Any ideas? Or coincidence?

[Nari]

Or just totally paranoid human?

Jim is a 9yo ID gelding that I've owned for nearly 7 years. A very sweet loving horse but a bit of a stresshead & always on the alert. He's a cribber but has a ceral free diet, daily turnout & has just started U-Gard at my vet's suggestion. He's slightly overweight

& normally in light/medium work although not long after he moved he had nearly a month off with an abcess in his hoof & bruising.

Due to OH's work he's moved 3 times in just over a year but is now back on his original yard where he was always happy. However since he's came "home" 3 months ago he's colicked twice (not normally a colickey horse) though between attacks he looked fine. The last one was nearly 3 weeks ago & took 48 hours to clear & the colon go back to it's proper position.

Today he was turned out as usual when something caught his eye & he set off with a buck & spook - nothing new there! However when he got partway across the field he span round to look at the "monster" & just seemed to loose all control of his back end, it went straight under him & he went over backwards

. That's unheard of - he's a big horse but normally as clever as a cat on his feet. He got up, stood but when he tried to walk off went over again onto his side. Got up again & walked off looking very wobbly & shakey. YO yelled to get his collar off in case it had slipped & was affecting his breathing so I went in & after a couple of minutes managed to catch him - collar was in the right place but I took it off to be safe. I then stayed & watched for an hour & he seemed fine, in the end trotted around chasing the other horses although he still looked stiff behind to me.

I'm now panicking that something is really wrong with him - a fall like that is really strange for him because he's an expert at handbrake turns & emergency stops in the field. YO is keeping an eye on him while I came home for a coffee (we both saw it happen) & I'll be going up to bring him in soon.

What would you think or do if this was your horse? I don't want to call the vet if I'm just going to sound totally neurotic & on the face of it there's no link between the colics & the falls. He looks well but I feel uneasy - can't say that to the vet as a reason for calling them out! Could these be symptoms of something else? Do I need to get a life? Help!

 

[fizz-tally]

call the vet,tell them what happened & they will let you know if someone should come see him

 

[Fairynuff]

I doubt if theres any conection. It sounds as though hes just 'fallen over' and probably frightened himself (or embarrassed himself

). If he were mine, I'd keep an eye on him and expect to see him a bit stiff in the morning. Hope all goes well and you manage to sleep tonight

. Mairi.

 

[Taboo1968]

I would be inclined to call the vet, even if its only for advice, tell them what happened and see what they say..... might put your mind at rest a little

 

[Nari]

Well he seemed fine last night & this morning. YO reckoned he just scared himself witless & had what was to all intents & purposes a full blown panic attack! She also pointed out the ground is very slippery at the moment (we're on chalk & had had rain the day before) & he is just too big to do those manouevres at a gallop on a slope. She may have a point! I also remembered that last time he was shod the farrier put wide web shoes on to try to help his feet & although they have a slight groove in them he hasn't been as surefooted with them on. He's being shod early next week so I'll tell him I don't want those again - if I'd been on him he'd have killed me

.

I don't think I'll call the vet this time but I may mention it next time I collect some U Gard. If anything else happens though I'm going to get the vet out to give him a thorough check over - I'll worry about how to pay for it later

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Nari]

Boy am I indecisive!

I had a sit on him in the school yesterday, just in walk, to try & get a feel for any problem. I also got a friend who knows him to come & watch because I freely admit to being very precious where this lad's concerned. He's definately not right behind - she thought he was tucking his back end under a bit & stilted behind, I felt I had no engine or enthusiasm to move forward properly plus generally wrong on a circle.

So after some umming & aaghing I've got the vet coming over tomorrow to a) check for any damage & b) give him a good all over check. I'm not happy so I think if nothing else it will either put my mind at rest (hopefully) or find a problem that can be dealt with. I warned the receptionist that the poor vet is probably going to throw her hands up in horror & rant about paranoid owners! At least if he gets the all clear I know to crack on & get a bit more determined with him again - he's a sweetheart but if he thinks he can take the easy option he will & after a while of getting things easy he will argue about doing them properly again!

Wish me luck, I really really want to be told that I'm the problem not him!

 

[Fairynuff]

Good luck Nari (and to the vet

). Ive got my fingers crossed that its something daft-would a pulled muscle do? Its always worse not knowing whats wrong than knowing what it is.At least once you know your immagination can stop working overtime and you can start treating the real problem. Let us know what the vet says. Mairi.

 

[Nari]

I now feeling a lot better - thanks for the good luck Mairi!

She sure he's just feeling bruised, luckily his heavy muscles cushioned the fall & she doesn't think anything is out of line in his back though it may take him a couple of weeks not to feel so stiff & sore. She couldn't find any reason for the fall being caused by more than getting it wrong messing around at speed in the field - huge sigh of relief from me

The only bad news was that he's lame again in the foot that had an abcess & bruising a while ago & there's some heat & a response to the pressure testers. So either there's an abcess forming again or more bruising

. Luckily I've got the farrier coming ths afternoon so I'll get him to have a look - the vet didn't want to start poking around as his feet are delicate at the best of times! That would also be another reason why he was off behind, we've found in the past that he feels like his back's wrong when in reality he's protecting a front leg. If the farrier draws a blank & he's still lame in a couple of weeks she said we could consider x-rays to check he hasn't chipped the pedal bone, but she thinks that's unlikely as he'd be a lot lamer & wouldn't have had a period when he'd come sound.

Generally she thinks he's fine, so I just need to watch his weight if he has to have more time off work but that's nothing new! I feel so much better - isn't it silly how wound up I get about a horse