lameness/soreness question

["Stephanie Wind" <wind@visionsofthewind.com>]

I have a young (3= yr old) mare that we are just starting under saddle. She
has been ridden about 6 times in the last month, always at a walk on fairly
level ground for no more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. She has never had
shoes on, has been trimmed fairly regularly through her life, and is
currently just ever so slightly high in the heels and squared off on her
hind toes. She stands about 14.2 hands and weighs in at about 850 pounds
with a bit of a hay belly. :-)

My problem is this - she *seems* to be short striding on her left hind...
She has a nice long walk, but she'll start picking up the left hind a bit
quicker than the other feet. I had another rider watch her from behind and
she said that the mare appeared to be lower in the hip on the left side. If
I get off the mare and watch her, I can't see a limp 99% of the time. Even
the other 1% isn't really a limp - more just a shortened stride. I ponied
the mare a little bit yesterday to see if I could tell what was going on
and noticed that when going DOWN the hill, she was hesitating with her left
front foot AND shortening her stride by almost half with the left hind
foot. But not limping... ???

I am calling the farrier today to come out and trim her to see if that will
help, but I would love some input on what this could possibly be! Abcess?
Bruise? Stifle? BTW, there is no heat or swelling on any of the mare's
legs, she shows absolutely no soreness or flinching no matter what I poke,
prod, and stretch, and she neither shortens her stride nor appears off when
she is running loose in her pasture.

TIA!!!!

Stephanie Wind McCray
Visions of the Wind
11920 Spruce Canyon Cir.
Golden, CO 80403
303-642-7508
786-513-0783 fax
wind@visionsofthewind.com
http://www.visionsofthewind.com

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like 
you've never  been hurt, and dance like 
nobody's watching."


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