Crooked tail carriage in horses: Increased prevalence in lame horses and those with thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension or sacroiliac joint region pain
Authors: Hibbs K. C., Jarvis G. E., Dyson S. J.
Journal: Equine Veterinary Education
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Crooked Tail Carriage as a Clinical Indicator of Hindlimb Dysfunction Crooked tail carriage (CTC) occurs in approximately one-third of lame horses compared with just 5% of sound horses, representing an eightfold increase in odds—a finding that establishes tail deviation as a potentially useful clinical marker during lameness evaluation. Hibbs and colleagues examined 520 lame and 170 nonlame sports horses under saddle and in hand, recording tail carriage direction alongside lameness diagnosis, spinal mobility, epaxial muscle status, and sacroiliac joint region (SIJR) pain determined by diagnostic anaesthesia. CTC showed strong associations with hindlimb lameness (35.7% prevalence versus 21% in forelimb cases) and was significantly more prevalent in horses with either SIJR pain or thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension, though interestingly, the direction of tail deviation bore no relationship to which hindlimb was lame. For practitioners, these findings suggest that observing a deviated tail during ridden assessment warrants focused investigation of posterior chain dysfunction—particularly sacroiliac joint involvement and epaxial muscle tightness in the thoracolumbar region—rather than attributing it solely to habit or cosmetic concern. Whilst the study's reliance on subjective clinical observation and a convenience sample of nonlame controls represents a limitation, the strong statistical associations provide a practical diagnostic prompt that costs nothing to incorporate into routine lameness workups.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Observe crooked tail carriage as a clinical indicator of lameness—lame horses are 8.6 times more likely to show CTC than sound horses
- •CTC is particularly associated with hindlimb lameness, sacroiliac joint pain, and thoracolumbar muscle tension; use it as a screening sign to focus your examination on the hindquarters and back
- •Tail position alone does not indicate which limb is lame, so do not rely on tail deviation to lateralise lameness—complete lameness evaluation is still essential
Key Findings
- •Crooked tail carriage (CTC) was present in 32.5% of lame horses versus 5.3% of nonlame horses (odds ratio 8.6, P=2×10⁻¹²)
- •CTC was significantly more common in horses with hindlimb lameness (35.7%) compared to forelimb lameness (21.0%, P=0.005)
- •CTC was strongly associated with sacroiliac joint region pain (P=0.0007) and thoracolumbar epaxial muscle tension (P=0.0007)
- •Among lame horses with CTC, 60.9% held their tail to the left, with no association to the side of predominant lameness