Collaspes when saddled up - now V concerned

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abina

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Ok I have a 15.2hh warmblood that is now 9yrs old and I have had since 3yrs and I backed her and brought her on. I know her history and there is nothing untoward at all.

She has now four times literally collapsed when we have put her saddle on ijn the last three months .I had her back checked and her saddle - all fine. She literally falls backwards onto her hocks and collapses down onto her knees and then falls over sideways. We have tried walking her around a bit before hand, making sure girth is not too tight or 'wrentched' up, doing the girth up in small stages. It doesn't happen every time we tack up - but when she goes - she goes ! it's quick and without warning, but not immediatly after we have put the saddle on - but a minute or two later.

Any ideas on what is happening or has anyone heard of this before ? Help !!

Have also posted in New Lounge
 
I rode a horse who's owner said he sometimes did this when saddled and they'd put it down to him being cold backed. I rode him for several months, then a friend bought him and then another friend subsequently bought him and I've never seen him do it. If you've had her back checked this seems less likely. Is she grumpy to saddle or does she try to bite when girthed? I'm just wondering if it's an odd presentation of gastric ulcers...? Just a thought.
 
a friend of mine had a mare who did this occassionally. only when she was in season though, she was maybe 5 or 6 at the time and had bred a foal as 3yo. couldnt find any reason; back, teeth etc, cycling ok. then she just stopped, never did it again. we figured she was uncomfortable round her middle during her season. Hope you get to bottom of it, i know it is very distressing to see her doing it.
 
We used to have a pony which did this. We decided eventually that it was a panic when the girth was tightened. We would put the saddle on with a loose girth and walk her round and very gradually tighten the girth. We would probably do this over 5 minutes or so. This worked for us as she did stop doing it so long as we give her time to relax. I would ask a reliable saddler to check your saddle though just in case the saddle is causing a problem. Hope this helps.
 
I would guess it's pain related somewhere, possibly a nerve gets pinched around the girth area or at the withers.
I woud have the horse's back checked again by someone else and see if it does it with just a roller, or a roller over a big thick pad, in which case it isn't the saddle.
There could be a growth inside that you can't see but gets squashed, also the nerve that runs down round the girth area can get inflamed, I would try the loose girth and walking round for ten mins before mounting, but I wouldn't be allowing anyone on this horse until it's fixed...
 
We had a horse which used to collapse like that. We did what Amstar01 suggests, girthing up very very gently over several minutes, and mounting off a block with the girths still loose - be careful! We also saddled him up outside rather than in the stable. It never happened after that.

Hope you find an answer. It's distressing and scary.
 
Her behaviour and attitude before, during and after may help you find a cause.

Pain is the obvious one but something neurological or cardiovascular could also be possible.

How's her behaviour before, during and after? Is she stressed? Does she look paniced? Does she seem spaced and out of it, or wired and stressed? Is she aware she's going down? Is it deliberate? What exactly sets it off? Hows her breathing and heartrate afterwards?

There's loads of questions you need to ask so you can pin point the cause.
 
Sorry to hear you're having such horrible problems - really scarey when they do this sort of thing.
Is she fully concious when she does it? - just another thought could it be a form of narcolepsy or a type of epilepsy/ fit?
Might be worth trying to video an event - there used to be a neurology specialist who could give some great info on what might be happening from a video - if it is something like this it would be a great help to help diagnose what's going on as the vet never sees the collapse.
 
Sorry if this seems like a hijack but my mare did something similar to this at weekend, we'd taken her in a trailer to hack back (nervous travelller) and as normal she was stressy in the trailer but we got her off & tacked up, as always leaving the girth fairly loose till I was nearly ready to mount up, then tightened it and walked her round the trailer before getting on. As I was finishing doing her boots after tightening the girth, she went to put her head down to eat (or so we thought), then her knees seemed to buckle, we moved her on quick & she seemed absolutely fine, not worried so I got on and hacked home without incident.

Any ideas ? She's always been unhappy with girth being tightened up, tries to bite etc but never looked like going down until now, sometimes she will stretch front legs (like doing a bow !!)
 
I had a mare that did this when the girth was done up. I could never saddle her on the yard, saddle would go on in the school and she would have to be walked around between each gradual tightening. It was diagnosed as bruising of the nerve that runs close to where the girth goes and she had to wear sausage boots at night to protect that area when she lay down. She used to sort of faint, it was scary!
 
My 5 year old horse doesn't do this as such but can bronc in the stable when saddled or have his 'back up' when you ride him at the beginning and i've found that using a Equilibrium massage pad prior to tacking up whilst grooming him eleviates both of the above, and he loves it too!
 
Three vets could find nothing wrong with my five year old. I thought he had a back problem they said he did NOT.

We took him to the vet hospital where x-rays revealed and old fracture in his neck and kissing spines.

I would ask for x-rays.
 
As Rollin suggests, personally I would get the back x rayed and or scanned. She could have possible kissing spine or damage to the supraspinous ligament.
 
How horrible for you and the horse, must be very scary.
My mare had a sudden reaction to her girth being done up the other day. She almost sat down, then spun round and hunched up - she has always been a bit touchy, but nothing like this. My immediate thought was sore girth area, but when I got her looked at by our massage lady, it turned out she had pulled a muscle in her shoulder which ran down under her girth area. She had some really bad knots which, after a couple of massage sessions, have settled down and she is now much happier. Possibly not the same with your's, but might be worth a massage/chiropractor session just to rule it out.
 
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