I currently lease a throughbred mare named disco. We do hunter jumpers/jumpers, as well as some cross country. Mainly under 3ft with hopes to go higher in the future, but she's still young and green. She raced for 4 full years (from 2017-2021, only once in 2017 though). She wasn't good at racing at all, but we keep an eye on her joints. She's a late 7 years old now. She's been having lameness problems for the past 3 or so months, the first time was very minor and she recovered fully in a few days, was completely rideable. A month later, she went lame (worse this time, in a different leg) and recovered what seemed like fully. I rode her a few times walk trot and then when she was ready to canter (under supervision of a professional), we tried it - she started bucking in the transition which is extremely unlike her so we stopped, she was also holding her back legs weirdly at the canter. She held them in a stiff way; almost like she was 'dragging' them along with her front legs, but she didn't feel lame. She sees the chiropractor every 6 weeks. He is coming January 26th to do a lameness exam, body work, and tack fitting (he's also a vet). We are hoping it's her hocks which an be fixed with an injection because she's bucking in a way that makes it seem like pain in that area. She doesn't buck on the lunge line with/without tack on, and doesn't buck when free lunged or in her paddock. I miss the way she was, and I just want her to be better - does anyone have any experience or ideas with this type of thing? I'm open to anything! Be kind though, please, we are doing our best to do the right thing for her :).

Hello! My neighbors mare has a similar problem. When she lopes on the mare, her hocks lock up when they stop. This is normally cause by arthritis. Your mare is fairly young, so if she has arthritis it is traumatic(from racing) or genetic. Hock Injections will mostly help. You could also try icing her legs after a ride or working her.

I'm not a professional, so I'm not fully sure if this is correct.

Good luck with your mare!

Thank you! That's good to know, I appreciate it and will definetly keep that in mind :)

Shifting lameness and problems under tack may suggest lyme disease or EPM. I would have your vet draw blood/do a neuro exam on her as well.

This sounds like what my mare did before we knew she had EPM, some places it's rare, others it's quite common. It's caused by a parasite in Oppossum poo in their hay, feed, or even water.

What it did to my mare was her hind right would get extremely sore, she would become lame and then her whole hind would become stiff. EPM attacks their neurological system. on occasion it can make them more aggressive too. One of my trainers mares got it and she kept "losing her hind" from underneath her. And acted extremely out of wack, she was a very gentle mare and she didn't show any signs of it until she became aggressive and randomly reared with a 4 year old. She was gentle until that moment. Then we lunged her that's when we realized what she was doing with her back legs.

I suggest having a vet look into it.

I think testing for EPM etc. is a very good idea. I completely forgot to mention she did this last winter as well, but she was barely ridden so the problem wasn't really found and it wasn't as extreme as this. There is another horse at the barn who currently has EPM; it's extremely common in this area unfortunately. We are going to have the vet come out if the exam doesn't fully identify the problem. Thank you both!

Update: After the chiro/vet came, she did a bute challenge for 3 days and still seemed off after that, meaning it was likely her hocks. She was acting extremely sensitive and hot, and although she's definetly hot, she's not crazy like she was after the challenge. When the farrier came, he noted that she wasn't extending her right hind leg as much as the others and didn't like him holding it up as much (the problem was at her hock). The vet gave her a Legend injection and it seems to be working so well! I've ridden her 6 times since the injection, nothing intense (just walk/trot/canter mainly) since she's been off for 3 months, but she has felt awesome and she's tracking properly with her hock. Really hoping it lasts!

That's awesome! Hock injections help a lot, but they sometimes need done every few weeks. I'm glad Disco is getting better!