Back problems?

[Sianio]

Hi all, I’m looking to see if anybody has had similar symptoms to my horse. Over the last 18 months she’s developed some strange symptoms which I explain below and I’m thinking of having the vet investigate but it would be amazing if I knew where to start rather than paying for a wide range of different investigations. I do have insurance but I’ve already spent two years getting control of her asthma, and now I feel like I’m starting again with a whole new problem! It’s a bit of a long one - thanks in advance for reading!

Last summer I pretty much just hacked as I didn’t have her asthma as well controlled. Starting schooling again in the winter very gradually. Horse has always carried tail over to the right but also started to hollow when asked to engage the hind leg. She can stretch down when going very slowly but as soon as she uses any power behind, hollow. Got my trainer to ride her to see if it was just me, she said she could feel something not right behind the saddle. Horse has physio every 3 months and saddle check each time. Got the physio out straight after - saddle perfect and she couldn’t find anything wrong in the back.

Did lots of googling at the time and found Simon Cocozza’s horse yoga programme. I got three weeks into it before lockdown and felt it made a difference as my horse was starting to stretch in trot and feel less rushy. During lockdown horse had 6 weeks off, then groundwork for 4 weeks doing the yoga exercises. Got back on and continued yoga, horse started to fuss about walking on concrete. Put back shoes on, all much better, carried on with yoga.

I think the yoga must be doing something because my horse stretches down much more in walk and trot and feels more balanced and supple (we are now about 8 weeks in). She has also changed from a frequent spooker to a generally willing and amenable character. However she still has random “lumpy back” days, still holds her tail to the right and sometimes still feels awful to ride on concrete (but equally sometimes fine). Weirdest symptom is she’s worse on concrete after doing the yoga, when she’s been really supple in the school. At the moment she’s on a trial of Danilon but still has bad days and good days with no real pattern.

 

[be positive]

My thought would be that the yoga is allowing her to release some tension and that is bringing the root cause to the fore, it may be inconsistent but if the problem is chronic and relatively minor it may be a bit random in how it feels from day to day.
You really need a good vet to do a proper work up possibly starting with the hocks as they are a common area to cause issues elsewhere, the other option would be to get a different physio out to assess her as I would be a bit concerned your usual one has not found anything to treat when there is obviously a issue that has been going on for some time, not all physios are great at finding minor things, they should be looking at the whole horse not just the back.

 

[Sianio]

Thanks for your reply, it’s a great point about releasing making other problems more obvious. The physio does a lot of work releasing the neck and shoulder as this is where my horse is noticeably reactive - she works a lot with fascia and ultrasound as my horse is super sensitive and has hated other physios I’ve tried. It’s a mystery why she can’t find the cause! However I do think with my horse being so sensitive that it must be really minor or it would cause significant behaviour problems. This is a horse who can go lame if a piece of arena rubber goes in her boot, and will refuse to take another step until I take it out!

I will definitely have vets do investigations but I’d love to have a starting point for them, due to my horse’s sensitivity as she won’t cope well with lots of different investigations. They want to start by ruling out ulcers which is plausible but I’d rather go directly to a possible cause if I can

 

[be positive]

A sensitive horse is often that way because of chronic pain, they can overreact in a defensive way and be extremely sensitive to any minor discomfort, ulcers could well be part of the issue but as you know they are unlikely to be the primary one so if they are found and treated it could well be a waste of time and money as they will come back if the primary cause is not found and treated.

A basic workup, in hand trot, flexions, lunging on soft and hard ground should not be too much for her to cope with, you can prepare her yourself beforehand to get her more accepting of being messed about with by running through it yourself, without doing flexions but having her confidently trotting up and down in hand several times, ensure she will lunge sensibly in a few different places around the yard if possible and try to get other people near her if she finds that stressful, sensitive horses can be hard to deal with but there are usually ways to get round it.

 

[fredflop]

Personally I’d try a osteo/chiro before the vet... they will often find bits the physio doesn’t (and visa versa)

 

[Goldenstar]

The horse needs a work up from a vet who does problems with performance type work .

 

[Trouper]

Tom Beech - Equine Vet and Osteopath combined.

 

[Wheels]

It really could be anything, she is showing you a pain response and as be positive says some horses are sensitive because they are in long term pain of some sort.

The vet may have a very good idea of where to look once the say the horse trotted up, certainly more of a clue than the forum members who haven't even seen the horse.