Back Problem

[matchbox]

inflammation of two vertabrae 12 months ago, treated and 3 months rest now coming back into work. Can be known to buck with no rhyme or reason, could go a few schooling sessions without bucking and then throw one out.

I'm thinking there is still underlying issues, either psychological due to the memory of pain, or he needs fully checked out by a vet and then perhaps a physio.

Thoughts? Has anyone directly experienced this sort of problem before?

 

[vickyconnolly]

my saddler told me that many horses that he has dealt with with back problems, he has sorted the saddle, the vet has sorted the back yet the horse still bucks the rider off. the owners then thinks the horse is in pain or the saddle doest fit. he said the horse still thinks its in pain when infact it isnt, it is all in the head. he said it can take up to 6 monthe for horses to realise nothing is hurting. but thats not every case.

 

[ann-jen]

Yes my horse had exactly this problem and the key is correct schooling to strengthen the back and very careful saddle fitting. My horse had her saddle fitted by a professional saddle fitter when I first got her - I hated the saddle but naively thought that if it fitted the horse ok I'd get used to it. My horses behaviour got very out of hand - she once bucked 7 times on a 20m circle gut was especially bad when jumping - she really tried to buck me off then!
She had her back x-rayed for kissing spines and was a borderline case in that although the spinous processes were very close they weren't touching per se. She had inflammatory changes between the vertebrae and was injected with steroids in between each one.
When she returned to work she was great for a small while and then started slowly to return to her bad ways. I was at my wits end and people kept telling me to get rid of her as she was obviously just naughty. I stuck to my guns as I knew this wasn't true.
I went to a new instructor to try and sort out my flatwork. On the first lesson she pointed out that my oh so professionally fitted saddle didn't fit at all!!! I then got my WOW saddle and that has been a god-send - probably any correctly fitted saddle would of had the same effect but we've never looked back since finding that instructor and getting that saddle. It has taken 2 years though to get where we are now though - ie starting to jump again so its not been a quick fix. I would say from getting the saddle, it took about 9-12 months to get her topline built up to a satisfactory level. We did this by getting her working long and low initially, carrot stretches, regular physio and saddle adjustments (she has gone up several width fittings and needed a new panel with a wider gullet to accommodate her enlarged topline). She has gone from getting 40's in prelim dressage to 60's in the novice thanks to all the help my instructor has given me.
The bad behaviour has virtually disappeared - she also has a lot of emotional baggage and still throws the odd buck in if she's feeling emotionally uncomfortable with something. I have since found another fab jumping instructor and think we will be back competing again soon.
Good Luck with your horse - it does take a lot of commitment with horses like this but I'm sure you'll get there.
AJ