Back Problem?

[dozzie]

First post in veterinary!

Ive had problems with my horse bucking and refusing to go forward in transitions. Changed saddle and this made a big difference. However she is now bucking again when I ask for canter and resistant to trot. It may well be shes unfit. Have changed headplate this week (its a WOW saddle) and she did seem happier.

Ive spoken to vet and he said he will come and check feet, teeth etc and the back. Also got the saddler coming out to check saddle again.

However he asked me to lunge her without a saddle and with a saddle to compare, but Im not really sure what I should be looking for!!

He also said I should canter her on the lunge. That was easy to describe- total explosion to the point I thought she was going to hurt herself!! So Im not going to do that again. And certainly not with a saddle on!!

She is definitely more willing to go forward without the saddle and her strides are longer at the front. She also seems to track up more but I need to get her videoed to really compare.(this weekends task). Does this indicate saddle?

Can you tell me what I should be looking for when lungeing so that I can report back?


Also would it be worth getting a chiropractor or physio out to look and if so would this come before or after the vet?

Could this really be just a saddle issue again????

Sorry for all the qu's!!

 

[mickey]

So if you are getting the teeth, back and feet checked that could rule out a number of things. Personally I use a physio (ACPAT qualified) to check my horses back as my exp of vets is that they don't really touch them and tend to image/use scintigraphy etc if they really think something is wrong.
I should think all horses look different on the lunge than when carrying a rider. I would have thought that when lunging they want you to look for any obvious resistance in transitions, to make sure the horse is going forward and that strides are even and hocks carried through with no irregular steps. Dunno otherwise....Is the horse nappy when ridden ordinarily? or resistant?

 

[Chumsmum]

I think you have to get the ok from the vet before a chiro/physio will come out - sorry that's the only bit I can answer. Good luck - hope you sort it out.
C x

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Back could still be sore from original saddle.

I would speak to your vet re: Physio/Chiro, as you will need to get your vets permission before a Physio or Chiro can treat anyway. Vet may also want to see horse 1st before permission is given as back pain can also be cause by low grade lameness.

I can recommend a good Equine Sports Massage Therapist from Surrey if that helps (pm for details if needed)

 

[dozzie]

Thanks for everyones support. She may just be being lazy/hyper but my gut feeling is she is not. She is a very ammenable but really overreacts if saddle is not right. Which is why I think there may be an underlying problem that we, my vet and I, need to get to the bottom of. I will pm you for details PS.

What triggered me to be concerned was the article a few weeks ago in H&H about a horse with kissing spines. It could have been written about my horse! Hence I am wondering if I have a back problem, even if not kissing spine. I suspect if it was kissing spine then even the WOW wouldnt have helped.

I think what I will do is try to break this post down as I think the whole scenario is quite complex. I didnt want to post the whole story as it would be to long.

 

[BethH]

If you want symptoms of kissing spines etc I wrote long and boring message about it on the vet forum in answer to someones questions last june/july. Also if this is diagnosed (probably not the case but the resistance in canter can be a sign, but a stiff jolting trot can also be a sign!) feel free to PM me as have had a very good experience in dealing with this and can tell you from a novice horse owner's point of view that it really doesn't have to be as awful as it sounds to deal with, just a bit of a long slow road.

Just to add that I would stress there could be loads of other minor reasons for resistance to going forward, if the saddle has caused soreness, it could be around the loins and buttocks if your weight has been placed in wrong position by saddle, which would mean a lot of tension/pain if she is trying to use her back end to push off into canter. Like the other posts, I agree a well qualified physio or chiropractor would be worthwhile, anyone decent will ask you to call your vet to check it is ok to treat the horse first in any case. I would try this first as to have my horse thoroughtly checked out cost lots! If the horse hasn't improved after a couple of treatments then the physio should recommend referral to a vet at that point.