* UNEXPLAINED LAMENESS

*Sudden onset of heat & pain and swelling in suspensory branches and/or whole fetlock area. Body of Suspensory and/or tendons may also be painful to palpation. Horse may refuse to walk at this stage. Some horses show no lameness at onset, some become severely lame. Often laying down and moaning showing a false colic is present during onset. This is a painful time for the horse.
*Dropped Pasterns

* Stumbling and tripping
* Leg cramp, frequent stretching of leg, frequent stomping (not caused by flies landing), lifting leg high and holding, biting at suspensory branches
* Maybe one, two or all legs, may seem to move around from leg to leg in early stages. After onset will be bilateral.
* Heat & swelling in fetlock area, maybe localized on inside or outside of fetlock or could be the whole fetlock area.
* Soreness in Suspensory ligament on palpation especially in the suspensory branches.

*Enlarged Suspensory ligament and in the suspensory branches.
*May also be lumpy along suspensory.
*Palpation of suspensory may feel so tight and hard like an over stretched guitar string about to snap. Or may feel enlarged and mushy/soft.
* Laying down alot and trouble getting up, dog sitting before standing.

* Reluctance to move once up but seem to work out of it with time
*Back pain/soreness or soreness/stiffness in hips.
* Digging holes to stand in with toes pointing toward hole.
* Sitting on fences, buckets, rocks
* Horse may become irritable, change in attitude

 
* Pasterns maybe horizontal during weight bearing, or become overly  loose & overly flexible.

*or maybe upright with no sign of dropped fetlocks.

* Sweet potato fetlocks- fluid filled, odd shaped overly large fetlocks.
*Windpuffs in the fetlock area and may show no lameness at this stage.

For more details and more photos please visit this webpage:
http://www.angelfire.com/bc/curlygait/diagnose.html