Bringing horse back into work - back problems?

[Stasha22]

Hi

I am in the process of bringing my horse back into work after nearly 2 years off. I started off with lunging her which she has been fine with and then progressed to short ridden sessions which again she was fine with.

I was forced to stop for about 3 weeks and have started lunging her again this week without a problem. Saddler came out last night to check saddle (which was fine), but when I got on she seemed to be in pain. She was reluctant to move at all, swishing her tail and throwing her head around. Got off straight away and both myself and the saddler had a good feel of her back. She reacted on first touch but not again. She then appeared to get into a bit of a strop and started scrapping the floor looking like she wanted to roll and making a strange noise (almost like she was hiccuping?).

I am obviously concerned by this and will be speaking to my vet today but just wondered if anyone had any thoughts/advice as to what could be wrong? I have never seen her do anything like this in the past (have owned her for 5 years).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[AmyMay]

Why was she off for so long?

Have you had a physio to look at her?

 

[samp]

Has she recently come in from the field? OR received a hard feed. Did you trot her up to see if she was moving normally? As said has a physio been consulted?

 

[Stasha22]

Long story!

Basically, have had a few issues in the past with lameness. She damaged the DDFT in her left hoof which took a long time to receover from and then was diagnosed with a Spavin in her left hock. She then had an issue with her mouth followed with Gastric Ulcers. This has all taken about 2 years.

I should mention that she has been treated for and recovered from all previous issues and has spent the last 8 months in the field having time to relax.

My vet was my first thought but am happy for physio to look at her if that would be better than a vet.

 

[AmyMay]

I have to be honest, it sounds to me as if she was having a strop.

 

[Stasha22]

She's still living out and is on minimal hard feed which I haven't changed since bringing her back into work. She is not lame, was sound on lunge and when we trotted her up after the riding incident.

 

[kerilli]

sounds like stroppiness to me. do you use a wide, soft girth? if she hasn't had one on for ages, it could have been something as simple as that, making her stroppy. i'd walk her around a lot in hand in her tack first, get her used to the feel of it again, then go from there. are you sure your saddler is really good at checking fit? not everyone sees saddle fitting in quite the same way.

 

[Stasha22]

That was my intitial reaction but saddler said he thought she looked like she was genuinely in pain.

She isn't the type to take the mick really. Can be a little stroppy but not normally to that extreme.

I am tempted to get back on tonight to see if she reacts in the same way but I'm a little apprehensive in case there is something wrong and I make things worse.

 

[AmyMay]

Well if you genuinly think something is up then it could be worth spending the money on getting a physio to examine her.

Good luck, hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[Stasha22]

Yep, I use one of those wide Wintec ones with a sheepskin sleeve. She is lunged with all her tack on for that reason, and is fine. Just not happy when I get on!!

I think the saddler is ok. It's so hard to find a decent one but he seems to be competent and I am quite happy with what he's saying and the fit of the saddle. Will show it to the vet/phsyio for their opinon too.

 

[Rueysmum]

Sounds like she could have had a little bit of choke, perhaps?

Pawing the ground and hiccuping - could have had something stuck. My horse used to "squeak" and go into brief spasms sometimes when he was about 3 and had access to hayledge.