| Title: | Equine Notes Conference |
| Notice: | Topics List=4, Horses 4Sale/Wanted=150, Equip 4Sale/Wanted=151 |
| Moderator: | MTADMS::COBURN IO |
| Created: | Tue Feb 11 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2080 |
| Total number of notes: | 22383 |
A vet recently told me that a horse, if at all uncomfortable, would
carry his/her tail in the direction of the sound side. So, a horse
that is sore in the right hind would carry the tail to the left when
moving. She said she can sometimes detect otherwise unnoticeable
soundness problems this way.
Soooo, I asked another vet and a couple of trainers about this and they
said it was hogwash.
Anyone ever heard of this before?
Just curious,
Amy
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1528.1 | One possible reason | KALE::ROBERTS | Wed Sep 18 1991 11:36 | 7 | |
Sounds like it could be a hint, rather than a clear indication. If you
think about it, a horse will be shifting his weight to the sound side,
to try to avoid pain. And some horses seem to use their tails more
than others in balancing, so these horses might also carry their tails
toward the sound side.
-ellie
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| 1528.2 | well... | CARTUN::MISTOVICH | Wed Sep 18 1991 11:50 | 17 | |
My horse carries his tail in the direction in which we are bending. He
looks as though he's working so hard to bend his spine that the bend
comes right through the first few vertabrae. So when we are circling
left, his tail is cocked to the left. When we are circling to the
right, his tail is cocked to the right. Perhaps because he is an arab,
it can be very exagerrated and gives me a bit of a chuckle. Also,
sometimes he will leave his tail cocked in the direction that he just
swished at a fly -- he looks as though he forgot to straighten it
again. Then, a few minutes later (except lately, when it's constant)
he swishes it the other way and leaves it cocked in that direction.
Ready to fire, maybe?
I agree with .1's 1st -- possibly it is cocked toward the stronger
side (the direction in which they are not crooked. However, I also
think there are *much* better ways of determining soundness.
Mary
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| 1528.3 | I don't think she completely depends on this.. | TFOR2::GOODNOW | Wed Sep 18 1991 13:49 | 5 | |
I should have been more clear on that - she's not using it as a
definite diagnosis, just uses it to get a hint.
A
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