Dangerous / aggressive horse - advice needed?!

[alsxx]

Sorry to hear this OP, you sound d like you have really tried to get to the bottom of things and that's admirable. You've had a lot of good advice on this thread. My only 2 pence to add, having had an ex racehorse myself, was he couldn't tolerate alfalfa, and became incredibly aggressive on it. If you feed any alfalfa based feed I'd certainly try removing that (although not at same time as but trial of course).

 

[spotty_pony]

I haven’t read all of the replies but my first thought would be to get a CT scan done to check for a tumour.

 

[happyhorse978]

Just a thought- if your vet is onboard with a pain relief trial, might they be able to administer something that can’t irritate the stomach? Like IV metacam? (I’m not a vet obviously, just wondering whether that could take the potential for ulcers to be irritated away?)

No suggestions but am sending you a virtual hug.

I PTS a never in training TB who became more and more unpredictable behaviour wise and when ridden. I understand what you are going through.

thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer and tell me this. Thankyou so much x

 

[happyhorse978]

Also you have probably exhausted all this but I found premier equine super so calm made a much bigger difference than anything else I tried!

Thankyou I’ve tried an array of different calmers to no avail

 

[happyhorse978]

A friend had a grey mare, was known to be difficult in stable, and turned out. Sign on the stable door to not go into stable without owner about, nor walk through her field. Behavioural trainer tried best, vets found nothing wrong after spending ££££ on her, she reared up in the stable so high hit head on beam, was knocked out for 10 min.. we thought she was dead, when back on feet was took to vet hospital for extensive rays and tests. A brain tumour was found, behind an eye, she was PTS within the week, it was pressing on optic nerve causing great pain. Nothing could be done. She had been in my friends ownership for 18 months, after passing a vet examination on purchase. Vet said may not even have discovered it then, had she not knocked herself stupid. Cant imagine
the pain she had.

Omg that sounds traumatic, interesting findings though, Thankyou so much for sharing xx

 

[happyhorse978]

My only input would be to x-ray his head. I know a horse whose behaviour changed drastically over night, from being calm and accepting a rider walk, trot, canter, easy chilled hacks, to literally turning himself inside out (injuring rider) - yes he was young at 4, but the behaviour changed so suddenly. Vet called, all usual checks clear, and at last resort x-rayed his head - ideally checking for teeth issues, only to find he had fractured his skull in several places and the pain must have been beyond imaginable. Probably self inflicted fall in the field doing zoomies. There were no outward signs, it just suddenly happened, and took a while to find. Glad to report the horse is ok, its taken 2 years now, but owner is aware and taking things very slowly. Whether or not the horse will have the competition future that was planned is perhaps unlikely, but only time will tell.
Saying that, your lovely horse sounds like it's beyond the point where it could return to being safely handled, and although usually there is a reason, sometimes, just sometimes an answer will never be found. You are precious and for the sake of 'a horse' please do the right thing, he isn't a happy chap and i'm sure he will appreciate it however hard this is for you.

Thankyou so so much! I think at this point there is definitely something going on, but it’s like you say, we may never find it. Thankyou so much again x x

 

[happyhorse978]

Sorry to hear this OP, you sound d like you have really tried to get to the bottom of things and that's admirable. You've had a lot of good advice on this thread. My only 2 pence to add, having had an ex racehorse myself, was he couldn't tolerate alfalfa, and became incredibly aggressive on it. If you feed any alfalfa based feed I'd certainly try removing that (although not at same time as but trial of course).

Thankyou so much. I did try removing alfalfa for a while but unfortunately it didn’t make a difference either

 

[happyhorse978]

I haven’t read all of the replies but my first thought would be to get a CT scan done to check for a tumour.

Thankyou, I would definitely have a ct scan of his head done but he won’t travel any more , for some reason recently it’s all changed , he totally freaks out whilst travelling , rearing vertical and thrashing around in a panic bless him, he always used to be good to travel. So I wouldn’t be able to travel him to a vet hospital to have it done , as they don’t do it local to me xx

 

[ycbm]

Really sorry, but for me there wouldn't be any point in a head CT scan. With my own horse the vet advised me that we could do it but that whatever it found would be extremely unlikely to be able to be fixed and we would end up PTS anyway, with a huge CT scan bill.

This would be diffeent, of course, for someone with insurance left to pay for it, or if you just can't face putting to sleep a horse without knowing the cause of the problems.
.

 

[happyhorse978]

Really sorry, but for me there wouldn't be any point in a head CT scan. With my own horse the vet advised me that we could do it but that whatever it found would be extremely unlikely to be able to be fixed and we would end up PTS anyway, with a huge CT scan bill.

This would be diffeent, of course, for someone with insurance left to pay for it, or if you just can't face putting to sleep a horse without knowing the cause of the problems.
.

I understand completely. Unfortunately not an option for us as he won’t travel anymore and I don’t think it would actually be fair to put him through the trauma of it all bless him. He has started his Danilon trial tonight ??xx

 

[Dave's Mam]

I have no advice to offer, but wanted to send you a virtual hug. You really have been trying to get to the bottom of this & I hope you both get some respite.

 

[happyhorse978]

I have no advice to offer, but wanted to send you a virtual hug. You really have been trying to get to the bottom of this & I hope you both get some respite.

Thank you so much ! X

 

[ihatework]

Massive hugs.
If he were mine he would be pts without question.

 

[black and brown]

What a horrible situation you are in, I really feel for you. I don't have any suggestions to make but just wanted to say that your horse is very fortunate to have such a caring, patient owner. Take care of yourself.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I can't really add any suggestions and you already have lots OP but just wanted to say it's okay if you are done. It's an awful situation to be in and to have been trying so hard for the last year to find a way forwards. It might be that you feel able to keep going and try some more things. But if you are done, emotionally/mentally/financially, it's okay - you have already done a huge amount for this horse.

 

[happyhorse978]

Massive hugs.
If he were mine he would be pts without question.

Thankyou , it’s so difficult x

 

[happyhorse978]

What a horrible situation you are in, I really feel for you. I don't have any suggestions to make but just wanted to say that your horse is very fortunate to have such a caring, patient owner. Take care of yourself.

Thank you so much that is so kind x

 

[happyhorse978]

I can't really add any suggestions and you already have lots OP but just wanted to say it's okay if you are done. It's an awful situation to be in and to have been trying so hard for the last year to find a way forwards. It might be that you feel able to keep going and try some more things. But if you are done, emotionally/mentally/financially, it's okay - you have already done a huge amount for this horse.

Thankyou so much I really needed to hear that! Thankyou xx

 

[ycbm]

I can't really add any suggestions and you already have lots OP but just wanted to say it's okay if you are done. It's an awful situation to be in and to have been trying so hard for the last year to find a way forwards. It might be that you feel able to keep going and try some more things. But if you are done, emotionally/mentally/financially, it's okay - you have already done a huge amount for this horse.

Ditto 99 times over.
.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Thankyou so much I really needed to hear that! Thankyou xx

You are welcome. I am just so struck by how stressful and distressing this situation must be. Take good care of yourself however you decide proceed next.

 

[happyhorse978]

Ditto 99 times over.
.

Thankyou xx

 

[happyhorse978]

You are welcome. I am just so struck by how stressful and distressing this situation must be. Take good care of yourself however you decide proceed next.

It’s awful honestly, I love him to pieces and he really is a lovely horse when he’s not being aggressive, which is what makes it harder. If he was like it constantly 24/7 then there would be no option, it’s so difficult. Thankyou so so much xxx

 

[nagblagger]

Your horse is unpredictably aggressive with no trigger factor, you have spent time money with a lot of emotional stress trying to ease his pain and source the problem. What a wonderful owner you are. Many people would have sold on, or PTS, before now, if you reach that decision at least you know you have exhausted all possibilities (including posting on here) to save your boy. I admire you for that.
Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[happyhorse978]

Your horse is unpredictably aggressive with no trigger factor, you have spent time money with a lot of emotional stress trying to ease his pain and source the problem. What a wonderful owner you are. Many people would have sold on, or PTS, before now, if you reach that decision at least you know you have exhausted all possibilities (including posting on here) to save your boy. I admire you for that.
Good luck and keep us updated.

You are so kind Thankyou so much xx

 

[ester]

Given the extra info about not being able to travel him/work him up at all he'd be PTS if he were mine.

 

[nagblagger]

And you acknowledge every comment..you must be such a genuine person.

 

[happyhorse978]

And you acknowledge every comment..you must be such a genuine person.

Aww Thankyou, I’m so grateful for peoples advice/people being nice , I just feel so lost and don’t even know how I’m going to cope but I’ve got to be strong and do whatever is best for him xxx

 

[Zoeypxo]

most definitely a pain response. I am not sure that you will find where/what the problem is if you are unable to do a vet work up/scans etc. i hope he feels better on the danilon and allows some investigations.
We had one that just changed personality overnight, insane behaviour. PM showed brain tumour. But she was never aggressive just completely lost the plot and would rear over backwards in the field etc.
Really hope you get some answers x

 

[happyhorse978]

most definitely a pain response. I am not sure that you will find where/what the problem is if you are unable to do a vet work up/scans etc. i hope he feels better on the danilon and allows some investigations.
We had one that just changed personality overnight, insane behaviour. PM showed brain tumour. But she was never aggressive just completely lost the plot and would rear over backwards in the field etc.
Really hope you get some answers x

Thankyou so much. A brain tumour seems to be a fairly common answer on this thread. I wasn’t sure how common they were in horses xx

 

[Lucky Snowball]

As others have said - your horse is very lucky to have you loving him and looking after him. I wish you the very best whatever you decide to do. Take care.