If you have or have had a horse with stringhalt did you notice that they struggled to pick up their correct lead when the stringhalt leg was the outside leg? Meaning, if it was the left leg, they struggled to pick up the right lead? Curious because I’m working with a new horse that has this issue. I’m assuming that’s the problem but it could be something else as well of course. Fitness is also something we’re working on. He’s was way off balance in the canter in his hard direction too but I feel like it’s gradually getting better. Anyway, IF you think it’s th stringhalt that’s causing this do you have any favorite exercises that helped?
Have had a couple of stringhalt horses over the years; never had that much problem picking up either canter lead.
That is not stringhalt, that is something else.
Have a vet do a full PPE. Stringhalt is often misdiagnosed and a catch-all term (particularly out west) for a horse who does not move soundly behind.
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If it is truly stringhalt, there is surgery that can be helpful. Yes, I’ve had experience with stringhalt, a case could not canter AT ALL. Worst case I have ever seen. Jerked that leg up high practically every step at the trot, and simply could not hold the canter at all- it was impossible for her to hold any sort of rhythm in a canter. A coming 2 yr old who was supposed to be a racehorse potentially. One very experienced vet (who was my favourate vet) looked, didn’t think it was stringhalt. I was sure it was. So I found another vet who was also considered to be brilliant (and a superstar), who agreed that it was stringhalt, and had done the surgery and had sometimes found success with the surgery. This was not MY horse, but I told the owner that the horse was a candidate to be put down if this could not be improved- surgery was her only chance. So she went for the surgery. I got to watch the surgery. They cut a tendon that runs through the hock, top and bottom of the joint, and slide the piece of tendon out and throw it away. Vet who did the surgery was very pleased with how it went, remarked “Like a pencil out of a pencil case”. Didn’t take long. I shipped the filly home, and she was on stall rest for a month or so. Then the owner came over, and we put her in the training pen, and she was FIXED, the difference was obvious. It was like magic. But needed more time (of course), so was sent home to finish healing for another 6 months of turn out, for her to relearn how to use the leg. Then we finished breaking her, and she went to the track. She didn’t make a racehorse, but she had no further issues with the stringhalt, was athletic, and a lovely mover. Just a dream to ride.
The key is to do the surgery EARLY. The longer the injury is in place, the less chance of success with the surgery. The older the horse is, the less chance that the surgery is going to be successful. The vet who did the work said that every horse with stringhalt he had worked on had, at one point, been “caught up in a fence”, with a specific “jerk” on the hind leg while struggling, whether or not the owner knew when or where this had happened. This filly had a scar on that hind leg, though the owner was unaware of the injury. The surgery cost $600… so affordable. General anesthetic, they laid her down in their rubber matted surgery ward, no table. She got herself up afterwards, no problem. Walked out of the clinic and loaded up in my trailer, rode home just fine.
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Stringhalt is neuromuscular so I don’t know if there are particular exercises to help, as my understanding is that it’s basically nerves misfiring which spasm the leg.
I rode a horse with mild stringhalt for years, who was otherwise very sound. The stringhalt was only really noticeable in the first step or two of walk after he’d been standing in the paddock for a while. Never had any issues with picking up particular canter leads. This horse came to us super weak so I did lots and lots of focused flatwork to get him strong and properly using himself.
There could also be a more severe issue brewing - I’ve seen quite a few suspensory injuries where the first indication was the horse very subtly favoring one lead, or swapping off to the more comfortable lead, or always landing on the more comfortable lead, etc.
Thanks, that’s what I was wanting to know. This horse is similar–out of shape but the stringhalt is only noticeable at the walk, esp after having to stand still for awhile. I’ve only been working with him for a few weeks and I’m trying to tweeze out the puzzle pieces. He has a host of issues: behavioral, neurological, and possible pain. I suspect he has some discomfort while cantering to that weak side so I wanted to rule stringhalt out as the culprit. I’m literally just trying to check off the boxes as we go. He’s not mine and I’ve heard a lot of different things about him from a lot of different people. So first I have to sort the puzzle pieces, start putting the edge pieces together, then we can move on to the middle :o)
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My horse was 8 when he had stringhalt surgery. He doesn’t high step out of the stall anymore but will land heavy on the foot for a few steps if he’s been kept in for weather. For him, he had a lot of adhesions on the tendon they removed during the surgery. So this was the most likely cause of the stepping and unevenness behind. It took him 16 months to recover from the surgery because he’s a big boy 18hh probably 1600lbs. I did a lot of long lining to build his strength and proprioception of the leg before I got back on. We did shorter intense workouts with a lot of walk breaks. I made sure to give the leg a rest once I could feel the leg getting fatigued. We also did hill work. Trotting up hills, walking down hills. I worked him in deeper footing in our outdoor as well. We still struggle with the strength behind as now the compensating leg is showing arthritic changes which makes sense since it’s been compensating for the other leg for years. He was always NQR since I purchased him as a 3 year old, but we figured it was a balance/growing issue because he was so big. The stringhalt didn’t show up until we had a big cold spell and ice - so he might have slipped outside and whacked his hock. We don’t know why it decided to show up randomly.
He never refused to take a lead but would swap leads to get off the compensating leg. His unevenness showed up in the trot when he was asked to collect more. One leg would be shorter in stride. I could mask it pretty well while riding. He was never truly lame, even at the University that did the surgery, they couldn’t find a lameness. He developed uneven muscling as well from the leg issue and is still uneven slightly today - I don’t think it’ll ever go away.
You said he has some neurological issues? Have you asked about shivers? That can sometimes present as stringhalt at times but has a host of other symptoms as well.
Sorry, I probably said that wrong. By neurological I meant, nerve damage with the stringhalt. Shivers was ruled out from what I was told. I’m honestly not comfortable discussing his medical history as I have not spoken with the vets who have seen him. A lot of people who know this horse have a lot of differing things to say. It’s dizzying and I simply want to make sure I’m doing right by him when I ride. I was also just plain curious regardless of whether this particular horse has true stringhalt or not.
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I had a horse who had stringhalt and that was actually the first sign of it on her. She had issues picking up a specific lead in the canter all of the sudden. She would try but would immediately switch leads or kind of just hop on the back legs together like a pogo stick. We never really saw it at the trot or walk. When vet finally said he thought it might be from the false dandelion all around the field causing it, we moved her and two years later she was rideable again and completely sound. We were lucky that seemed to be it.
That is always the question, isn’t it? IS this stringhalt, or not? There will be differing opinions about whether it is, or isn’t. It shows up differently in different cases. Perhaps no two are exactly the same. Some are more obvious than others. If you go for the surgery, nothing is guaranteed.
