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  Discussion on Horse NQR at canter
Author Message
New Member:
kelpie

Posted on Monday, Nov 12, 2007 - 7:32 pm:

For the last 3 days when I have ridden my horse he has been doing this weird hopping up step while cantering. He feels perfectly fine at the walk and trot and then once we start to canter every couple of steps he sort of hops up a little. He will only do it in the first direction he canters - and it does not matter which lead you start with - he still only does it in the first direction. He is a lazy horse and you do have to ask him to go forward with leg and spur. He seems to stop the hop step if you can get him going forward. After he has been cantering for a few laps around the ring it seems to stop. Any ideas what it might be? Stifle, hock, laziness?

I had a lesson tonight and my trainer saw him doing it and thought it was more than likely laziness and that I should ride him forward when he does it. We also jumped tonight and he seemed happy and comfortable with the jumping.

I have an appt with my vet on Dec 10 for a chiro check/exam but don't want to wait that long to have a vet examine him if this could be a lameness.

Any ideas about what this might be would be appreciated.
Member:
teddyj1

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007 - 9:30 am:

Hi Kelpie,
well since I'm kinda' experiencing similar issues, and my horse just had a Lyme titer pulled which was a whopping 20,000+ ELISA, and a strong Positive Western Blot, I'd be curious to hear what your horses titer and Blot counts are? I know Lyme disease is spreading about the country,( or at least the diagnosis is).
I'd have your Vet run a quick SNAP to see if he has any antibodies, and if he's positive, then run the ELISA and Western Blot profiles.

*** Keep in mind, Lyme is a very debatable illness in horses, but if he's showing the "classic Lymey" symptoms along with strong test results- then, you might want to consider Lyme.

Again, if you do decide to test for Lyme, please post your results, I'm very interested.

Best of luck,
TOD
New Member:
kelpie

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007 - 10:46 am:

Hey TOD,
Thanks for your response. I have no experience with Lyme disease and will do some quick research on it. Out of curiosity, what other symptoms is your horse showing other than the "hopping up" while cantering?
Thanks!
Member:
teddyj1

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007 - 1:15 pm:

You can go to some of my posts if you want to read everything, but quickly
1)"Good Days Bad Days"
2) cranky bad attitude, not forward
3)tripping, stumbling always on right fore or right hind
4) sensitivity over right hip
5) positive flexions
6) stiffness
7)shortened stride
8) tenderfooted(but has good feet)

He has days where he's wonderful, the most soft elevated canter in the world, fluid, forward, on the aids, but then he has days(Today) where he feels like a 25 yr old veteran campaigner that needs his bute, and CRANKY, total Jekyll and Hide.
My horse is young, 6 years old, and never pushed hard, and is a very light, and responsive to the aids, so I know when I actually need to apply my aids ,something is bothering him.

Other members have posts here, but Dr. O does not have an article, however you can go to Cornell Vet schools web site, along with Tufts, and find very credible info, along with some other reputable sites.

My horse had been having these behaviors start every August, and ironically the Vet I had been working with never pushed us to really deal with the Lyme, I wanted another opinion so I tried a new Vet, she was blown away by how high his titer had become. She's not willing to do anything else with my horse until we treat the Lyme.

I don't want to send you on a goose chase, but now I have a different feeling about this disease, and a simple SNAP would at least tell you if he's never been exposed.

Sure hope this helps you,
TOD
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007 - 1:37 pm:

TOD has the horse way in front of the cart, or should I say the conclusion way before the facts, let's back up a bit.

There are many possibilities AT: pain, simple incoordination that will disappear with training or proper shoeing, or more sinister neurological disease and progressive incoordination. None of these can be fleshed out from your description. So your first step to making a stab at what is happening is to objectively describe what your horse is doing. Perhaps having someone take good video of you riding (use a tripod be sure the light is behind the camera) might help you. Be sure to get good laterals of both sides and the horse riding toward and away from you. The whole horse and rider should just fill the screen. The article associated with this discussion tells you what to look for on the video.
DrO
New Member:
cookie

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007 - 11:07 am:

I have a very lazy quarter horse (6 yrs) that was doing this when I first started him into dressage work (he had been trained western) only he would do it at the trot. I thought he was trying to break into canter except for the fact that he was extremely difficult to get INTO and keep cantering as he did not want to go forward. This gradually stopped over time at the trot but his canter deteriorated. He is a very solid gelding with no lameness. My trainer feels it was a form of resistance combined with lack of muscle. He described it as a bit of an 'attitude problem' regarding being ridden in general as the horse had been trained and then not ridden much for 2 years before I got him. The resistance part of it eventually evolved into rearing and throwing himself into the fence instead of responding to the riders aids. We are now working with a western trainer and he is really turning into a fantastic horse (albeit one with a a lot of character).
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