When resting a hind leg is not necessarily resting

[Rainier]

I realize that resting a hind leg is usually a sign of relaxation, but I don’t think that is going on with my horse. He is always resting one leg. Like he leaves his paddock and goes to the pasture and immediate rests his leg. So pretty much any time he is not in motion. It’s most often his left but sometimes the right.

After some bodywork last fall he did start to use all fours much more consistently, but then went back.

Does anyone else have experience with this and an idea of where to start looking or when to be concerned?

[Simkie]

Sure, this can absolutely be due to pain somewhere.

A lameness exam is usually a pretty good place to start if you’re concerned.

[RhythmNCruise]

My gelding is not much of a leg-rester, so when he started doing it a lot, I knew something was up.

It was. He had an abscess in the foot he was resting 99% of the time.

I guessed sore hock and went ahead and gave him his series of Adequan shots a little earlier than I’d anticipated him needing them. Figured he was getting old and creaky and cold weather and all that.

Nope. Abscess.

Not that it’s necessarily an abscess in your horse, but pain of some sort can definitely cause it.

[Christa_P]

My OTTB mare did this when I got her at 4 almost 5, I had the chiropractor out and her pelvis was crooked. It took several visits, but she did get straightened out and generally stands normally now. He guessed the original injury happened in the pasture as a young horse.

[Kyrabee]

That (resting leg) was a big clue my mare had something going on. Typically, when I work with her it is 4 on the floor. The only time she rested a hind was if she was really tired or standing tied for a long time.

Last summer I noticed that initially, she did not want to hold up her left hind. She was also being weird and a bit pissy about both back legs with hoof trimming. Then within a month or so, she started resting her left hind when I was grooming her. I wasn’t riding a whole lot due to hip arthritis but when I did ride she seemed stiffer but able to do what I asked and wasn’t terribly crooked. Loaded her up and hauled her to the vet and she was positive with hock flexions. X-rays showed narrowing joint spaces…nothing really gnarly. When he did the injections the joint fluid was a bit ‘runny’. We injected her hocks with steroids and I followed that with a course of Adequan. Over the summer, the arena at that barn had gotten very firm.

I have since changed barns with a much ‘softer’ arena. She is doing really well and when I take her in for her spring stuff, I will ask when to repeat the Adequan. At this point, her hocks are great and don’t need injections (6 months since the initial injections). Just the other day she was standing very square and grounded…just like I like .

[Rainier]

Thanks for sharing. A body worker did mention that his pelvis was “out” when she looked at him last fall and after about 4 sessions, he was standing square. That lasted for awhile, but it has clearly gone back. I’m 90% sure it’s some kind of discomfort or lack of strength that is causing it. He was tested for his hocks with injections last spring but it didn’t make the remarkable change that I had hoped.

I was just curious if doing this is a sign of particular pathogies (like in hamstrings, psoas, SI, or hocks)?

[paintedpennypony]

My 5yo mare rests her hinds a lot. She has a neutral/ slightly negative plantar angle in her right hind and questionable hind leg conformation that will likely make her need hock injections sooner rather than later. When she’s uncomfortable for whatever reason, she stands camped under in the hinds which makes her hamstrings tight. Which makes her more uncomfortable so she continues to stand incorrectly. A chicken or the egg situation with her posture, NPA, and conformation.

Regardless, a big tell that she needs some help is standing with a hind leg cocked a lot and in situations where it “doesn’t make sense”, like if she’s acting spooky or silly at something in the pasture.

A good bodyworker every 6wks, stretches/ low impact conditioning between bodywork appointments, and a PosturePrep helps tremendously.

[treebeard]

Resting a hind leg was the first sign my Morgan horse gave of having gonitis and issues with hock, back and arthritis.

[Simkie]

@Rainier

I was just curious if doing this is a sign of particular pathogies (like in hamstrings, psoas, SI, or hocks)?

No, it’s really non specific. Just like how any pain from your back to your toenail could have you resting with your weight off a particular leg.

[gradytb]

My OTTB (I got out of Bowie) typically rests the left hind while standing with the RF extended just a little. I had a massage person out to try and figure out why he was NQR and he was very tight in his back, mostly on the left side, way less on the right. And also reacted to massage over his right hip. I just learned he’d had a condylar fracture in the RF (long, God story about how that knowledge came to me!) so did a lameness exam had him x-rayed and sure enough, 2 screws in there. Limited flexion in that fetlock. So the resting LH has been his way of balancing to relieve the physical stress. We injected that fetlock and the joint is actually in excellent shape, so we’ll see over the next few weeks how much that helps. I’m also continuing to do massage on him to the best of my ability, so I expect that he will be sound enough for low-level flat work, which is fine with me.