My six yo Appy gelding has always cantered on the incorrect hind lead under saddle AND in the pasture. Though he will pick up the correct front lead all the time, he will purposely change his back leads to the wrong one 80% of the time. When he attempts to keep the correct hind configuration, his ears are pinned and his inside collapses until he completes a flying back-end lead change.

***this is for BOTH dirrections. Trainers failed to get him consistent and correct.

Vet diagnosis: narrow joint spaces in the hocks. Active, excessive hip movement, but drags his toes on the ground. No obvious past injuries. Suggested treatment: Blistering - may need only one treatment , possibly more. May not even work.

Has anyone ever dealt with this and if so, can you share your experiences.

this may seem a little too easy but have you tried strength conditioning. it may be that bad habits as a baby has translated into overly weak muscles to hold the correct lead and overly developed muscles to hold the incorrect lead.

if you have, perhaps a chiropractic adjustment would help. Im really kind of old school when it comes to all these new types of therapies (ex magnents, oxygen chambers, MRI, etc) but if what you have tried isn't working.....


oh, and other than asthetics, is there a reason you need your horse to be correct on the back end? what i mean by this is does cross cantering seem to affect his balance, coordination, etc? Or, are you planning to show or do something else where cross cantering would be a drawback?

Thank you for your input. Strengthening exercises are part of the regiment but I may need other types beside the typical. For instance, cavalettis are difficult because he has a hard time picking up his feet and bending the hock area- he is using his hips. Trot- halt- back-trot seems to help, but again, gets very boring for such a young and playful animal.

It seems as if I need "building block" exercises- I just don't know what those to be. Start off low and work the way up to better hock flexion.

The two dilemas with his current way of cantering is one- it is easy to pull off shoes and two- it is unfair and dangerous to ask him to canter while I am in the saddle due to a balance issue for him.

IF i was told never to canter him under saddle, and that it is what it is, I would accept it. I am just not ready to give up yet.

PS; I am hesitant on chiropractic work as well, but will try it last when all else fails.

Totally understand!

in that case, if he is safe outside the arena and is otherwise sound i would long trot his fanny up hills just as fast as his legs could go. (only trot, not canter) Drive him into his bridle to make him push off the rear. Repeat daily, increasing your time as he is able. PS the steeper and longer the hill the better. (well, excluding those a mountain goat would have trouble getting up ) When he gets conditioned to this you should notice a little more spring in his trot when you go back to ring. Also, the uneven surface of a pasture encourages most horses to pick up their feet. Besides, i don't know many horses that would rather be in a ring than out traipsing accross the pasture!

if this is hard for him and your vet is sure the problem is in his hocks and not his hips, you could try blocking his hocks. Again not a big fan but i have seen horses that have benefitted immensly from it.

Begining today, I am going to incorporate hills. First my driveway for a week or two in hand (yes, it's a good gradual hill). I am also going to add an in-hand exercise over staggered ground-poles using a whip to brush his back legs (tickle it) to get him to pick them up and BEND.

Since my 2 acres of pasture is an obscene hill, I want to build his strength a little before attempting the extreme. From there, I am hoping to see solid improvement by June.

Thank you for your input AND affermation on appropriate exercises!!!!

I personaly use very successfully Chiro/Accu on my horses, although I use one of the US Team Vets, and will not use others. Have even asked my lameness Vet to recommend someone he has suggested that I do not change.
So, Do absolutely looked for a QUALIFIED/Accredited Vet. Even though horses are big, they adjustments shouldn't be. If they use malets or really shove the horse around it's not being performed correctly.

Now, before you try hill work and strength training a few things don't equate.

Your trot/back-transitions are alot harder and put much more compression on the whole hind end, especially the hock. So, if it is joint related he should object to or not perform that.
Cavaletti work, does increase the flexion of the hock but only mildly. What it puts more stress on is the Sacrum. When the hind leg draws upward you create a concave compression on the vertebrae.
I would be more inclined to look higher than the hock.

If you are dealing skeletal, no matter how much strength training exercises you do, he will not get better. And certainly may get worse, since you will be building muscles incorrectly.
He must be straight in order to perform correctly.
If, You decide to try Chiro. You do not need to have it done, you can ask for an evaluation only, and go from there.

I am so against injections, they are not the cure all they are made out to be. And you can only inject so many times. 6 is awful young to start.

Other things to look at, his feet. Trimmed or shod make sure they are not out of balance. Try wearing a sneaker and a high heel at the same time. Foot wear will tell you alot. When he is due look/ask your farrier to explain his wear pattern. His feet should be long, but the same length on the front/sides-heels grow slower. If he has say an inside wall worn down, he is not loading[weight bearing] flat to the ground. That is a starting point. Crooked in feet,fetlock,stifle, hip, etc... Why is he landing crooked.
Then, tack/rider although probably not as he does it on his own.

Do check for Nuerologic issues-Wobblers syndrome comes to mind first. But EPM, West Nile and Lymes are also possibilities.

These little problems are when it would really be nice if horses could talk.
Keep us updated and do be careful.