Any ideas what could be wrong with this horse?

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Christmas Crumpet

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This is not my horse but belongs to a friend who I hunt with. I am quite interested to hear anyone's opinion on what could be wrong with him.

He is a lovely big TB with good bone and looks pretty good conformationally wise. He is also very well behaved and pretty much a perfect hunter apart from his jumping. We are trying to figure out whether he has lost his confidence or whether he is in pain at all.

He will go into a jump like he is going to jump it and will literally stop at the very last millisecond and pile straight into it. Sometimes he will jump but most of the time he slams on the brakes at the very last minute. This is a new thing this season. He did jump brilliantly last season and field mastered perfectly. He went xc schooling in the middle of October and was flying over hedges etc.

On Saturday from 2 - 4 p.m he must have had/or tried to have over 20 wees. He only bends one hind leg to try and wee and that leg wobbles a lot. Sometimes he get a little bit of his willy out, other times he doesn't get any of it out at all.

She has the physio out who has said he's in pretty good shape but his knees don't flex as much as they perhaps should.

I suggested it might be something to do with his kidneys or have a willy bean or something similar and it hurts him when he tries to jump. He looks so willing and really wants to do it but just can't.

Just wondered whether anyone else had any thoughts as to what it could be. I just saw him trying to wee as much as he did and assumed it would be something hurting him in his waterworks or back. I could be totally wrong but he is such a kind horse I can't see him stopping as violently as he does if it doesn't hurt especially having seen how well he can jump.

She is going to get the vet out this week so that is covered but just curious to know whether anyone has experienced something like this. It has had us wracking our brains.

Thank you in anticipation!!
 
When a horse that is normally a good jumper starts stopping it is often pain related.

Whether that is related to his urinary problems or not is too early to call. Definitely an early vet call for those as he may have an infection or other condition that needs veterinary attention. Was he hunting all Saturday afternoon when he was staling so often? If so, poor chap.
 
Obvious but has your friend checked her horse's willy for a bean or maybe even just his sheath needs a good clean? If he's got sharp bits of gunk in his sheath it'll be hurting him when he tries to get his willy out to wee. Is his sheath swollen? Maybe a sheath infection?
 
I heard of a recent case where a horse had an ongoing urinary infection (probably for a couple of years) , caused by a late gelding and tight scar tissue tugging at the bladder and not allowing it to ever empty properly. This lead to the infection, which lead to other problems. The vet manipulated the gelding scar tissue manually and this may be the cure of the source of all of the problems.

I am not suggesting this is your horse's problem, but this is the sort iof thing that is possible.
 
She hasn't checked him for a bean which is the first thing I suggested. I think she is going to wait for the vet to come to clean him/check for bean as he might not be that keen on being fiddled with!!

It will be very interested to see what the vet thinks and/or what is actually wrong. I would be delighted if my diagnosis was correct!!
 
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