Short Striding?

Yup. Hi....it's me again!!!

I'm just totally full of questions so bear with me

Yesterday I decided I should probably start slowly lunging Flopsy to get her back into work after she has done nothing for a year.

I setup some ground poles and we worked on walking and trotting over those. She did those no problem, like an old pro back at work. We did some cantering but not alot because she is terribly out of shape. I also set up a small cross rail in hopes she could show me her jumping skills a bit but I didnt push her too hard. And she just walked over it anyway.

But onto my question. She has a club hoof on her left front and that leg toes out a pretty good amount at times. I've seen her literally racing through the fields no problem and she has never come up lame.

Yesterday while I was trotting her on the lunge she seems to come up short strided at times. It's almost like she has a flat tire effect going but isn't noticibly limping like she's lame. I asked my boyfriend to see if he notices anything off and he said he didn't see anything but I definitely noticed something. It kinda look like maybe she's stiff on that leg too which made me think either its her club hoof/toe out causing her to have a flat tire effect when lunging in somewhat tight circles, or maybe she has a hint of arthritis. The vet is coming out on Monday anyway to get her an overall examination and shots and I will definitely be bringing this up to her but would like to know what you guys think about this?

She also hadn't had her feet done in ages before I got them done 3 weeks ago but she kept them pretty well trimmed herself and her toes weren't long or anything.

I will try and get a good video tonight of it but any input is welcome!
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My vet just diagnosed my friend's horse with arthritis yesterday. The tell tale sign was that the horse's movement improved as the horse moved around more. If she's going in and out of lameness, it's probably something else. Hopefully your vet will find something definitively.

She's not lame at all. It just looks like she has a 'flat tire' so to speak. I got videos so will post in a little bit!
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948b7890.mp4 video by a_horses_dream - Photobucket

453161ce.mp4 video by a_horses_dream - Photobucket

Can you guys see these or are they in short little clips? Im having the hardest time putting them on youtube and my computer wont support the file...fml...let me know if those work!

Bump. Anyone?!
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Not seen the vids yet, but just because the horse isn't head nodding limping doesn't mean she's not lame, that's a matter of degrees of lameness. Short striding is an indication of discomfort/pain, but without more info, who knows where/why/how serious. Don't get what you mean by 'flat tyre' - so far as I've noticed, horses don't have wheels!

I didn't see anything weird in the first video (but I'm terrible at spotting lameness) but in the second video, in the last 4-5 seconds, she looked like she was really head bobbing. Of course, since I'm terrible at spotting these things, there's probably something I missed. Haha

She might also be just having a hard time with how you're lunging.
I know when I keep Lacey on a really short line and try to walk a big circle, she starts looking like she's moving weird (I guess maybe it throws her off balance or something?...) even though she's really 100% sound. When I let her go out a lot more and move in a much smaller circle myself, she lunges more comfortably. With your girl just coming out of "retirement"/prolonged time off, I wouldn't be surprised if she finds maneuvering a circle smaller than max lunge-line circle to be really difficult because she needs to build muscle.


In any case, she's sure a cutie!

The vids are a couple posts down. And I can't explain it any other way then she looks like she has a flat tire. Lol I'm horrible with explanations.
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Thanks. Lol. She is impossible to lunge on a real long line. As you can imagine she is rusty so I kinda have to keep after her with the whip a bit and it doesn't reach that far! Lol
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She is definitely not sound. This could be because you have her on way to tight a circle. I know you said it was difficult to keep her out but that is what the lash of the whip is for.

When I bring my horses back into work after their 2 month break in the summer I walk them for a week and cantering does not enter the factor for at least five or six weeks. You could be asking to much to soon.