cold back help

[ottbfan]

hi everyone.

some important information before i begin: i recently lost my job and funds are very tight, thus why i haven't been able to get a chiro/vet out to see my horse. i'd love any self-care advice you can give to make this problem manageable until i have enough money to call my vet.

my new horse whom i've had for three months now has developed a severely cold back. this has been going on for 3 weeks now. at first we thought it was heat related, because it started during her heat cycle in late july. but it didn't get better. i suspected ovarian tumors but she showed no symptoms besides a severely sore back.

i gave her a week off during her heat in hopes she'd get better. her heat symptoms did last for the full 7 days, but after she retained her painful back.

we thought it was saddle sores (which it is as well), but i can find no experiences with the type of reaction she has.

long story short, it was the saddle. i have an adjustable saddle and i changed the gullet 3 times. she was in a medium. put her in a wide and it rubbed her withers raw, but we thought the medium might have been pinching her shoulders. now i don't think that's the case... i WILL be buying a custom saddle for her. that's high on the to-do list.

trying to be helpful i bought cold cream, ice packs, muscle rub, linment, anything i could think of to help her. unfortunately i FORGOT she has open sores on her back (they aren't bloody sores - looks more like friction rubs because her skin is black and therefore hard to see...) and when applying fly spray, just the droplets of water made her fall to the ground in a U shape.

I can't even give her a massage due to how sensitive she is. Under saddle, though, she works fine... she jumps, she canters, she picks up her leads... however after i took the saddle off her last night she had such a bad reaction to me placing my hand on her back that she almost kicked me. it still doesn't fit.

so riding is off the table until her pain symptoms go away. as soon as funds come in she is getting x-rayed, just so we know for the future.

she is a 6 year old OTTB, off the track about 2 years. does anyone have any advice they can give me to keep her comfortable, and ground exercise ideas to strengthen her back while we wait for the muscles to heal? (i also suspect deep bruising...) she is not lame, she is fine on the ground, not lame under saddle either. she is one of those "grin and bear it" horses and will jump the moon if i asked her to, even if she was on fire. i want to do right by her.

 

[be positive]

Someone has to answer so here is my contribution, I will try not to be too judgmental but am struggling, firstly you should have stopped riding as soon as you knew there was a problem, continuing to canter and jump will have compounded what may have just been a slightly sore back into something that will now require far more intensive and expensive treatment, messing about changing gullets when you really have no idea whether the saddle even suits the horse has also made matters worse, to then ride with obviously sore areas and raw withers is bordering on cruelty, it is more than negligent as you knew there was a problem but you continued to enjoy riding her, the fact she has put up with the treatment she has endured is a testament to her good nature and she deserves far better than you have given her so far.

I have said my bit, others may be even tougher but you now must do right by her and forget riding her until she has been seen and given the all clear by a vet, if it means waiting a week or two to get them out then so be it, she will not be at any more risk as long as you don't ride, you will not be able to do much other than treat the sore areas and gradually start to massage her in areas other than the sore muscles, massaging sore muscles when you don't know what you are doing may make them worse so leave them alone and groom her gently everywhere else so she relaxes. Walk her out in hand or ideally leave her out 24/7 so she can move about freely and loosen up, the main thing is to get professional help ASAP , this is exactly why you should either have insurance in place or a fund for treatment, I suspect that if you had got a physio in as soon as you knew there was a problem, stopped riding until you had a saddler to look at the saddle for under £200 she could have been made comfortable without her going through so much pain, it would have been money well spent rather than trying to self treat, I often self treat but have many years of experience and know when to call in professional help sooner rather than later.

Sorry about the loss of your job but you do have to put your horses welfare first.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Have you not got a credit card or someone who can lend you some money? Your horse needs to see a vet urgently and you need to stop riding until you get her looked at poor horse she sounds like she is in agony

 

[HaffiesRock]

Have you at least called the vet to discuss? Most vets give free advice over the phone.

 

[JillA]

If you can't afford a vet, then field rest with no rugs etc to compound the injury, and absolutely no weight of any kind on her back. Once the soft tissues heal (probably months rather than weeks) enough for her to tolerate you running a hand down her back, then you can start to look at underlying skeletal problems (ks are very common in ex racers). Leave her to heal, even lunging could impact on her back if she tries to lift it to engage. I would say even with full veterinary investigation and a correctly fitting saddle you shouldn't think of riding her again until spring. Poor girl, you are lucky she hasn't half killed you.
And make sure she has plenty of protein in her diet, amino acids to repair the tissue.