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  Discussion on Dragging feet
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 5:01 am:

My new horse often drags his back feet during a trot, sometimes even a walk. The vet check 2 months ago showed no problems. He shows no signs of any lameness or pain. He canters and gallops fine. It just looked like laziness and poor training, but several people have suggested it could be from something they called "stifles." What is this, and could it be causing our problem? Or can you suggest a different cause?

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 6:55 am:

The stifles is the term used for the joint above the hocks. The stifle is the true knee of the horse being made up of the femur, tibia, and patella. The diagnosis of "Stifles" really has no meaning.

If the horse is sound, negative to a good flexion test, shows no sign of neurological disease, and the foot dragging is bilateral, I would accept the diagnosis: lazy. I recommend training over ground poles spaced a gait length apart to learn to pickup those hind legs.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 8:06 am:

I have a 6 year old mare that I've had for 3 years that drags her back feet so bad that she will square off the end of her hooves between trimmings. She has been vet checked, normal and has no signs of a problem. This doesn't pose a problem for her, it does annoy me when I'm riding on the highway because of the noise it makes. I don't shoe her on the back since she tends to sometimes kick at one of my other horses. Farrier says she has great hooves.

Also, she has a 5 month old filly that does the same time. I believe its heredity, not a problem.

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 8:31 pm:

We have a Pinto mare that levels of the tips of all four feet due to dragging. She can pick up her feet in long grass.

We tried the poles on the ground, all she did was drag them along too, she was bored with the work and being lazy.
It is just normal for some horse's it would be hard to train them out of it.

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 8:55 pm:

Have a QH gelding that not only draggs his feet when plodding along, but stumbles quite a bit, both at a walk and a trot. The only cure for him has been to not along him to laze along, but to make him actively work, striding out with a good amount of leg. If you don't pay attention to him, and he slows down, pretty soon he is dragging his feet and/or stumbling, sometimes bad enough to go down on his knees. Since he only does this when bored and being lazy, it has been impossible to train out. One of those things I've just learned to live with.

Posted on Thursday, Aug 19, 1999 - 11:54 am:

Of the four horses that I currently have they all will get lazy at times and drag their feet to varring degrees. Three out of four when you "wake them up" will stop stumbeling and pick their feet.

However the one that just persisted stumbeling at a walk and at a trot was eventually diagnosed with a genetic muscle disese that caused her to be so stinking tired she just didn't have the energy to pick her feet up. She too began "stumbeling" so bad that she would fall down with a rider or just in the field.

I am NOT saying that this is the cause of everyones stumbeling problems however I would strongly suggest that if you have this or another locomotion problem that persists or gets worse that can't be explained by any other means examine further... A video tape can be your best friend. Our realization of the presence of a serious yet incidious problem was only after we video taped the horse in movement and could examine exsactly what was occureing prior to and during the "stumble". On the video it was easy to see that there was a huge diffrence between a lazy stumble and what was happening to her.

I would like to add that my horses disease was one that was treatable and she is doing beautifully and .... no more stumbeling and falling.

Food for thought.

-PS
This mare has a 2 year old filly that has this disease as well, it is an inherited disease, all that time I thought it was a learned behaivior.

Posted on Sunday, Aug 22, 1999 - 11:10 am:

I would suggest that it would be important to evaluate your shoeing or trimming program. In many cases as a horse shoer I find complaints similiar to this can be corrected by re-evaluating your trimming program. This information may also be helpful to your vet in determining and treating the problem and not the symptoms.

Prior to trimming the hoofs, have your farrier measure the hoofs with a hoof gauge to determine the degree of angle. After trimming of the hoofs measure them again. Record your findings. In many cases you can shorten the trimming period between 4 to 5 weeks and find improvement in the horses action and soundness. In many situations I see a veternarian's treatments go to waste by people allowing the toes on the horse to grow 7 to 8 weeks stretching the ligaments and tendons or putting unnecessary pressure on the joints. Gauge your horses improvement by checking the axis of your horse's hoofs by maintaining proper hoof balance.

Posted on Sunday, Aug 22, 1999 - 2:19 pm:

Phil- that is sound advice for all horse owners...
good point
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