stringhalt

n.
A nervous disorder in horses characterized by spasmodic movements in the hind legs that cause the feet to rise abnormally high. Also called springhalt.

[STRING, tendon + HALT².]

stringhalted string'halt'ed adj.

A sporadic disease of horses due to unknown cause. Characterized by involuntary repetitive exaggerated flexion of a hock. The horse is unable to move; there is wasting of thigh muscles.

• Australian s. — occurs as extensive outbreaks, often following a drought and associated with the abundance of herbaceous plants, particularly Hypochoeris radicata (called also flatweed, catsear).
• classical s. — the sporadic irreversible, severe form of the disease as it occurs in the northern hemisphere.

  Classical sporadic stringhalt in a horse. By permission from Knottenbelt DC, Pascoe RR, Diseases and Disorders of the Horse, Saunders, 2003