# Help: Crossing Hind legs in the trot



## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

I have had my gelding since he was born, he is now 6. At the walk his legs go straight for the most part, his hooves are positioned more inward this is how he has always been and my vet doesn't ever bring it up. How ever when he trots his back hooves cris-cross. Rem is very active and loves hauling butt around the pasture and sliding and has never had any issues, or injurys. However a lady pointed it out and said if I ever starting working him he would hurt himself (although he already does a lot).
My vet just said to put splint boots on his back legs when working.
Can/should this be fixed?
Does anyone have experience with this?
Sorry no pictures.
I dont have a problem with the 'looks' I am not a competitor but I dont want him to hurt himself.
Thanks


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Just going from your description, I am imagining a horse that stands similar to the horse pictured in D









And he has a gait that is similar to this









It isn't that uncommon of a fault though it is far from ideal. It causes more wear on the joints and they can suffer injuries from banging themselves with the hind foot in motion. So long as you use protection to keep that from happening (like your vet said, use boots), then the biggest concern to me will be arthritis.


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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

I found this pic where you can see what I mean by his back legs, they dont cross at the walk and I dont think they cross at the canter.


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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

Yea I would say his legs are a little less dramatic version of horse D


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Yep, just as I thought. Very similar to my old guy Flash (the sorrel), though your boy's is more severe.









The best you can do is keep his legs protected with boots and keep his feet well taken care of to minimize the wear on his joints.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

plaiting at the back can be caused by many things.

Conformation.
Immaturity
Lack of muscle strength
injury
uneveness.

As you say he has conformation issuesthis is likely why he is doing it.

However you say he is not yet in work. it may get slightly better as he strengthens up and muscles up.

However I would stick boots on him just incase.


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## Thyme (Sep 4, 2010)

What exercies would be good for this, as he crosses at the trot, should he be trotted more? He was just trained this summer and has had a month off due to weather, I'll be jumping on this weekend.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Anything that makes him work over his back properly, into a correct contact and teaches him to balance himself.

My 3yrold has been lunged and long reined and he has muscled up immensely. his hocks used to go in all directions but now he is perfectly straight. They only went akimbo because he was young,immature with no muscle strength or tone.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Thyme:Regarding excerssizes, back him up hills.

Smrobs, a question for you, and others who would like:

I ride a horse that looks much like Smrobs example. He Plaits, right? And you can really see his backfeet "swivel" on the ground when he weights each and steps forward. Instead of it breaking over straight, he kind of rolls it to the inside, and you can see his hock and hip roll over a lot. You can imagine how that wears down the shoe. The thing is, Joker trips a lot. He will be walking along and suddenly it's as if one of his rear legs just sort of rolls out from under him and he will slump to one side for a second and then recover and walk on. I have learned to just move along with this sudden slump/swing to the side (usually the right) but it means I don't feel really confident of him on trails. He has also tripped in the front and gone down on his knees serveral times with me on him. Of course, he does much better when I pick him up and make him walk out and pick up and carry his own head/neck. But even then he trips a lot . AND he forges, too, sometimes back clipping front, sometimes hind shoes clipping each other (throws sparks!)

SMROBS, what do you think?

Hope you don't mind if a briefly borrow this thread?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

If I understand your description correctly, then yes, that's exactly what Flash used to do as far as the swiveling of the leg and the off-side breakover. As for your boy, I can't say for certain what might be the cause. I'm sure his conformation doesn't help but also the farrier work and the horse's own temperament play a part. We never had a problem with Flash being clumsy or feeling off balance. Maybe your boy has toes that are a touch too long or maybe he's just lazy. It would be impossible for me to speculate without watching how he moves (both loose and under saddle) in person.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Joker belongs to a friend, and I care about him and ride him probably more than his owner does. So, I offered to pay for a visit from a chiro/vet, tomorrow. I will try and video his way of going and post it. He is kind of post legged and toed in but otherwise, I think he is built well andhas a heart of gold.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

tinyliny said:


> Joker belongs to a friend, and I care about him and ride him probably more than his owner does. So, I offered to pay for a visit from a chiro/vet, tomorrow. I will try and video his way of going and post it. He is kind of post legged and toed in but otherwise, I think he is built well andhas a heart of gold.


Tiny....I am wondering how your guy has been doing since this post? I have been having a mysterious hind end issue with my young mare that sounds very similar. Vets, trainers and other horse people can't figure it out. No xrays. She seems to cross her hind feet at the trot under saddle. Sometimes when she is running around and downward transitions, she knuckles or brings those feet underneath her. To me, she reminds me of the scarecrow off of the Wizard of Oz. She can stand all over the place. I've even questioned her being double jointed! She has improved in the past year and it's not neurological. Had a chiro and massage therapist out too....can't figure it out. It isn't always the same either. I have even been told that she looks gaited in her hind end and it's like her front end and hind end are not coordinated together.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

Thyme said:


> I found this pic where you can see what I mean by his back legs, they dont cross at the walk and I dont think they cross at the canter.


Theme, wondering how your guys is doing now too?


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## SaddleOnline (Oct 20, 2011)

Oldhorselady- have you ruled out EPM? 

We had a horse who went "funky" behind like how you described no matter how much conditioning, the vet was concerned it could be epm although it really didn't present traditionally. One round of Marquis later and all was well


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

OHL

that horse in my description, Joker, has moved away . So, I have had no contact from his owner about his condition. Sorry , I can't add anything to the knowledge pool here.


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## Beling (Nov 3, 2009)

I had a horse who had one leg that would cross under, and she'd trip herself, mostly at the canter. She took small steps at the trot. But the canter was a nightmare because it scared her--and me. She'd be going around, trip herself, and we'd fall down. She'd fall while running in the pasture, too.

I was told to work her in deep sand. I happened to have access to an arena with the deep sand, and it certainly helped.

Also, as I used her to start dressage lessons, it turned out that shoulder-in helped a lot, by bringing the _other_ leg under, her twisty leg had to take more of an outside thrust. Anyway, she did seem to "outgrow" the falling. To be honest, though, we almost never galloped out, and when we cantered, it was in a fairly collected frame, which helped keep all the legs in place.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

SaddleOnline said:


> Oldhorselady- have you ruled out EPM?
> 
> We had a horse who went "funky" behind like how you described no matter how much conditioning, the vet was concerned it could be epm although it really didn't present traditionally. One round of Marquis later and all was well


The vet so far said nothing like that....what is Marquis? Maybe I should have another vet evaluate? The first vet evaluated her three times now. I've been told by another person who had a horse with EPM that she doesn't look like an EPM horse...but maybe a milder form? I tell myself to stop worrying about it, but I just want to make sure that I don't ask her for more than she is capable of and would like to know what her limitations are, even if she is handicapped in some way....I would just like to know if I can.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

Beling said:


> I had a horse who had one leg that would cross under, and she'd trip herself, mostly at the canter. She took small steps at the trot. But the canter was a nightmare because it scared her--and me. She'd be going around, trip herself, and we'd fall down. She'd fall while running in the pasture, too.
> 
> I was told to work her in deep sand. I happened to have access to an arena with the deep sand, and it certainly helped.
> 
> Also, as I used her to start dressage lessons, it turned out that shoulder-in helped a lot, by bringing the _other_ leg under, her twisty leg had to take more of an outside thrust. Anyway, she did seem to "outgrow" the falling. To be honest, though, we almost never galloped out, and when we cantered, it was in a fairly collected frame, which helped keep all the legs in place.


My vet keeps telling me to let her grow and develop. She has built quite a bit of muscle since last year. The wierd thing is that it is not consistent. She can hold her gait well and then suddenly she has some wierd steps or her legs forget where to go all the sudden. Sometimes it looks like her fetlocks maybe lock and cross from behind...sometimes not. When she downward transitions from trot to walk when I'm riding it seems like a very exaggerated swing of her hips or something. Her trot is very easy to sit like she is racking....??? So wierd.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Reeco often gets his legs in a knot at the canter and it panics him. It is probably just a young horse thing.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

Ok, I'm hoping that it may still be a young horse thing like it was for some of you. It seems that my mare is base narrow, at times only though? She plaits her hind legs in the trot I'm thinking. I have now started to ride her more regularly and am taking it slow with her. Here is a video of me riding her today and a video from before with her walking in the pasture. Let me know if there is something I should be doing to help her please.


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