[Hampton Bay]

my friend has a standardbred mare, 6 years old I think, that only trots in the pasture. he's been riding her just fine at a 4-beat gait and a pace, and has never noticed any issues at all. I've never noticed anything while he's riding her either.

well, we saw her trot in the pasture the other day, and she is LAME. head-bobbing at the trot. she picked up a canter, totally sound. sound at a gallop. sound at a walk.

I'm 99% sure it's not an abscess. She was a little lame at a trot in the pasture about a month ago, but after a minute of her trotting around, she seemed fine. he gave her some time off, and she was never lame at all under saddle at a gait. this time it's the same hoof.

She was sound at a gait (and walk and canter) 3 or 4 days ago, but again, he never rides her at a trot.

any ideas? obviously she's not being ridden right now. we have NO decent vets here, so for any diagnostics she would have to go 3 hours away to LSU.

what's odd is that of her 5 gaits, she's only lame at one of them. I don't know much about gaited horses, but that doesn't seem right.

[Tehzebra]

Maybe i'm the only one, but that makes me think its her back. Since gaits are all different, the lateral movement from the trot could be knockin something in her spine? In that case, a chiropractor and saddle fit check would probably be a good call. But that is but a guess, nothing more.

[hundredacres]

Could be shoulder. I have a Haflinger who does this exact same thing and he has nerve damage and some arthritis in his shoulder.

The vet will know though .

[sk_pacer]

Front end or hind? It can be hard telling sometimes . If it were me, I would probably start at the back end first beginning with hocks, particularly if this mare raced. Unfortunatley, it could be damned near anything, so she really does need a good going over.

[goeslikestink]

tell you mate not to ride her until the lameness issue is sorted
and if you don't know then call a vet as it could be a number of things and here we can only guess and guessing isn't going to help the mare
so rest her up and call the vet

[JB]

Well, if she's lame at a trot, she's lame. The canter and walk are *terrible* gaits by which to see/judge lameness.

the trot is the best gait to see lameness for a reason - the bi-lateral symmetry.

Even the pace is more difficult, because if a front leg is sore, the hind on the same side is there to take up the slack for that side. But the trot has 1 leg on each side to take the weight, so it's easier to see issues.

[hundredacres]

LOL...I tried to hit "like" on JB's post above!

[Wayside]

When my younger mare was lame from a subchondral cystic lesion in her stifle she seemed fine at the walk, and then I knew something was really wrong when I asked her to trot and she started to perform some sort of mystery gait. And it really did feel like gaiting to me. But I've owned her since she was born, I own her mother, and neither of them are gaited, and neither of them had ever done anything like that before. That was just her way to compensate for her lameness.

I agree with PP who have recommended a visit with a good vet is in order. As JB said, lame at the trot is lame.

[summerhorse]

tell you mate not to ride her until the lameness issue is sorted
and if you don't know then call a vet as it could be a number of things and here we can only guess and guessing isn't going to help the mare
so rest her up and call the vet

Yeah this...

[ljcfoh]

Well, if she's lame at a trot, she's lame. The canter and walk are *terrible* gaits by which to see/judge lameness.

the trot is the best gait to see lameness for a reason - the bi-lateral symmetry.

Even the pace is more difficult, because if a front leg is sore, the hind on the same side is there to take up the slack for that side. But the trot has 1 leg on each side to take the weight, so it's easier to see issues.

Exactly! She's not lame at one gait, she's lame!

OP, it would be very difficult to even guess what it could be without seeing her, unfortunately.

[merrygoround]

Lameness, unless 3 legged is difficult to evaluate except at the trot.

A lame horse, should not be ridden or exercised until the cause is diagnosed. If, as it appears here, the cause is not obvious, you need a veterinarian. ASAP


gls where've you been? Missed you!