Back issues and thermography...

[L&M]

One of our horses has been very girthy recently - he is fine putting the saddle on, but when we do the girth up, even gently and hole by hole, he puts his back up, and on a couple of occasions has shot off bucking.

My first thought was ulcers, but am also concerned there is a back issue as he has always been cold backed, but only intermittently - ie he will be fine for mnths, then will go through a phase of resenting being saddled and throwing in a few bucks, especially into canter, when ridden.

I have had the saddle checked and both chiro/phyiso, but has not shown anything up so the next step is to call my vet. However a friend suggested having a thermograph done on his back first, which may show up any problem areas.

The horse is not insured, so was thinking if we can pin point the area of pain to refer the vet too, it my save some pennies in the long run. Also if the thermograph does not show anything major, we could concentrate on the possibility of ulcers issue and have him scoped in the first instance.

Any thoughts?

 

[Flight]

I have recently had my horses back and legs thermal imaged. It was very useful in pin pointing the area where the problem is. I had already had his back x rayed as it was suspected he had kissing spines. The x ray came back clear so I had him imaged to see if the problem was actually in his back. The imaging confirmed it is his back but we have no idea what it is :-(
I have had him imaged before to identify where cause of lameness was coming from, it showed one of his hooves as a very hot spot so I knew exactly where to get the vets to look. It is definitely something I would use again
Good luck, I hope you have a better outcome than mine is looking like.

 

[shergar]

There is a video on YOUTUBE Equine ulcer diagnosis by Mark Depaolo this may be helpful,if you can take a look,some ulcers are beyond the reach of the scope.
The thermal imaging is very good ,my friend had a camera and looked at a pony we had the camera was showing heat in one foot,the pony was showing no signs of lameness until two weeks later.

 

[L&M]

Thanks - that is very helpful.

 

[Tnavas]

Sounds very much like a neck alignment problem as they affect the muscles running beneath the girth.

Thermal imaging is an awesome diagnostic tool and can also be used to detect problems with saddles.

You ride for a while and then the underside of the saddle is 'imaged' and abnormalities seen. Tie it in with an image of the back and you can tell where problems are are.

 

[cellie]

Perhaps you could let me know how you get on . My horse has been under vet treated for sacriolliac issues and possible k/s but he originally had same issues as yours with girth unable to strike on correct canter lead and unhappy with you touching his back. Treatment all helped and he was sound but after few weeks of ridden hes regressed. Sound on lunge but head bobbing ridden. Had fitter out today and he has new saddle but not happy to ride him as obviously hes not pain free.Im wondering if there is another issue someone mentioned neck , ulcers, ribs . Ill go op route if he needs it but so wondering if thermography image is right way forward.