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  Discussion on Mare twists back legs
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New Member:
dwfaith

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 3, 2010 - 4:01 pm:

Greetings Dr O.
We have a 5 year old pony mare we've been trying for years to break to saddle, but always quit due to problems with her (apparent pain - gets fidgety, "star gazes", shuffles behind, looks like her hind end is going to collapse. EPM test negative). She has been diagnosed with "back problems - nonspecific", and "loose patellae", and/or myofascial rigidity - depending on who is seeing her. So she is now just a pasture ornament. But I have noticed when walking behind her, when she puts a back foot on the ground and rotates over the hoof from stance to swing, the entire lower leg and hoof twist, to the point you can't distinguish a hoof print on the ground, they look more like the pivot point on a reiner. It looks like the entire leg from hip to hoof is twisting, as the hock appears stable. Her hoof wall is level, though she does tend to wear the medial lateral aspects of the hoof wall more than the outside. She is not base narrow, if anything she is wide. Pic Ivy

Is this abnormal gait movement typical of any specific condition?

Thank-you
Dianne
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Nov 5, 2010 - 7:33 am:

Hello Dianne,
I have seen horses that did this and been unable to figure out why. I first check to see if the horse's feet are balanced statically then check to see if they are balanced dynamically: are they landing relatively flatly. If not I will try to balance the feet and see if this helps. In all such cases I try to ease breakover with a squared off toe and consider a rocker on the front to lessen the stress on the lower joints.

Where you find remarkable imbalance you will see improvement but where you don't I think it is a structural or conformational issue. If a horse is remarkably base wide or narrow and it originates from high up in the leg, the foot has to twist as the horse moves over it if it is to stay flat on the ground: it is simple physics dictated by the rigidity in the sagittal plane of the horses leg.
DrO
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