If this horse is shod, I would pull his shoes to see if that improves things because shoes take away quite a bit of feeling or proprioception in the hooves. He may also be too tight in his shoulders which is also often caused by incorrect trimming and shoeing and another reason to try this horse bare, if he is not already, just to see if that does the trick. Won’t take long to see.
If he’s anemic, I would consider possible ulcers as well.
Oh my this is not what a nerved horse does on trails to suggest so is talking out of your hat :lol:
I’d be more inclined to think it’s sore hocks or stifles back or 2 out of 3 or all.
Saddle pinching the pee out of the shoulders, maybe.
My guess is stifles. My horse with weak, straight stifles has a lot of trouble going downhill when he’s not fit. I try to zig zag and not take him straight down. How fit is this horse?
First of all… calm down.
Going downhill is really difficult!
How is the rider’s position? Is she leaning forward trying look at his feet as he’s going down hill? Because that’s really going to throw him off balance. The rider’s spine needs to be aligned with the trees on the hill - straight up.
GIVE THE HORSE HIS HEAD AND LET HIM CHOOSE HIS PACE AND PATH. This is the safest option.
It is possible he is a little arthritic in his hocks… He could be trying to sit back a little and shuffle with his front feet on the uneven surface… HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO CLIMB DOWN A HILL WITH AN UNEVEN CRUMBLY SURFACE - YOU DON’T PICK YOUR FEET UP ONE AFTER THE OTHER EITHER - YOU KIND OF SHUFFLE TO KEEP YOUR BALANCE.
Your friend should consider giving her horse a break and getting off and leading him down the hills. There is no shame in this - Endurance riders do this ALL THE TIME to save their horses.
I really do think people tend to over-react with these kind of issues that can be solved by looking at how the person is riding in the first place. - The horse is sound at liberty and according to the OP moves freely and well. It really does sound like he has some confidence issues with going down hills. Get off and lead him.
My horse has been doing this when she isn’t going downhill. I thought hocks but when the vet flexed her it wasn’t the hocks it was the stifle and scored 3/5. We have to x-ray it now. The thing is that any particular problem in the body is going to cause the horse to move differently and make them uncomfortable elsewhere. It makes it difficult to find the original offending problem. I could even see it being due to SI pain or weakness making the horse unwilling to use it’s back end properly unless really urged to.
If it was my horse I would have a string of people take a look starting with a massage therapist which helps to identify muscle pain/tightness and get them loosened up before the next pro…a good chiropractor. With some adjustments if the horse does not improve I would have a vet take a look. I had the chiropractor out here to work on a injured horse and went ahead and had another horse looked at that has never been started under saddle but I had a feeling that something was NQR because he hasn’t been moving with as much reach or impulsion. His back was so sore that the chiro thought I was riding him too hard. :no: He’s young and has never even had a saddle pad on his back. I had a vet trained in chiro out to check on him on Friday and all his back soreness is gone since that one adjustment. He had a few issues in his cervical spine but otherwise was great.
I’d recommend getting x-rays of the front feet. Problems going down hills can be an early sign of ringbone (arthritis of the coffin/pastern joint).
Hay
I would second or is it third saddle fit. I was so in denial about saddle fit. And, my horse had a problem with down hill especially. Lots of tripping as well with his hind feet.
After she has ridden him, take the saddle off and check for sweat patterns. Any dry spots can indicate pinching or bridging. I’m no expert but before you call the vet and spend all kinds of money, have your friend (if she’s okay with it) ride bare back down the hill. If there is a difference, well that could be your answer.
Another Idea
I would check all the other suggustions but you also may want to check out my web site http://www.moonstruckacres.com/Shadow.html - it may be something to keep in the back of your head. I went throu the same thing as your friend.
Louisa
[I]["/When we are trail riding when he walks each step in the front he drags his toes lightly across the ground. If she collects him he doesn’t do that. Doesn’t drag the toes on pavement. The thing that worrys me is she has always said she didn’t feel safe on him going down hill. He goes very slowly and takes little bitty steps. Yesterday she called me to stop and watch her coming down a steep hill that had roots growing across it. That blinking horse wasn’t picking up his front feet at ALL. Of course his feet were catching on roots and it’s a wonder they didn’t come down head first. She then gathered him up and he started picking up his feet but the right front was sorta paddling as they came down. Never seen anything like it."I]][/B]
Your description indicates the horse has balance and co-ordination issues dependent upon the positioning of his neck when in motion. Another way of saying this is that sometimes the horse doesnt seem to know or care where his feet are. The weird paddling of the right front might also be described as a form of ataxia. It is possible the horse has an issue that causes a dynamic compression in his spine, which is why you are only seeing the symptoms under certain conditions, such as walking on the trail with neck strung out, going down hills, etc. I dont think its the saddle because it sounds like the horse improves when the rider collects the horse. I’m sorry to suggest it, but I’d schedule this horse for a neurological exam, specifically looking for signs of arthritis in the cervical vertebra, wobblers disease, epm, etc.
Thank You All for the thoughts, suggestions and insights. I haven’t had the time to respond to each and every one but am reading (and making a copy of the posts so I won’t forget anything.) and passing them on to my friend. We rode together Sunday and kept her horse mostly in front (he usually brings up the rear as he’s so slow) and he did do better but she said she was worn out from keeping him “pushed up”. As long as she does that he seems to do fairly well. She said it still felt really weird going down hill but it didn’t look all that bad. I DON’T think her saddle is a really good fit as it looks, if nothing else, to be a bit long for him. But she seems to think it’s not bothering him and she uses a thick thick pad. It’s some kind of rubbery stuff that the horse sweats like crazy under so you can’t get a clue of sweat pattern. She rides western.
Sounds like he’s overtired.
hocks maybe?
How old is the horse.?? Sounds like hocks to me. The classic arthritic hock thing is that they take small steps down hill and kinda “pogo-stick” their hind legs to go down. They bounce a lot cuz their hips are trying to accomodate the up/down motion because they don’t wan’t to flex their hocks. It helps to condition horses for hill work too. Unfit horses don’t go downhill well too.
She could always try a dose of bute before a hill ride to see if it makes a difference. I use nsaids for myself so why not!!!?!!
check the eyes
Please have the horses eyes checked. The older horse I ride is blind in both eyes due to uveitis and has great difficulty going downhill. It began when his one eye was affected. Their depth perception is affected by sight problems.
When a horseis going downhill, an ill-fitting saddle – ESPECIALLY one too far forward (as MANY MANY MANY people put them) or too tight, is going to REALLY press. A horse is going to move as little as possible, including tiny little steps and trying to not move th shoulder by not picking up the feeet much, to minimize the PAIN.
I realise this was a long long time ago…just wondering if the OP ever found out what was causing the horse to walk like that downhill.
That’s what I’m wondering too…
This is how my mare was walking downhill. She was also having a hard time holding her feet up to be trimmed.These are both signs of chiropractic issues. If a horse has a sore neck they cannot balance going downhill and will take short mincing steps. I’ve had two different horses who did this. It also could be a back issue that can be fixed by a chiropractor. That would be where I would start. If that doesn’t resolve the issue then you can dig deeper but I’m guessing it will.
It can be a lot of things … hocks, stifles, shoulders, neck, back, saddle fit, feet. I second the thought to check for neuro issues - EPM & Lyme if applicable. At least they are easy to rule out. Good luck.
I also suspect EPM. We have a horse that has extreme trouble going down hills, to the point that we get off and lead him because we don’t feel that he is safe. He looks great on the flat and he has shown very well in dressage. Vet feels that he had a case of EPM in his past.
I was using RedCell for a while and I noticed my horses were getting overly lethargic. It has way too much iron. Have her get a new supplement or give 1/2 a dose to keep iron intake at a normal rate.
I would also make sure his toes aren’t too long and that he is done correctly.
That the saddle fits.
That your friend is riding correctly going down a large , steep incline ( not all horses can be like the one on Man from Snowy River).
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