happyhorse978
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I will try to keep this as short as possible, but I am in a really difficult situation and it's totally breaking my heart, so any advice is appreciated and welcomed.
I have had my horse for about 2.5 years. I had him straight off the track. He was always 'quirky' and sharp, the first day i brought him home he was difficult to put a rug on (trying to bite and lifted a back leg etc) and the same for saddling when we come to that. He has always been good under saddle (I have only ever done hacking and light schooling with him). I contacted the staff at the race yard he came from who said he was always a grump on the ground/in the stable etc but manageable.
Anyway - 12 months ago, his behaviour worsened overnight. He suddenly became aggressive (i still to this day cannot work out a reason). He chased me out of the field twice, ears pinned and teeth showing. I was shocked but thought there must be a reason for this, as his behaviour continued to worsen. Later that day he tried to attack me whilst I changed his rug, he actually snapped the string he was tied up to to try and get me. I phoned the vet straight away as I suspected ulcers, I took him into the clinic the next day and had him scoped. As predicted, grade 2&3 squamous, glandular and pyloric ulcers bless him. Not suprising considering he was a racehorse. Treated with Omeprazole for four weeks and he scoped perfectly clear. I was hopeful his behaviour would improve now the ulcers were sorted (his management was totally fine for an ulcer prone horse, vet said nothing needed to change there, I always manage horses as though they have got ulcers just as a preventative measure!)
This is where it all started to go downhill. His behaviour started getting worse. I have had numerous behaviourists out to him, to no avail, perhaps some slight improvement with one of them but very shortlasting (a couple of weeks) and then boom, back to normal. I dont let anybody else handle my horse, i know him very well so i can tell when he is about to do something. His behaviour got so bad that in May of this year I went to stroke him whilst he was in the field and he lunged at me and sent me flying backwards through the fence. I think I was temporarily knocked out for a couple of seconds as his head collided with mine. This is where i thought, right, I need to dig deeper. I had the vet out again for a re-scope (which he scoped perfectly clear again and back x-rays (which were fine). I was stumped. Carried on working with behaviourist trainer.
I moved yards in the summer as where we were wasnt particularly a nice environment and i wondered if this was contributing if he was not happy. We are at a lovely quiet yard now but the behaviour is still bad. He lunged and bit at the behavioural trainer the other day, and he actually broke her collarbone, with his teeth. (He is a big 16.2hh TB so he really throws his weight at you when he lunges at you ). He also has developed a sudden dislike to travelling, whether in a trailer or lorry. He will rear vertical, thrash around constantly and panic bless him, I had to have him sedated on our journey just to get him to the new yard safely.
Obviously I have consulted my vet again, who has been out to see him. We arent sure what could be causing this behaviour. He cannot be rugged (it is actually impossible unless you are totally fearless/stupid!), I had to have him sedated the other day just so i could rug him as its dropped cold. He also will not be saddled (not that I am trying to saddle him when his behaviour is like this). This is not a new occurance but it has worsened. Sometimes he can just turn on you for no reason on the ground, sometimes it feels like you only have to look at him the wrong way! Some days he is better than others but it is getting to the point where general handling/care is proving difficult.
Myself and my vet have agreed to trial him on four weeks of Mistoprolol incase of any hindgut pain/ulceration, to see if this improves his behaviour so i will be starting him on this sometime this week. I am also considering having him thermal imaged over his whole body to show up any areas of pain/imflammation. I am geninely considering his quality of life at this point, as clearly there is something going on somewhere. I fully believe he is in chronic pain somewhere, we just havent found it yet. Or perhaps some sort of brain problem? I dont know whether this is common in horses but i would be grateful of your advice. please be kind, this horse is my entire world, he has the best of everything and I am trying to rule out everything possible for him, i have spent thousands so far and insurance is pretty well used too!! I am heart broken, i just want to do the right thing by him, whatever that is.
thank you so much
I have had my horse for about 2.5 years. I had him straight off the track. He was always 'quirky' and sharp, the first day i brought him home he was difficult to put a rug on (trying to bite and lifted a back leg etc) and the same for saddling when we come to that. He has always been good under saddle (I have only ever done hacking and light schooling with him). I contacted the staff at the race yard he came from who said he was always a grump on the ground/in the stable etc but manageable.
Anyway - 12 months ago, his behaviour worsened overnight. He suddenly became aggressive (i still to this day cannot work out a reason). He chased me out of the field twice, ears pinned and teeth showing. I was shocked but thought there must be a reason for this, as his behaviour continued to worsen. Later that day he tried to attack me whilst I changed his rug, he actually snapped the string he was tied up to to try and get me. I phoned the vet straight away as I suspected ulcers, I took him into the clinic the next day and had him scoped. As predicted, grade 2&3 squamous, glandular and pyloric ulcers bless him. Not suprising considering he was a racehorse. Treated with Omeprazole for four weeks and he scoped perfectly clear. I was hopeful his behaviour would improve now the ulcers were sorted (his management was totally fine for an ulcer prone horse, vet said nothing needed to change there, I always manage horses as though they have got ulcers just as a preventative measure!)
This is where it all started to go downhill. His behaviour started getting worse. I have had numerous behaviourists out to him, to no avail, perhaps some slight improvement with one of them but very shortlasting (a couple of weeks) and then boom, back to normal. I dont let anybody else handle my horse, i know him very well so i can tell when he is about to do something. His behaviour got so bad that in May of this year I went to stroke him whilst he was in the field and he lunged at me and sent me flying backwards through the fence. I think I was temporarily knocked out for a couple of seconds as his head collided with mine. This is where i thought, right, I need to dig deeper. I had the vet out again for a re-scope (which he scoped perfectly clear again and back x-rays (which were fine). I was stumped. Carried on working with behaviourist trainer.
I moved yards in the summer as where we were wasnt particularly a nice environment and i wondered if this was contributing if he was not happy. We are at a lovely quiet yard now but the behaviour is still bad. He lunged and bit at the behavioural trainer the other day, and he actually broke her collarbone, with his teeth. (He is a big 16.2hh TB so he really throws his weight at you when he lunges at you ). He also has developed a sudden dislike to travelling, whether in a trailer or lorry. He will rear vertical, thrash around constantly and panic bless him, I had to have him sedated on our journey just to get him to the new yard safely.
Obviously I have consulted my vet again, who has been out to see him. We arent sure what could be causing this behaviour. He cannot be rugged (it is actually impossible unless you are totally fearless/stupid!), I had to have him sedated the other day just so i could rug him as its dropped cold. He also will not be saddled (not that I am trying to saddle him when his behaviour is like this). This is not a new occurance but it has worsened. Sometimes he can just turn on you for no reason on the ground, sometimes it feels like you only have to look at him the wrong way! Some days he is better than others but it is getting to the point where general handling/care is proving difficult.
Myself and my vet have agreed to trial him on four weeks of Mistoprolol incase of any hindgut pain/ulceration, to see if this improves his behaviour so i will be starting him on this sometime this week. I am also considering having him thermal imaged over his whole body to show up any areas of pain/imflammation. I am geninely considering his quality of life at this point, as clearly there is something going on somewhere. I fully believe he is in chronic pain somewhere, we just havent found it yet. Or perhaps some sort of brain problem? I dont know whether this is common in horses but i would be grateful of your advice. please be kind, this horse is my entire world, he has the best of everything and I am trying to rule out everything possible for him, i have spent thousands so far and insurance is pretty well used too!! I am heart broken, i just want to do the right thing by him, whatever that is.
thank you so much
