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Discussion on What causes a sway back?
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Member:
Cpacer
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 10:38 am:
Just out of curiosity. Is it the way a horse is brought up and trained, or hereditary?
In the past I've mostly noticed that cart horses seem to have deep sways--is there a connection? Do they become cart horses because they can't be ridden, does pulling a cart cause the sway, or do they have nothing to do with each other?
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Member:
Karent
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 12:25 pm:
This is the info I got on swayback horses from one of the books I have. Maybe DrO can be more specific.
Swayback appears in three forms in horses. It can be present in a newborn foal, it can develop in horses during the first year, or appear in older horses. The old age form is more common in brood mares.
The newborn form is a component of neonatal contracture, the so-called contracted foal synDrOme. This form is more commonly a scoliosis. Scoliosis is a lateral or sideways bending of the spine.
In older horses weight bearing over the years and multiple foals gradually stretch the ligamentous tissues of the vertebral column, allowing the column to sag into the swaybacked position.
Very few cases of juvenile lordosis have been examined at postmortem, and, as is so often the case, understanding of the disease process is hampered by lack of pathological data. In those cases which have been examined, however, there is a clear-cut and distinct anatomical reason for the lordosis. Anatomical is emphasized because even though the lesion which causes the lordosis is evident, the cause of that lesion is not known.
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Member:
Erika
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 4:32 pm:
https://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/swaybacks_081205/
Here is a link to a study on lordosis (swayback)
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007 - 8:02 pm:
Hello cp,
Most horses that I see have it mildly when young and it worsens as they age and in some becoming quite remarkable with age. I don't think it has much to do with riding and in at least two cases appeared hereditary.
DrO
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Member:
Cpacer
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - 8:21 am:
interesting. Thanks for the info and the link.
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