Videos of Soundness Issues/Gait deficits

In this non-barn downtime, I’ve been trying to improve my eye for lameness/movement abnormalities and deficits. I already have a pretty good sense for when a horse doesn’t look quite right, but I’m trying to improve seeing where the lameness originates, and picking out telltale signs that point to particular issues or areas.

Videos are great for this thanks to the ability to replay it as many times as necessary. But I’m finding the end of YouTube’s usefulness as many tend to be either obvious (like grade 4 lameness or something super-characteristic like severe stringhalt) or just show the NQR horse with no explanation (or crazy people, lol). I always look at video threads here too, but most of the time they are like “Help what’s wrong with my horse?” and many never come back with the explanation of what is actually wrong.

Soooo, knowing the COTH collective has dealt with their fair share of lameness issues, would any of you be willing to share video of your horse AND a diagnosis (or alternatively, at least how the problem went away)?

1.This is my horse, after six months of intense rehab, November 24, 2019.

He was 24 in this video. He is a Tennessee Walker, which is relevant to head bob. TWH’s bob their heads different when they feel good vs. when they are off.

He is still with me and still enjoying a good quality life, thanks to his professional caregivers and me following their instructions. He will never be 100%, therefore not rideable but he has beaten the odds of recovery miraculously.

I had taken this video to send to the vet who initially cared for him and saved him.

  1. The inexperienced man on the street likely would not see much if anything wrong, BUT he is still off in this video - from two separate issues.

  2. This ^^^^ should be enough hints to get you started - no definitive answers yet since telling you the issue(s) would give your eyes an unfair advantage, lollol

If you get this one figured out, you need to get yourself back in school for some sort of equine therapy:):slight_smile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psie…ature=youtu.be

Ah, a guessing game. Even better! I stared at it a few times until nothing looked right anymore (haven’t we all done this looking for lameness before, lol). So then I slowed it down - new life skill, didn’t know that was so simple on youtube - and here are my observations and guesses.

At the start of the video it looks like he places the LF medially and doesn’t fully extend the carpus. I also see less than the normal overflexion you would expect from that fetlock. I can’t see/decide for sure if that is due to not weighting that limb fully, or more of a mechanical restriction (club foot? joint fusion in the pastern or fetlock?) Either way, my first guess is something low and probably palmar, like navicular or ringbone. (And if that’s wrong, the next guess is shoulder, lol).

If I take a guess that the other issue is hind end (Why not? 50/50 right?) my inkling is something in the swing phase of left hind. Higher up the limb, front portion…maybe a patellar ligament issue?

In any case, he looks pretty darn happy in that video, so good job to you and your team!

Thanks for sharing. I eagerly await other posters’ analysis and, of course, the real answer.

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This is my jumping pony (QH x Arab) 2 years ago. He was 7 at the time ( had him since he was 3 and a half).
Would have been a super fei jumping pony should I have been 15 years younger and in Europe.

He is very obviously lame, he’s is now fully sound after early a year of ‘rehab’. He had two issues.
Injuries sustained not from riding but from paddock where he somehow put his leg into a hole while having a gallop and buck, from what we would tell.
Hes usually very forward but didn’t want to move at all, this was the video my vet sent me ( as I was not in the country at the time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQRDz8FZh7s&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nHLC4DgTNc&feature=youtu.be

This is my jumping pony (QH x Arab) 2 years ago. He was 7 at the time ( had him since he was 3 and a half).
Would have been a super fei jumping pony should I have been 15 years younger and in Europe.

He is very obviously lame, he’s is now fully sound after early a year of ‘rehab’. He had two issues.
Injuries sustained not from riding but from paddock where he somehow put his leg into a hole while having a gallop and buck, from what we would tell.
Hes usually very forward but didn’t want to move at all, this was the video my vet sent me ( as I was not in the country at the time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQRDz8FZh7s&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nHLC4DgTNc&feature=youtu.be

This is my jumping pony (QH x Arab) 2 years ago. He was 7 at the time ( had him since he was 3 and a half).
Would have been a super fei jumping pony should I have been 15 years younger and in Europe.

He is very obviously lame, he’s is now fully sound after early a year of ‘rehab’. He had two issues.
Injuries sustained not from riding but from paddock where he somehow put his leg into a hole while having a gallop and buck, from what we would tell.
Hes usually very forward but didn’t want to move at all, this was the video my vet sent me ( as I was not in the country at the time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQRDz8FZh7s&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nHLC4DgTNc&feature=youtu.be

Ah crud! I don’t know how to slow down the video on youtube to see it but at first I thought it was left front…but then I thought no…left hind…but then if it’s left hind then could it be right front then? Or both right front and left hind??? Ugh! I’m really bad at this! He seems pretty chipper though! :slight_smile:

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Right front???

Yes right front and back right also. Back when he was blocked was 4/5 and front was about same

Interesting! How did they pick up on the right hind? Was it when they blocked the right front?

Yes, he got effusion on the fetlocks, we then found he also injured his DDF on the front leg also no swelling no heat nothing only found it when she did ultrasound. So actually it was 3 things. If it wasn’t for that vet im very positive we found have missed 2/3 of the issues and pony wouldn’t be able to go back to same level of work as before. Only about 2 weeks later did the tendon bow a little, never any heat or anything like that.

@Pally, ok, answers to my Post #2. You did good but fasten you’re seatbelt, lollol

  1. Front End. Yes, some shoulder/neck problems driven by two things:

1.1 Ongoing issues from serious founder/rotation in 2012 and again in 2015. The LF was the worst in 2012. The RF was the worst in 2015.

1.2. He now wears corrective shoes with packing and lily pads. No club hoof but I can see where that could be a conclusion:)

  1. Back End, which is the real crux of the issues of every structural misalignment he suffers.

2.1. A fractured sacrum in 2007, that he re-fractured in March, 2019 during a big hail storm and I couldn’t get either horse in the barn in time.

This is what almost killed him. I texted the pics to the vet and she later told me, she was in tears coming up the hill, thinking she would have to PTS this horse.

  1. Replay the video in slo-mo and look closely above the tail dock. There is a large swelling of edema and arthritis up there.

3.1. I already had a genius of a therapeutic farrier managing this horse’s founder. Being sickle-hocked was not doing the re-fractured sacrum any favors. The farrier took a pair of Natural Balance shoes and customized them to accommodate the fractured sacrum AND the sickle hocks,

I am not smart enough to understand what in the hay she did with those shoes, but this horse walked off, down the gravel drive, like nobody’s business. He never had a sore moment in those shoes.

What you see in the video is a happy horse with four orthotic shoes, lol. The fact that he could turn as sharp as he did in the video was a happy tears moment.

she took the back shoes off over the winter and he did pretty good but I can see the way his hooves are wearing that it’s time to put the rear shoes back on.

  1. This has been a “putting Humpty Dumpty back together again” experience and it still takes a lot to keep his ears forward but his sweet self has a lot drive — so I will keep having the equine chiro see him at four weeks, the farrier shoe him at five weeks, the traditional vet as-needed, and me doing what they all tell me to, lol.

Given all the issues (now he’s also on Prascend for Cushings), I think you did pretty good:). He has problems from front-to-back but the twice fractured sacrum drives most it.

FWIW, these are his back shoes. They do not have trailers on them. They do, however, have a bit of an extension on the outside wall of each shoe. The nails are copper to help with anaerobic issues.

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Here’s a fun one 😁 I’ll show 3 videos, easy to hard.

First easy.

https://youtu.be/Bcs2Z7A6cI4

Next is harder. Two issues, one leg.

https://youtu.be/7reYrYFMt3o

Last is hardest. Three issues, three legs.

https://youtu.be/_dDpIH8xJ-4

Challenge mode!

https://youtu.be/JQQr5UEls00

This is a problem child if you can’t tell, good luck!

I’ll play!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLKDt3lGXL4

It looks like everyone else is doing this like a guessing game for you OP so I’ll do the same. There is more than one thing wrong, but you can just pick the obvious one if you want :smiley:

Clues: Mid February 2020, he jogged sound on pavement prior to this video but became progressively more off once I got on him and was riding him on softer footing and on circles. The obvious problem was an acute injury, any others issues would be considered chronic and appear minor compared to the obvious problem. 12yo OTTB gelding.

Spoiler: he’s totally fine and sound now and has been since mid-April.

Interesting. On the video my eye was drawn to the right front, but then in the very last step before the camera shuts off, there is a very odd step with the right hind.

Glad you figured it out and have him back to soundness! Thanks for sharing.

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Interesting. My brain didn’t go to founder because it’s not the classic “acute founder” gait, but now that I think about it, it is pretty characteristic for something that has recovered and lives with the consequences of rotation (fortunately not something I have a ton of experience with, but I’ve seen a couple).

It was pretty fuzzy, but if I paused at the right spot I could see the lump on the sacrum. Just curious what his symptoms were with the original fracture back in 2007? Was it a big obvious thing, or did you have to chase some “not-quite-rightness” around?

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The guessing game is awesome, but please don’t laugh if I get them all wrong :lol: (And casual observers, you can play too…we won’t laugh at you.)

First video he’s putting down that right hind really quickly, but happy to push off it. So I’m going to guess stifle.

Second video is much more subtle, but I see him not fully extending the right front this time, but again, seems pretty happy to bear weight on it. I really don’t get great sense of where exactly that is coming from, but since I’m guessing, shoulder. Aaaand you said two issues, so…some mild heel pain?

And number 3…challenge mode indeed. The thing I caught most was lack of push off the RH, but quite variable, so I’m going to guess a RH suspensory (but I hope for your sake I’m wrong). Other than that, we’re really into guessing. I think something is going on in the left front as well, maybe foot. And my gut says up high (like SI high) on the LH. But I’m really, really guessing on this one.

I did notice it is the same gorgeous creature in all the videos, you poor thing!

Start the video and click on the little settings cog wheel in the player (near the volume). One of the options is speed and it gives you a bunch of choices. I just learned that so I could do this…otherwise my guesses would be even crazier!

Close! First video was an abscess, RH.

Second video was LF, both collateral ligaments are torn and the suspensory.

Third was a bit evil. RF abscess, RH bruise, and ataxia from EPM.

Good try!

It wasn’t obvious at first. I had quit riding that year because that was the first year I became acquainted with metabolic issues in a different Tennessee Walker. I had spent the entire spring and summer with my nose in the computer, researching.

”All of a sudden” I noticed a lump above the tail dock. That’s when I called the traditional vet, who gave me the fractured sacrum bad news. The equine vet/chiro confirmed the traditional vet’s diagnosis when she came to work on another horse and ended up working on this horse, as well.

I am a retired heavy duty trail rider. At that point, he was still ridable for short, easy, flat hacks but his off-roading days were done. I live very rural, so we did a bit of road riding. I also let my niece ride him, when she started growing up and exceeded my rescued 13.3H Arab’s 100# weight limit. Then came the founder in 2012. I’ve only been on him a few times since, for five minutes down a straight rail, just because:). He is very sweet natured, people oriented, and not a horse to give up; which means I keep writing checks until he tells me he can’t do this anymore:)

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