OmniEquine

17/01/2024

Sharing again as I have seen a lot of pictures and videos recently where horses, young and old, are holding their tails to one side.
I saw this in my mare and all though not lame she did have an o***y tumour on the side she was holding her tail to.
Please use his as an indicator that the horse is showing something is not right and listen to them.

**Asymmetric tails – best not to ignore them**

Crooked tail carriage (CTC), where a horse holds its tail asymmetrically, is a common, yet poorly understood condition. Recent publications have however pointed to lameness and/or pain being a key predisposing risk factor (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021 and Dyson et al., 2018).

In a dedicated study to this condition which examined 520 lame horses and 170 non lame horses, CTC was observed to be common in lame horses (33.5%), particularly those with hindlimb lameness, compared to non-lame horses (5.3%) (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021). Although more horses with CTC held their tail to the left, there was no association between the tail holding and the predominant lame limb (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021).

The presence of CTC was also strongly associated with pain in the sacroiliac joint region (SIJR) and/or thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension, but not with saddle slip, reduced thoracolumbar range of movement (ROM) or thoracolumbar epaxial muscle pain (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021).

These findings support earlier research which also concluded that lame horses were more likely to hold their tail to one side than non-lame horses and that this condition be a good “marker” for helping to objectively identify pain (Dyson et al 2018).

References
Hibbs, K.C., Jarvis, G.E. and Dyson, S.J. (2021), Crooked tail carriage in horses: Increased prevalence in lame horses and those with thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension or sacroiliac joint region pain. Equine Vet Educ, 33: 368-375. https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.13316

Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A.D. and Mullard, J. (2018), Development of an ethogram for a pain scoring system in ridden horses and its application to determine the presence of musculoskeletal pain. Journal of Vet Behaviour, 23: 47-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2017.10.008

10/03/2022

Very timely as seeing this recently with one of our herd who is now with the vet to discover why she is lame behind 👍

**Asymmetric tails – best not to ignore them**

Crooked tail carriage (CTC), where a horse holds its tail asymmetrically, is a common, yet poorly understood condition. Recent publications have however pointed to lameness and/or pain being a key predisposing risk factor (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021 and Dyson et al., 2018).

In a dedicated study to this condition which examined 520 lame horses and 170 non lame horses, CTC was observed to be common in lame horses (33.5%), particularly those with hindlimb lameness, compared to non-lame horses (5.3%) (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021). Although more horses with CTC held their tail to the left, there was no association between the tail holding and the predominant lame limb (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021).

The presence of CTC was also strongly associated with pain in the sacroiliac joint region (SIJR) and/or thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension, but not with saddle slip, reduced thoracolumbar range of movement (ROM) or thoracolumbar epaxial muscle pain (Hibbs, Jarvis and Dyson 2021).

These findings support earlier research which also concluded that lame horses were more likely to hold their tail to one side than non-lame horses and that this condition be a good “marker” for helping to objectively identify pain (Dyson et al 2018).

References
Hibbs, K.C., Jarvis, G.E. and Dyson, S.J. (2021), Crooked tail carriage in horses: Increased prevalence in lame horses and those with thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension or sacroiliac joint region pain. Equine Vet Educ, 33: 368-375. https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.13316

Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A.D. and Mullard, J. (2018), Development of an ethogram for a pain scoring system in ridden horses and its application to determine the presence of musculoskeletal pain. Journal of Vet Behaviour, 23: 47-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2017.10.008

11/12/2019

It is not the responsibility of your hoofcare provider to train your horse to have their feet handled and trimmed. It is the sole responsibility of the owner 👍Preparing your young horse is essential. 👍 Working slowly to build up confidence, trust and understanding of what you are asking of them 👌

01/10/2013

From this taken 25th May

01/10/2013

To this in 4 month. Taken 29th September

31/07/2013

With the recent rain, now is the time to be extra vigilant with laminitic prone horses. Check your horse’s digital pulses regularly and restrict grazing, reduce the grazing area, even if on short grass. The rain will and has caused the heat stressed grass to flush up again and this can cause problems. If needed, feed hay which has been soaked for 20/30 mins max and alway provide a salt and mineral lick as well as fresh, clean water.

13/07/2013

Wow today was hot, thankfully I have this weekend off to relax and enjoy the sunshine but I have 8 horses to do next Saturday and possibly another 3 on Sunday. A little cooler weather would be much appreciated, not just by me but the horses too! What have you been up to in this lovely sunshine?

09/07/2013

I regularly recommend my clients talk to Debbie @ Thunderbrook Equestrian feeds to find out how Thundbrook can help their Shoeless horse(s).
Pop over to their FB page and find out more about their products as well as what is in the bulk of modern "Complete" feeds... its a bit of an eye opened to say the least!
Also, if you take a look at their website, you will see what their feeds have done for my beautiful boy Beach.

Your horses health & well-being is our priority.

07/07/2013

A better way to manage equine gut parasites.