A mystery- can you help?

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Bossanova

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One of our horses has lived with us for 3 years, in the same stable, with the same routine, on the same food and hay, on the same bedding... get the idea?!

So about 3 weeks ago he came in from the field and colicked Not badly but it seemed to be triggered when he was given his dinner and it was associated with an obvious inability to drophis head lower than about wither height. He has a strange sweat patch on one side of his neck and was very twitchy. He was given bute paste and he settled down.
Next night, same thing but this time no real colic, no sweatypatch, just this bizarre thing where he doesnt want toput his head down.

It has happened almost every night sincee He grazes all day in the field fine,comes in, eats some hay normally (from a haybar) and then gets given his dinner and it starts again. We've tried feeding him in the field- he eats normally, comes in, starts doing it again. We've tried turning him out when it starts and he wont graze, carries on being odd.If you leave him out it doesnt seem to happen.

When he is doing it he's quite stressed- he tries to put his head down, cant so snatches it back and gets cross. It normally passes within a couple of hours without any bute. By morning he's always fine and eats brekkie normally.

Vet, acupuncturist and physio are baffled and cant find anything wrong with him. He's working well with no problems stretching/ flexing the neck.

I only ask now because tonight he's much more stressed and is colicking again.
 
Sorry cant think of anything constructive to suggest as it sounds very strange but hope you get to the bottom of it soon as Im sure it must be very worrying for you.
Horses eh,they are always looking for new ways of worrying us.
 
How odd
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Just a thought but do you think it could be connected with eating from haybar. Leaning against it?

Probably way off but just a thought
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poss daft Q, does he get his dinner on the floor?

[/ QUOTE ]We've tried it on the floor and in a hanging bucket. In the hanging bucket he can eat but only in snatches, it's still the same reaction
 
It sounds a bit like a remembered pain reflex, possibly a sticky/clicky jaw or something which happened the first time and he's scared it's going to happen again. Have you tried with his feed in a different place in the box at a different height?
Poor boy, he's obviously not happy, hope you get it sorted.
 
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How odd
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Just a thought but do you think it could be connected with eating from haybar. Leaning against it?

Probably way off but just a thought
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We've tried not letting him have any hay before dinner and putting his hay in a net instead. Still the same
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What breed is he, What level of work is he on ,and what are you feeding him?
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He's trakhener x tb, in light work (1 hour flatwork or a short hack most days) he's on pony nuts and just grass, I've tried changing his food, same reaction
 
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It sounds a bit like a remembered pain reflex, possibly a sticky/clicky jaw or something which happened the first time and he's scared it's going to happen again. Have you tried with his feed in a different place in the box at a different height?
Poor boy, he's obviously not happy, hope you get it sorted.

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This is the line I'm going down, I think something has hurt and now it's all a memory thing. God knows what though?!\And it's not getting any better, tonights colic is a definite step backwards as he hasnt coliced for at least a week now.
 
it may sound wimpy, but i'd just leave him out for a month in the hope that it goes away, that he forgets what it was that caused it, in case it's psychosomatic. sounds v v odd.
i wonder whether he got stung on the neck, or swallowed a wasp or bee or something, and now has flashbacks to the pain etc.
 
so if he has his dinner on the floor he can't actually reach down to it.

this is very odd.

I have never seen a horse eat from a hay bar, I assume if full of hay they are eating quite high up.

Given that he is ok in the field I think the only thing I would try (and this might sound a bit bonkers but this is rather weird!) is catch him, and try and keep his head down- Im thinking trail of pony nuts that would workd with frank!) then feeding hay off the floor until tea time. Would he play with a snack ball? am just wondering if that would keep him in normal grazing mode until tea time.


It does sound like it might have become some acquired stress response as noone has found anything wrong.

Or, other thought is could he live out 24/7 for a couple of weeks and then try again and see if the problem is stil there.

Please ignore me if this sounds like a bonkers ideas

hope he gets over his colickyness tonight ok.
 
Does he stand to graze the same as he stands to eat out of bucket? Is he greedy and tweaking something when going for hard feed? Could he be bashing into the haybar and catching something?
A horse here gets the same neck thing but she gets it from the grass at certain time of the year, which could make sense with your horse. Is your grass really growing at the min?
 
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Has the dentist had a look? Could it be a problem with his teeth, perhaps.

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The vet had a good route around and he was done by the dentist about 5 months ago but it is on the list to check, good idea
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Thats a good idea too, thankyou. He did have his dinner straight in from the field the other night and ate it all, then started up being odd.... Bizarre creature!!
 
Agree with Kerilli about leaving him out (well rugged) if he can eat his feed outside OK. Sounds like some sort of anxiety about eating from the floor in stable.
 
Have you tried changing stables? May give you better idea if its a psychological problem or not ( and maybe a bit quicker than turning away). But as kerilli an others have said Id turn him out for a month or so, especially as you havent seen him colicking at any other point other than after stabling for the evening.
Strange one alright.
 
Hmmm I suppose he stands the same... I dont know?!He is certainly greedy, yes, but he is for grass too when first turned out.
Our grass has been growing all summer but he's on quite a bare patch as he's a fatty
 
You say you feed him nuts? To me it definatly does sound like choke. Nuts are not very pallatable for a horse and so quite often give the horses trouble eating them. They can oftern get stuck in throught or scratch the throat on the way down. This obviously causes pain and they may not want to put there neck all the way down to the floor as they're in pain.
If he is doing repeatedly I would say it's because his throat isn't having enough time to heel. If it were me I would soak his nuts for a night before you feed them so they swell and are soggy. This will make them softer and easier to eat and hopefully not continue to irritate him.
My mare suffers terribly from choke if she is fed carrot, apples etc and nuts. Therefore she no longer has any of them. I would say it's either still sore if it was soak or he's worried about it happening again.
 
How very bizarre
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Non-horsey (he insists you know this in case his answer is crap
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) OH suggested it may be something to do with light if he's ok outside but not in the darker/un-natural lighting of the stable. Maybe he's got a problem with his eyes, hence him being ok outdoors and in the morning. Maybe try leaving it a while so he can get used to being indoors? Not sure, but it could affect him, I hope you get the bottom of it.
 
To me it sounds rather like an injury to the neck.A sweating patch can be a sign of muscle spasm.This is why I asked if he had fallen.I would have a blood test done to check muscle enzyme levels.
 
not likely to have a microchip under the sweaty patch? we had issues with the blonde mare for nearly a year after she was chipped........
 
I was going to agree with TS it sounds like choke to me...maybe not a serious one but enough to cause him discomfort. If your horse is anticipating his food he may be snatching at his hay and not chewing it properly causing an obstruction which will clear in time but will be enough to cause him to sweat like you are describing and make it hard for him to put his head down. Have you tried having his dinner ready in the stable for him so he eats that before having his haynet?
 
Odd suggestion but....... Is there any chance he has encountered a rat at feed time? I had an issue a few years back with a horse displaying similar behaviour and I moved him to a different stable and when moving his bed a found a rat hole in the back wall of his stable (Brick!) I don't think it ever actually bit him but I guess he was scared enough to refuse to eat in his stable.
 
A horse on our yard rolled really close to the fence, got caught and must have damaged his neck, he wouldnt eat from a bucket on the floor for months. He would however eat from a manger hung over the door and never seemed to have a problem out in the field eating grass???. Hes fine now.
 
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