Refusing to go forward, stamping and kicking with hind leg... Thoughts on where to go medically?

[LyssaLou]

Mid November, after just getting on and walking my first lap of the arena on a loose rein to warm up, my boy stopped and refused to go forward. Didn’t really think anything of it, encouraged him to go forward with my legs. He then proceeded to do a really big stamp with one of his back legs. Seemed to me like he was annoyed with something and showing his dislike. He has never shown this behavior before. Trainer and I proceeded to check saddle fit and palpitated/poke/prodded him all over. He did not seem to react anywhere and seems perfectly sound/balanced going around. He had some mild tightness in his hamstrings so I scheduled several massage and PEMF treatments. I also personally massaged him the best I could every day I was out to the barn.

Over the month his annoyance got worse not better. He picks his back leg up and kicks it out to the side in a very large motion. He does it on both sides, no pattern that I have noticed on which side he kicks out with. He does not show any sign of the behavior when he is being lunged with or without a saddle. Only time he shows his annoyance is when I am in the saddle. I have not broken a walk in this time frame, he starts showing annoyance on a loose rein. I have tried warming him up lunging, then hoping on with no changes. I have tried different saddles with different panels/pressure points to see if it is tenderness in his back, with no results. Saddle fit was evaluated by saddle fitter, looks great.

Due to the stamping of his back feet sort of looking like he was kicking at the girth I decided to try the ulcer route. That has since been ruled out by the vet. The vet suggested I try the lameness route next, he was not a specialist in that area so recommended I schedule an appointment with one of his colleagues.

I am going to be traveling out of the country next week so any further vet appointments are on hold until I get back. He will be hanging out in the paddock enjoying even more time off with his buddies till then.

In the meantime, I am curious if anyone has any thoughts or experiences that they think might be helpful for me in finding what is bugging my kid? I plan to continue to pursue this with vet assistance but any ideas would be lovely as well. I am very frustrated that he can’t talk and just tell me where exactly he is hurting!!!

I would like to try things one at a time, so I know what for sure is the cause. He has never seen a chiropractor, so that is on my list to try.

Thank you for any of your thoughts or suggestions!

[SuzieQNutter]

If you google Shivers it mentions hindleg movements and something about not wanting to back.

[LyssaLou]

Thank you for the suggestion! I did google it and watched a short video showing what it looks like. Those horses seem to have the problem even when not being backed by a rider. I will definitely keep it in mind going forward though. Thanks again!

[PaddockWood]

If you’re saying he doesn’t do it when you ride bareback then seems to me to point to the saddle/girth.

Have you walked trot canter bareback with no issue presented?

[Critter]

Mine did a similar behavior when it was his SI. Took a long, long time to diagnose (he didn’t really palpate sore, etc.). Just didn’t want to go forward at all with a rider and would cow kick when asked to walk off…problem pretty much only with a rider on board. Took a rectal ultrasound to find an inflamed S1 nerve root causing issues with the SI. Treated for awhile…then plateaued…then ultimately gave him a year of being a pasture puff with a slow return to work. He did recover and while we had to do some maintenance, etc., he has been sound and happy ever since!

Also…my 4 yo this year suddenly got balky…also refusing to move under saddle. He did have bad ulcers…but treatment didn’t change the under saddle behavior. We went looking for what might have caused the ulcers. He broke his last two ribs, right up under the saddle. Prognosis is good…just 4-6 months off for the ribs to heal. He also did not palpate sore over the ribs! But he did get fussy lunging…any work made him grumpy.

[atr]

I’d start with the SI/lumbar spine area.

[Bristol_Bay]

Kudos for assuming it’s pain-related and not a training issue.

[Jealoushe]

How were ulcers ruled out? Scope?

[Absolut_Equestrian]

@Critter

Took a rectal ultrasound to find an inflamed S1 nerve root causing issues with the SI.

This.

Start with a standard lameness work up, but if that is not fruitful talk to your vet about a transrectal ultrasound. It’s the only way to “see” many things that could be going on with the pelvis/SI.

[4horses]

Maybe check for PSSM or other muscle related diseases. I would try pushing him forward to see if the behavior continues or if it worsens.

[LyssaLou]

I have only walked bareback with the same behavior being presented. I didn’t try to trot or canter after that.

[LyssaLou]

I googled symptoms of SI pain and one thing that stood out to me is reluctant to lift hind legs. Until I read that I didn’t realize he has been resistant the past month to let me pick out his back feet. A week a go when the farrier did his feet he tried to kick him. You may be on to something there. I will ask during the lameness evaluation.

Was the only way to diagnose a rectal ultrasound? You said treated for while, what type of treatment did that involve?

I am so sorry to hear about your 4 yr! That sounds incredibly painful, poor dude!

[LyssaLou]

Yes and I treated anyway too. His annoyance is worse now than it was at the beginning of treatment. He is also not at high risk for ulcers. Pasture boarded with buddies and a low starch diet. He gets maybe 1.5 lb of a senior grain and that is only for palatability of the forage balancer he eats with his flax.

[LyssaLou]

Teeth were checked April 2022, so there has been some time since he was last seen. Thank you for your suggestion. I have been focusing my thoughts on the hind end area mainly, so this is a good suggestion to look at him as more of a whole picture.

[ozone_joan]

I was about to say the same thing!

[Critter]

We initially did a bone scan and he didn’t really light up on SI like some do. I kept pushing for diagnostics because I wanted to make sure we were actually treating the correct issue and not wasting time and money. That was why the rectal US was done…but that was very conclusive…and actually the cheapest imaging we had done to that point!

We treated with gabapentin and SI injections for about 8 months. I was able to ride him and he was mostly okay through that time. But then the SI injections were not holding very long and he started to get more fussy again. At that point I decided were running out of treatment options that were effective…so I gave him 14 months off, lots of turnout. In the beginning he didn’t even want to move. I almost did euthanize him at that point, he was so clearly miserable when we stopped the gabapentin and injections. But each month he looked a bit happier and moved a bit more. He was also never lame…that made it harder to sort out.

Yes, my goofy 4 yo!! He looks pretty good right now and gets his follow up ultrasound next month! We think he sideswiped/ran into a tree in the field. He’s out by himself and there was never a mark on him. No clue how he broke his ribs…but he is a goof and into everything! He will be okay:)

[hut-ho78]

Great suggestions already made. Also, X-ray his back to check for or rule out kissing spines. They can be the cause secondary SI pain.

[ladipus]

Sounds to me like it could be several things that to mind …could be shivers /stringhalt or even various forms of pssm 1 or 2 , or tying up

[LadyB]

Didn’t thoroughly read the answers, but Kissing Spine would be my thought.

Mine begins to resist when his KS starts to irritate him. I would get the back x-rayed to rule it out.

[Posting_Trot]

The symptoms made me think of low-level tying up. There’s some great information on the problem here:

Tying-Up | AAEP