that’s done this.
Obligatory Not A Vet. IME it could definitely be stifle and SI, related to the poor angles of the hoof structures. Negative angles, especially behind, put heavy stress on the body above and are directly linked to SI and back soreness. The classic “stifle slip” is that falling-in-a-hole feeling, and going downhill is especially hard on those structures. They can flex “sound” when they’re bilaterally sore as well.
All of this will dump weight on the front end and can certainly make the neck and forelimbs sore too. And yes, Lyme and EPM can present this way but those negative hoof angles are certainly causing some of it.
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I agree with @fivestrideline that this could be stifles slipping. If that’s what it is, one of the best things to do for this is lots of hill work because this strengthens the hind end. If your horse is safe to ride it wouldn’t hurt to try this and see if it helps before you spend a lot of money on diagnostics. You don’t have to make this a hard sweaty workout; just lots of walking up and down hills.
In the 10 years I’ve had my horse he’s had a couple of episodes of slipping stifles when he’s been spending too much time loafing in the pasture. His back end suddenly sinks down, usually when going downhill but sometimes when transitioning from trot to walk. More time going up and down hills has always fixed the problem. My usual route when I want a short but effective workout is a 3-mile circle that has 6 pretty hefty hills. We walk down the hills, walk/trot/sometimes canter up the hills, and practice leg yields, figure 8s, transitions, and back up on the flat stretches. And sometimes we just mosey along and enjoy the scenery.
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I’ll share my anecdote of one, on this topic
Young mare is not negative NPA, but flat behind. I put 3D frog pads on her to attempt to get better angles. She started tripping and buckling behind non stop, 10+ times in a ride. She’d be so pissed after, I assume it was tweaking something else that would upset her.
Took the shoes off and voila, no more tripping behind. The angles did not improve with the shoes, for the record. She’s barefoot behind now.
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I have a 14 y/o swedish warmblood who had these symptoms. Tried stifle and SI injections and a lot of hill work. Did a full neuro workup and he was fine. Then x-rayed his back and he has grade1-2 kissing spine in T-16 and T-17. Did steroid injections and he rarely slips now.
I know you aren’t a vet but this was SUPER helpful. Just saw the neck thing and went to the worst case scenario. She looks sound most of the time except the “random hind leg falling in a hole”.
Thank you for responding!
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This is interesting…going to mention it to the farrier. Right now shoes are pulled back with a break over.
I have access to some hills and my trainer definitely recommended just doing stifle strengthening exercises and if it gets better, great and if not then back to the vet.
I’m hoping it isn’t this although sounds mild and treatable in your case.
Yep that’s how my stifle horse felt. Completely goes away when he’s fit (gradual build up of hills, poles, EquiCore, backing, and grids) - he’s one you can’t give extended time off to unless you want to start over.
If I were doing it all again, I’d take regular hoof balance X-rays to make sure the feet are making timely progress, get a good bodyworker out monthly if possible, and start a stifle building boot camp. From there if it’s still happening I’d consider injections and/or back xrays.
YMMV but except for EPM, the conservative treatments for stifles, SI, KS, and a lot of other issues start with getting them comfortable in their body (bodywork/injections as needed), their hooves balanced, and improving their core fitness and supporting muscles. Good luck!
We injected stifles, hocks, coffin joints (so basically everything - though not all at once) and continued on adequan. I think we re-did the loading dose. Vet did not feel it was any sort of neurological issue.
Ultimately we felt like it was a fitness thing that could be exacerbated by certain types of footing (deep and soft). I did as many hills and trot poles as I could. It was tricky because the horse was older so we couldn’t overdo the riding or we’d end up with soundness issues. We ended up retiring him 2 years later.
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I’ve never been told to rest a horse longer than 4 days after joint injections. Light return to work on day 4. Injections just reach their max effectiveness on day 12.
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Re the Injections: I believe our standard protocol has been 2 days stall rest + hand walking, 3rd day normal turnout, 4th day normal turnout + light hack and then back to normal routine. Never had an issue.
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