Brain Tumour....Behavioural Issues?!! Advice Needed.....

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Ferns Magic Breeze

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Evening all,

Sorry for the essay it's an unusual one but I'm feeling very down in the dumbs tonight so thought I would ask for advice on here before I speak to Vet tomorrow!
I have a 17.2 ISH Mare owned her coming up 2 years and she has always been very hot headed, fizzy and bit of a stress head but I know how to deal with these issues and it's parts of her personality.
Today I had a awful with what I would call a "mini meltdown" with her and it really has got me worried as to whether it's something more than a behavioural issue.....
I brought her in from the field as usual and she was very tense, wouldn't stand still and very wound up but she can be like this at times so didn't think no more....went out hacking with a friend and for the first 15 mins on the hack she was really hard work, thrashing her head up and down, trotting side ways, wouldn't stand still and just wouldn't settle then slowly as the ride went on she started to chill out and we had a lovely ride till....on the way home she has done something Iv never ever seen her do! She was on a long rein stretching really relaxed and all of a sudden (nothing spooked her, she kept looking at some white plastic sheets in the field where people were working but these have been there for months and she has seen them plenty times before) she starts jogging side ways so I shorten my reins but she keeps snatching at the bit and mini rearing and striking out so as I would lose my reins when she kept snatching forward she just wanted to bolt the more I held her back the worse she got! Flying backwards into the hedge launching forward, bronking, she wouldn't stand still and it's like something had switched in her brain she wouldn't listen to me at all and was getting into a right state. I tried to push her through it but she starting slipping over on the road where she was spinning so fast, flying backwards, trying to take off and rearing so I made the decision to get off and lead before one of us ended up hurt! The 2 min walk home consisted of snorting, mini rearing, striking out, cantering on the spot and as you can imagine she was a white sweaty mess and was shaking like mad!
I got home sorted her out with help from my friend as I couldn't tie her up as she just kept going up, spinning and snorting!! After turning her back out I just sat down and cried! Iv never ever witnessed this from her before and as stupid as it sounds it like she wasn't even there she was transfixed and taken into this own world and nothing/no one could do anything!
Her Teeth were done couple months back, she had a new saddle fitted not so long back and had Physio same time with no problems.
I'm not sure if it just behavioural or someone has suggested it could possibly be something more serious like a brain issue/tumour?! With the sudden change in behaviour...Is this a possibility??
Thank you x
 
Since you described her as coming in very tense and things seemed to have got worse after that, I'd be looking for other alternatives before suspecting a brain tumour, to be honest. Has she been coming into season? One possibility of many is that she has painful ovaries - that's something I've had with a mare of mine. I assume the sudden change is way worse than Spring Fever?
 
Magnetic Sparrow said:
Since you described her as coming in very tense and things seemed to have got worse after that, I'd be looking for other alternatives before suspecting a brain tumour, to be honest. Has she been coming into season? One possibility of many is that she has painful ovaries - that's something I've had with a mare of mine. I assume the sudden change is way worse than Spring Fever?
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Her behaviour with coming in tense a little wound up can be the same winter, spring summer etc... She's a very sensitive mare and gets upset easily. Her meltdown tonight was something that has never happened before. She's been in season a couple of weeks now if not longer with no problems in ridden work she's actually been really happy and going the best she has for a while. After the first initial 15 mins out hacking she was relaxed and fine but then all of a sudden flipped for no reason and yes a lot worse than Spring Fever unfortunately...
 
Sorry to hear about your horse , a friend of mine had a horse that broke out of her stable one night the door was smashed open and no one could work out why ,she was being brought in from the field one day and her owner was hanging on for dear life so you think some thing in the field has scared her , then another day the yard was all quiet until the mare smashed the whole of the front out of her stable she had gone mad spinning two minuets later stood still looking confused ,this horse had Cushings and she was having seizures . When a horse is having seizure they can not see some will spin and some will just run . I hope this may not be the case for your horse ,but for your own safety do not spend any time in the stable with her or ride her ,until you have had her checked by a vet .
 
I had a pony with a virus that effected her behaviour, she became scared of everything. Too scared to come in, too scared to go in her stable and too scared to leave her stable. It was a constant change if behaviour and one hard to describe to my vet (call went something like, there's something wrong with my pony she's acting weird)
Cushings test was done in case this was effecting her brain (not Cushings) 2 weeks in the vets and she slowly came back to normal
I asked about a brain tumour and from what I remember was told they were mostly found post mortem
Nothing wrong with getting the vet out.
 
It sounds like pain rather than a brain tumor .
I do know of one horse that had a brain tumor ,home bred it was unpredicable when broken and became worse with time eventually it reared and flipped over a hedge with a huge drop luckily the rider and horse only sustained minor injuries .
The horse went to kennels and the vet went in to take a look at it had had a huge brain tumor , poor boy .
 
Thank you all for your replies the hell is great and has given me lots to think on.
I have the Vet coming out to check her eye sight and do a few tests as they were concerned with the sudden change in behaviour. I will keep you updated X
 
I had something similar last year. Horse went from perfectly behaved (for him!) one day to napping, rearing, bucking, panic attacks, stressing and blowing with every step he took, mild headshaking, hypersensitivity to noise and movement, he even started having panic attacks in the field. Really drawn back nostrils and dull headachey eyes. We had a head CT in the end as he had a few odd neurological responses. I was terrified of brain tumour or something. Scan was clear. In October he started to calm a bit.

These last two weeks he has started to show the odd head flick and drawn back nostrils, dull eyes. Times perfectly with my sister and mums hay fever. It makes me think that he has a really bad allergy that caused him bad head pain and drove him a bit mad last year.

I just wondered about it as you said she is striking out, which mine does in an effort to hit his nose. Things like a change in sunlight, a patch of air full of the pollen they react to or insects along a hedge line could all set him off into going nuts.

I'm desperately trying to work out how to tackle my boy at this early stage before he goes mad again.
 
My previous horse bolted with me on the roads years ago and I suspect that he was shot at with an air rifle. He just went from walk on a long rein to flat out gallop in a split second. It was totally out of character for him to do so and this is the only thing that I could think of. Could someone have done this to your mare?

I believe brain tumours are very rare in horses.
 
KatPT said:
I had something similar last year. Horse went from perfectly behaved (for him!) one day to napping, rearing, bucking, panic attacks, stressing and blowing with every step he took, mild headshaking, hypersensitivity to noise and movement, he even started having panic attacks in the field. Really drawn back nostrils and dull headachey eyes. We had a head CT in the end as he had a few odd neurological responses. I was terrified of brain tumour or something. Scan was clear. In October he started to calm a bit.

These last two weeks he has started to show the odd head flick and drawn back nostrils, dull eyes. Times perfectly with my sister and mums hay fever. It makes me think that he has a really bad allergy that caused him bad head pain and drove him a bit mad last year.

I just wondered about it as you said she is striking out, which mine does in an effort to hit his nose. Things like a change in sunlight, a patch of air full of the pollen they react to or insects along a hedge line could all set him off into going nuts.

I'm desperately trying to work out how to tackle my boy at this early stage before he goes mad again.
Click to expand...

This is really interesting. Didnt even cross my mind about a allergy?! Im just so lost as she has always been hard work and scatty to ride but never ever has she tried to bolt or done all this snatching the bit and head shaking so violently (hence why someone suggested a brain tumour as there friends horse showed similar signs). She did the striking out both ridden and when lead. She was shivering mess and just covered in white sweat and wasnt listening to me one bit and was barging me out the way when it all started to turn a bit dangerous as i didnt know what she was going to do next... When i turned her out she just went round in circles for about 5 mins till she calmed down?! Im totally baffled....

Im not sure about the air rifle as it was on a very quiet country lane and we could see all around us?

Vets are thinking it could be her eye sight....
 
This is really interesting. Didnt even cross my mind about a allergy?! Im just so lost as she has always been hard work and scatty to ride but never ever has she tried to bolt or done all this snatching the bit and head shaking so violently (hence why someone suggested a brain tumour as there friends horse showed similar signs). She did the striking out both ridden and when lead. She was shivering mess and just covered in white sweat and wasnt listening to me one bit and was barging me out the way when it all started to turn a bit dangerous as i didnt know what she was going to do next... When i turned her out she just went round in circles for about 5 mins till she calmed down?! Im totally baffled....

Im not sure about the air rifle as it was on a very quiet country lane and we could see all around us?

Vets are thinking it could be her eye sight....
 
for a while I would take her off all hard feed and supplements unless they are advised by the vet. even though they are advised by a feed company they could very easily be affecting her with the grass coming through and at the moment unless she is in hard work she should be fine with grass and forage. as well as eyes it could be she has a problem with her ovaries so may be worth getting her scanned while the vet is out if they do not find anything wrong with her eyes.
 
Have you double checked for sheep keds? Nasty little blighters, can cause horrid problems for some horses.
Had very similar 2 yrs ago with (the late, beloved) CF one day. After treatment he was his usual ebullient self 2 days later and not the complete fruitloop/ bucking, kicking, spinning eejit that he was when I called the vet, fearing for my life!
Worth checking!
 
I've only know two horses that had brain tumours that were diagnosed after they were pts and a post mortem done. Both were perfectly normal for most of the time but would suddenly flip and run through anything in their way but then a few minutes later would be back to their normal self. I witnessed one 'flip' and it was terrifying - the horse was cross tied and was being groomed when he suddenly went into a flat out gallop knocking over the person who was grooming him, going straight through the post and rail fence with no attempt to jump it and finally running into a tree.

I would be asking the vet to scan your mare's ovaries and definitely cutting out hard feed for a while.
 
Ferns Magic Breeze said:
This is really interesting. Didnt even cross my mind about a allergy?! Im just so lost as she has always been hard work and scatty to ride but never ever has she tried to bolt or done all this snatching the bit and head shaking so violently (hence why someone suggested a brain tumour as there friends horse showed similar signs). She did the striking out both ridden and when lead. She was shivering mess and just covered in white sweat and wasnt listening to me one bit and was barging me out the way when it all started to turn a bit dangerous as i didnt know what she was going to do next... When i turned her out she just went round in circles for about 5 mins till she calmed down?! Im totally baffled....

Im not sure about the air rifle as it was on a very quiet country lane and we could see all around us?

Vets are thinking it could be her eye sight....
Click to expand...

I think its definitely worth bearing in mind whilst still doing your other checks. The striking out with front legs is one thing my horse only does when his head hurts. When hes had other sorts of pain (sacroiliac, ulcers, muscle) he hasnt done it. Its like he tolerates it for a while and then it almost builds to a migrane (thats the best way I can descibe the look on his face) and he loses it. I lost all confidence in him last year as he was so dangerously unpredictable. I also had back x rays etc done to rule out obvious things.
 
Unfortunately I can't cut her off feed she isn't a good doer at all and its hard enough keeping weight on her let a lot not giving her anything except good forage and grass.
She had KS last year had 3 Vertabraes cut and has been a different horse since (good way) im defo going to get them to scan her ovaries aswell to rule out any problems in this area.
I don't believe it's the feed if I'm honest, I know what she is like when she is feeling "Spring Fever" and this is nothing like SF this is on the edge of dangerous/unpredictable. I'm not riding her till the Vets come out Wednesday and we get some answers! Thank you all for your help and advice it's much appreciated x
 
My WB was aggressive and dangerous before he was diagnosed with chronic Si dysfunction and he also used to strike out violently. He only does that now if he is really worried about a new situation. I think your horse is screaming there is something wrong.
 
Vet is booked and coming out!
Back, Ovaries, Eyes, everything is getting checked! I know my mare and know this isn't her at all and something isn't right...hence the sudden change in behaviour. Thank you all 🙂
 
Ferns Magic Breeze said:
Evening all,

Sorry for the essay it's an unusual one but I'm feeling very down in the dumbs tonight so thought I would ask for advice on here before I speak to Vet tomorrow!
I have a 17.2 ISH Mare owned her coming up 2 years and she has always been very hot headed, fizzy and bit of a stress head but I know how to deal with these issues and it's parts of her personality.
Today I had a awful with what I would call a "mini meltdown" with her and it really has got me worried as to whether it's something more than a behavioural issue.....
I brought her in from the field as usual and she was very tense, wouldn't stand still and very wound up but she can be like this at times so didn't think no more....went out hacking with a friend and for the first 15 mins on the hack she was really hard work, thrashing her head up and down, trotting side ways, wouldn't stand still and just wouldn't settle then slowly as the ride went on she started to chill out and we had a lovely ride till....on the way home she has done something Iv never ever seen her do! She was on a long rein stretching really relaxed and all of a sudden (nothing spooked her, she kept looking at some white plastic sheets in the field where people were working but these have been there for months and she has seen them plenty times before) she starts jogging side ways so I shorten my reins but she keeps snatching at the bit and mini rearing and striking out so as I would lose my reins when she kept snatching forward she just wanted to bolt the more I held her back the worse she got! Flying backwards into the hedge launching forward, bronking, she wouldn't stand still and it's like something had switched in her brain she wouldn't listen to me at all and was getting into a right state. I tried to push her through it but she starting slipping over on the road where she was spinning so fast, flying backwards, trying to take off and rearing so I made the decision to get off and lead before one of us ended up hurt! The 2 min walk home consisted of snorting, mini rearing, striking out, cantering on the spot and as you can imagine she was a white sweaty mess and was shaking like mad!
I got home sorted her out with help from my friend as I couldn't tie her up as she just kept going up, spinning and snorting!! After turning her back out I just sat down and cried! Iv never ever witnessed this from her before and as stupid as it sounds it like she wasn't even there she was transfixed and taken into this own world and nothing/no one could do anything!
Her Teeth were done couple months back, she had a new saddle fitted not so long back and had Physio same time with no problems.
I'm not sure if it just behavioural or someone has suggested it could possibly be something more serious like a brain issue/tumour?! With the sudden change in behaviour...Is this a possibility??
Thank you x
Click to expand...

Your description above is pretty well identical to the behaviour displayed by my mare on occasions over the last 4 years. It started the year after she under went treatment for an annular ligament injury. Previous to this she was the most even tempered mare you could ever come across. There has never been a common denominator to the incidents: competing, not competing, in hand, ridden, at home, on known territory, on unknown territory, with horses around and on her own, you name the time and place and it has occurred. Over the years I have had blood tests done, used Regumate, had physios and vets opinions, eye sight checked, cartrofen, turmeric, other glucosamine products, changed farriers, changed saddles (treed to treeless and back again) changed bits/bridles and have regularly beaten my self up for not being the (younger) confident rider that I used to be because frankly riding this once perfect pony was becoming just too un nerving for me. Even a hack round the block on the narrow Devon lanes became an impossibility as danger seemed to be lurking in every gateway and might spark an onset. This winter though the behaviour became linked to a period of unsoundness on two occasions so a proper work up at the vets was arranged and on this purely scientific basis we have decided to retire her at 19. She is happy and relaxed in the field and I just hand walk her out to eat the brambles on the track now and then. So I now feel that where as I treated the behaviour and any arthritic changes as two separate issues they where in fact all one. On this basis I would really recommend that you consider the pain aspect. The trouble being that it may stem from one particular point but now have caused problems in several other areas, suddenly it is all too much for your horse as it was with mine. I do not think you mention the horse's age, if she is still young you will hopefully find a successful treatment plan and be able to find her comfort zone again. Wishing you all the best for a productive Vet visit.
 
Sorry to hear about the problems you are having with your mare. My gelding behaved similarly recently and I began to suspect something like a brain tumour because he was so unpredictable. The final straw after a string incidents was when he also totally lost it at the end of a hack when he was walking on the buckle end and I ended up having to get off as he was in such a tizzy. He is never usually like this and an excellent hack.I took him to the vets for a check up as he is coming back into work from a previous injury and I wondered if there was something underlying going on. Anyway we couldn't find anything and vet suggested lunging him before getting on as he had a few cases recently of horses losing it for no apparent reason. I have been doing this for 2 weeks and have had no bad behaviour since. I'm not saying this is the solution for you but it might be something to think about.
 
Definitely get the ovaries looked at.
My mare actually presented as gait abnormaility and with behavioural issues. Vet only scanned the ovaries at my insistence (it was November) and she had one ovary the size of a football due to multiple retained follicles. Regumate solved the issue but made her acutely lame. Her behaviour deteriorated and she became lame on and off coinciding with her cycle so I became suspicious that the hormones were causing the soundness issues. Ex vet insisted she had degenerative ligament disease and mucked me about in relation to obtaining a vaccine that knocks out hormones. Switched vet last August, was running out of time with the insurance so decided to go down the route of an ovariectomy done keyhole under standing sedation. He wasn't convinced it would make a difference with the lameness (she'd been basically going lame every 3 weeks for the whole spring/summer by this point) but her behaviour was so outrageous by this point she was dangerous. Picked her up 4 days post op and she has never looked back. Behaviour was immediately back to normal (I bred the mare so know her very well) and best of all at 8 weeks post op she was completely sound and has stayed that way. We don't know what damage has been done to the ligaments longer term so no guarantee she will stay sound. Taking it very slowly and carefully but she is still sound 8 months on from the op.
 
My family have just lost a horse with a brain tumour. No change in behaviour really. Some of the symptoms were loss of appetite, drastic weightloss, looking vacant. The biggest and most dangerous problem was lack of co ordination, this all happened quite quickly.
 
Our mare suddenly started bucking violently before Xmas, we put it down to her not doing much work, she always full of it in winter. Knew it wasn't, teeth back or saddle as all were checked. In February we found she had an ovarian tumour, within weeks she became a fire breathing hormonal Dragon, was like handling a stallion. Two weeks ago the tumour was removed, she is now back to her usual gentle self. We only found out about tumour when she went off her food, was a shock but pleased now we know what was up and she's now on road to recovery.
 
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