My mare did this from heel pain. Got her appropriately barefoot (thanks to ChocoMare!) and now she does it when her toes get to long. I read it could be back pain, specifically SI joint pain, as well.
I have another that did it to relieve heel pain.
He has sterotypical TB feet (note, I did not say ātypicalā TB feet) with no heel and a very, very flat foot. My vet and farrier decided recently that he needed additional frog support and put him in frog pressure pads. He started standing like that within 24 hours. And then the next day started alternating between standing like that (goat-on-a-rock) and pointing his toes out in front of him.
Fortunately, in my guyās case, it was obvious what was causing the issue. We removed the pads and replaced them with regular flat pads and he was back to normal.
So I think as Ghazzuās article states, there can be many causes. Heel pain is definitely a possibility.
Just throwing this out there. My guy began to stand like this and at first it cleared up after trims. But then trims didnāt affect it. I read a post about excess iron and it made me wonder. We have terrible iron water - and I had a mineral block out there, with iron. Less than one week on rain water (or filtered water if no rain), and he was standing square again. Both horses had the same water, only one was painful from it. Iron depletes copper and magnesium which is how it affects feet (I couldnāt get my mind around how water could make such a difference until I learned this part.)
I just had a horse come back who was out on lease for 6 months. He was always barefoot with me but he leasee put shoes on themā¦and left them onā¦for about 4 weeks too long if not more. He couldnāt stand square, he looked like he felt miserable, I was thinking lymes since his entire body seemed to hurt. Sure enough, as soon as my farrier was done trimming one foot that leg came forward about 3 inches, once all four feet were done he visibly showed me his approval by licking and chewing, yawning and stretching. Honestly I never saw the lick chew reaction from a trim beforeā¦
The minerals and water was interesting if it isnāt feet. If it is feet, add massage to help relax the back since this stance throws out the pelvis and is hard on the wither area.
Resurrecting this threadā¦ Any new insights on this āgoat on a rockā stance?
Horse will do this occasionally, and is doing it again. Granted, TONS of changes going on in the last 3 weeks including new barn & horse neighbors, new farrierā¦ Iāll be treating for ulcers in the next few weeks; soon as I can scrape together 1G.
Yes, heās body sore and has beenā¦ I just havenāt had a moment to address any of this prior to now.
Sooā¦ thoughts?
New farrier, and horse now has changed the way he stands, coincidence?
It might also be that the new place has meant new horses to run with, and he has worn down his feet and become sore.
It is also fall and in some areas the grass is storing higher amounts of sugar, are horseās feet warm or hot?
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Yesā¦ new farrier and the coincidence is not lost on me. I suppose I shouldāve been more specific in my question about contributing factors to this stance. What type of shoeing/ trimming difference/ imbalance would contribute to this? And simply saying āsore heelsā isnāt much help Iām afraid. Horses donāt spontaneously come up with sore heels --IME-- 3 weeks into their shoe cycle. Or do they?
Soā¦ trims that leave too much toe, too steep an angle, etc. are the terms Iām looking for that might contribute to this stance.
Thanks again.
My horse will stand like this when he gets hosed off. Like heās cold or something. Heās done it for 11 years. This is the only time he stands like that. His feet are good and he is sound. So who knows really?
This thread came up in my notifications so I thought I would update on my own horse.
She stood like a goat on a rock despite meticulous care of her hooves. She seemed to be in pain but no one could figure out why. Finally she developed a nose bleed. A CAT scan revealed that she had a giant tumor filling her sinus cavities and pushing on the plate in front of her brain. Miraculously she survived surgery, which involved cutting a door in her forehead. She is full healed and stands normally now.
So bottom line, itās a sign of pain.
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How scary and how interesting also.
Glad that all went well with the surgery and recovery and she is fine now.
Horses with such tumors generally do head pressing.
Interesting that she stood so far under herself.
Thank you so much for the update.
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Thanks Bluey!
It is used by my farrier when a horse has laminitis. I donāt know what other problems it also applies to.
Iā glad your horse made it through surgery successfully.
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Wow. I hope she is still OK. Thank you for starting this thread. Although it is old, it is very, very helpful.
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Thank you Honey bee! She is doing well. She hasnāt stood in goat posture since. The tumor did try to come back about 2 years ago, but we were able to stop it early with an injection of formaldehyde. I need to bring her in for another scope just to stay on offense.
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