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  Discussion on Leaning on Bucket
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Member:
Mkuchta

Posted on Sunday, Nov 2, 2003 - 10:24 pm:

My 13 year old STB gelding (used for riding) had EPM 4 years ago. During that time he started pushing the back of his right hind leg (from the hock upwards) and rear end against his water bucket. He will stand in this position for long periods at a time. He has since recovered from EPM and my vet feels he is safe and rideable. The only other problem he showed after the EPM is that when he is trailered he scrambles if he is not on the right side of the trailer. He stands with his hind legs wide apart and occasionally leans on the right side of the trailer also.
My vet recently examined him and he did not show the signs of EPM like he used to. He can move and cross his legs when you turn him tightly instead of pivoting on one and if you tug on his tail he maintains his balance. She does not feel that the EPM is back.

Since he recovered from the EPM I have been able to use him for trial riding and occasional riding lessons. The only other problem he has had is a sore right stifle. This problem happens off and on, however I recently took him camping and he was much worse when I got back. He is now rideable after being laid off for four months. My vet felt he had some sort of soft tissue injury since the x rays of his hocks and stifle look OK but there was some swelling and heat in the stifle. I’m not going to get a better explanation locally and since his lameness is gone I haven’t pursued one.
Anyway, he appears sound now but is still spending a lot of time leaning on his bucket when he is in the stall.

My vet has been unable to explain why he is doing this and I'm thinking it is either a leftover from the EPM or his stifle is sore. There seems to be no correlation between how sore his stifles are and how much he leans against the bucket so I'm not sure what is going on. He always leans against the bucket in exactly the same position.

While my horse appears to be OK, I am reluctant to do much with him while he is exhibiting this problem. How likely is it that this is a residual from the EPM or the result of a sore stifle? Can you think of any other problem that would look like this?
Thank you very much!

Maureen Kuchta
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 3, 2003 - 7:00 am:

I agree with your vet, a horse sound enough to trail ride and do lessons is not so weak or painful that he will need to lean on a water bucket for support. On the other hand I have seen several horses that love to sit on their bucket with no history of problems. He probably does it cause he likes to.
DrO
Member:
Dommay

Posted on Monday, Nov 3, 2003 - 9:13 am:

HI there,
I am not familiar in dealing with EPM, but I have an 11 QH who is sound but exhibited the same behavior on the bucket. I also had my post on this site a while back.

I simply removed the bucket he was leaning on from his stall and it stopped! I tried other things first and we thought of pin worms etc..., but it was a bad habit. He would actually sit his rump in the bucket and at times, do his buisiness in it as well. Too non sanitary, so an elderly horse woman told me to rearrange the stall and remove the bucket on that side of the wall. I can't believe it worked!

Please let me know if anyone is seeing this post.
I seem to be having problems posting lately and the site requires my sign on every single time I try to post.
Thanks!
Member:
Onehorse

Posted on Monday, Nov 3, 2003 - 9:26 am:

Dominique,

Just to let you know that someone (me) has seen your post. Clearly, the simplest solutions are the best. This water bucket problem reminds me of the joke when the patient says to the doctor, "It hurts everytime I do this." And the doctors says, "Don't do this anymore."
Member:
Mkuchta

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 - 12:10 am:

Well, I think I figured out why Grif leans on his water bucket. Three days ago I moved him to another stall where the bucket was in a different position. He couldn't lean on the bucket and now he is lame again. I haven't been riding him and all he is done is stand around in his paddock. I can't say this is absolutely related, but it's good enough for me.
I just spent the last 10 minutes measuring the exact height of his old water bucket and putting it in his new stall. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I'll never understand horses :-)

Maureen
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