When a horse is discovered to be lame, the first area to check out is the lower leg. However, it turns out that all horses that are lame or have minor gait changes may not have a leg problem at all, but could have disease in the neck. Any dysfunction of the vertebral column in the neck can lead to an altered gait pattern that can appear as lameness, and it is difficult to determine if the pain is due to a neurological disorder or a musculoskeletal disorder. Dr. John Janicek from Aubrey indicates in Remuda magazine that horses with a neck problem may turn their head out on circles, refuse to accept the bit, have a reduced forelimb stride length, refuse to jump or turn a barrel, or shake their head.

Testing by checking mobility of the spine for range of motion and pain is important as some of these horses will not want to flex their neck to one side, or may not want to lower their head. Arthritis in the facet joints of the neck vertebrae are fairly common and x-rays can generally diagnose the problem. Pain medications like phenylbutazone (referred to as bute) are helpful but many times, it is not effective and an ultrasound can be used to see the facet joints of the vertebrae and these joints can be injected with cortisone. Another disease of the vertebrae in the neck is Wobbler syndrome, in which the vertebrae are abnormally formed and causing pressure on the spinal cord, which causes neurological dysfunction. Although surgery can be performed for this condition, response to surgery depends on the severity of the condition. Without surgery, most horses cannot be used for riding. Another neck problem that can occur is inflammation of the ligament on top of the neck than insets on the base of the skull. So if you have a horse with a gait abnormality or a lameness that is undiagnosed, it is possible that a neck problem could be involved.