Devastated

LaurenBay

LaurenBay

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This is going to be a long one guys so apologies, I am almost in tears writting this now :( so fed up!

My Horse hasn't been right for a while, she was showing signs of lameness, wasn't picking up feet, not joining in with the other Horses when they were playing in the fields. I had the vet out who said she was less then a tenth lame in her right hind but it wasn't even worth mentioning really as it was only now and then when she showed signs of discomfort. I was advised to have a pysio check her over, as vet thought it was muscle related. Physio came and diagnosed the problem. Ruby was having problems on her left side, over her rump. Have been doing strectches and all the other excercises she advised me to do. I haven't been riding as she changed shape and the saddle no longer fitted.

Pysio came out yesterday, asked me to trot Ruby up and the pysio said she couldn't continue with the session as Ruby is lame behind, although she can't tell which leg. She done a flexion test and when her right hind was tested, that was when she was most showing signs of lameness, but she was dragging her left too. Pysio has reffered me back to the vets for a lameness workup. Ruby is insured, however, when I had her 5*vetted during the lungeing stage, Ruby was unable to canter on one rein (because she had no idea how to lunge and had balance problems on that rein) vet recorded this and sent of to insurance company. Now they have excluded her right hind unitl my vet tells them she can now canter (which she can. but might not want to now as she is lame) If it is her right hind, I will have to set a limit on how much I'm willing to spend to investagate. I've only had her 5 months, no bond yet as were still in that stage of getting to know one another.

There is no obvious heat or swelling, so I have no idea what it is. I'm one of these people who always thinks the worst in situations like this and it's just really getting me down :( I will ring the vets on my break and book her in ASAP. Just feel so down about it all, I've had her 5 months and felt like I've got nowere with her :( I've waited all my life for a Horse and I just seem to be having the worst luck with her.

On top of that, My YO has told me over the last couple of days Ruby has had a terrible cough in the morning.

I also found out last night that a family friend has just passed away. :(

Sorry for the rant, but I just needed to get it of my chest.
 
You ARE having a rough time of it! I don't know what to say, but if it is any consolation I know of two people whose horses had undiagnosed lameness issues and both came sound after a year turned away. They have been back at work for a year with no further issues and its left everyone scratching their heads. I know a broken horse for a year is the last thing you would want when you have only had her five months but what I am trying to say is, sometimes these things can't be explained but they are not always the end of the world.

RE insurance - this is why I only insure my boys for third party and have a savings account for vet bills! I have spent thousands on insurance over the years and have never had a claim honoured. Its all very well them saying they pay out quickly, its getting the buggers to agree they should pay in the first place that's tricky. They always find a way to weasle out of it and tyring to prove the wrong would often cost more money than the claim.

I am really sorry for your friend, I can't really say more. Hopefully things will turn a corner and life will be good for you again.
 
Sorry to hear that life is tough at the moment. Please dont write off your lovely new horse just yet. Has she just started coming in ? Is she on straw or shavings ?. She might just be reacting to the dust in her stables atmosphere. No ideas over the lameness sorry. Can you still do some basic groundwork with her and take her for walks ? It will all help you create that bond. Good luck
 
Well, you need to know what you're dealing with, before going in to panic mode....

So firstly, you need a good equine vet.

Then, that vet will x-ray and scan the hock. None of which will cost much money.

After that you will know what you're dealing with.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Oh dear...does sound like your going through the mill a bit.

Chin up, keep smiling and I agree with Amy May, best get x-rays/scans done on the hock. I don't know what your vets are like but mine have a portable digital x-ray machine so they can bring it to the yard and I was quoted £375 for a full back x-ray, due to the quantity of x-rays needed. One x-ray would be a lot cheaper. :)

We only insure 3rd party and have savings for vets bills too, used to insure for both but as soon as the vet notified the insurance company of any problem it was promptly excluded even if we didn't actually claim on that occasion! A friend of mine has a mare with kissing spines, never had any previous problems with the back but her insurance company weaseled out of paying that too.
 
You poor thing so sorry to hear about the hard time you are having. I know exactly how you feel I posted a few weeks ago about the bad time I've had with my horse and this has been over 2 years! Just as things seem to be heading in the right direction it all seems to go wrong again. I just took a step back and thought of the fun things we have done and how far we have come rather than dwell on the things we haven't done. 5 months is nothing so don't beat yourself up about the things you haven't done think about the pleasure Ruby has given you over that time.

I am the same I always look at the worst possible scenario however I have found it rarely turns out to be as bad as I thought.

So get the vet out ASAP so you know what your dealing with and hopefully take comfort in the positive outcomes above.

Big hugs to you and Ruby x
 
maree t said:
Sorry to hear that life is tough at the moment. Please dont write off your lovely new horse just yet. Has she just started coming in ? Is she on straw or shavings ?. She might just be reacting to the dust in her stables atmosphere. No ideas over the lameness sorry. Can you still do some basic groundwork with her and take her for walks ? It will all help you create that bond. Good luck
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Yes she has been in now for about a month over night and out for 12 hours daily, I have started wetting her hay to see if theres any improvment. She is on straw.

I do lots of groundwork with her, I mix it up a bit and do a bit of long reining, lungeing, bomproofing courses and in hand hacks. She goes out around 3 times a week for in hand hacks.

Thanks guys, I know that I'm getting myself in to a panic without knowing the cause for lameness first. I have always been like that.
 
Ditto what others said. Get a vet who specialises in horses.
When I had trouble with my last mare, the vets came out and they were "normal" vets and told me I was paranoid. Equine vet diagnosed her straight away, so its worth shopping around for an Equine specific vet.

And has AmyMay has said, don't panic, just try and keep calm until you know what you are dealing with, It could be something very simple and easy to fix, keep your chin up, and keep positive :)
 
Can't really add to the advice above, only just to extend my sympathies and send some vibes that it's not serious, and that she comes right soon for you.

Re the cough, I wouldn't worry too much about that - horses at the previous yard (stabled at night, or out at night in during the day) would suffer from the odd cough now and again, either just a cold, or something in their bed or hay. Never serious and always cleared up after a few days or change of bale for bed (straw) or hay. Obviously keep an eye on it but don't panic too much about it... I know that's easier said than done though :)

Very sorry to hear about your family friend.

Loads of vibes and well wishes to you and Ruby, hope things start to improve, keep us up to date xx
 
Don't panic. Take a deep breath and think through the issues one by one. I would firstly make sure that you have the best equine vet in your area - and then speak to them about getting ruby x-rayed. You need to know what you are dealing with before you can all (as a team of vet, physio and owner) make a plan to get Ruby right again.

If you are feeding hay, I would soak it and see if that helps with her coughing. If you are on straw, is it dusty?

I don't know what to suggest regarding your insurance company. It might be that you need to get this sorted and then make sure that the insurance company have covered all of the horse. I sympathise though - my boy has exclusions on two legs now - but they can be removed 12 months later if checked over by a vet (according to Petplan when I asked them).

Don't despair. You'll get her sorted. Stay calm and don't be fobbed off with "she's a bit stiff"... You know what the symptoms are - you need the cause.

You'll get there!
 
She is registered with a good Equine vet. Luckily just around the corner form my yard so call out charge is tiny, which is good considering they may be coming out alot.

Have thought about shavings before and I think it's worth a shot.

Thanks everyone for your healing vibes and kind words. x
 
Am really sorry to hear of your problems with Ruby. But don't despair. Just read and re-read all the sensible (and kind) things that have already been said to you on this thread. So full of sense.

1. Get an equine vet if necessary - your vet may be the equine vet for that practice but if not find out who is

2. Consider (after appropriate advice) turning Ruby away for a bit. This does NOT mean abandoning her in a field. It's a time when you can do a huge amount of bonding - grooming, companionship, little walks down the road, whatever. And time can be a great healer as well. You know it with your own body - it's the same for horses

3. it's miserable having such a new acquisition out of action - like a new toy you can't play with! But in one way it has happened at the best time of the year. There will be plenty of days when you wouldn't have wanted to be riding anyway, and if there isn't a quick solution to Ruby's problem you can keep her unclipped, on low-cost feed, and just nicely ticking over

4. I'm a huge advocate of keeping horses out as much as possible, as natural exercise, as in pottering-grazing, can so often help problems that are muscular or arthritic related. What she doesn't need though is a bunch of exuberant field companions who may get her galloping, or pick on her when she's vulnerable. One or two nice staid companions would be ideal.

I think a lot of us have been through what you are maybe having to face at the moment. Just think positive, the whole time, and make something good come out of whatever the situation is. All the very best and keep us posted.
 
Thank you, I have considerd turning away for a while. She loves being out and is a real outdoor Horse, I haven't clipped yet as she isn't being ridden so she will remain unclipped. Unfourtantly my current yard cannot offer 24/7 turnout in winter as they just do not have the land. My YO said if she could offer me it she would. So it means finding a different yard that can offer grass livery. It it will help I am prepared to move though. Not only could it help with the lameness issue, it will deffiently help with the cough.

Thanks again for everyones kind words.
 
I she was mine I would be more comcerned about the fact that she doesn't want to play with the others or pick up her feet. If she is so slightly lame that you can't tell easily which leg is lame that shouldn't be enough to stop her socialising normally. I'd get her off the straw as others have said and consider bloods in case she has picked up a virus and is unwell. I would also (no disrespect to physios) comsider a lameness work up by a equine specialist vet. Or turn away. Time is a great healer. Good luck. Its horrible when you don't know whats wrongxxx
 
May have already been mentioned but I have only scanned through everyone else's posts. If she is coughing, lethargic and not willing to interact with others she may have a virus? May be worth getting some bloods done before a lameness work up, if she is viral or post viral some of the symptoms may be be explained. I may be barking completely up the wrong tree, but blood tests are cheaper initially than a lameness work up and I know how achey, stiff and generally fed up I have felt after a cold or the flu......
 
She's never been one to charge round her field, She's much to laid back and interested in the grass for that. So that's not to concerning for me. With the not wanting to pick up legs, It was her right front she would not pick up, That's what made me call the vets and pysio in the first place as she was obviously in discomfort somewhere. She is now fine picking up that leg but doesn't like picking up her other front leg. She turns round and nips me sometimes. I don't think it's the front leg that hurts though, I think it's more the fact that when I pick her fronts up it puts more weight on her hinds. She is fine to pick both hinds up though.

If only Horses could talk and tell us whats wrong! would be so much easier.
 
Oh dear, it's never good when you don't know what's wrong with your horse - it would be great if only they could talk! I am sure if your vets are any good then they will get to the bottom of it - there's no use speculating until a diagnosis is given really. My pony who is brilliant at picking up his feet at one stage decided he wasn't going to pick up one front foot at all (he normally picks them up before you get to it as he knows which order i do them in). This was very strange and continued for a few days and, although he was not noticeably lame we had a physio check him over (can't recall if we'd had a vet first). She diagnosed some soreness in his shoulder (he'd probably fallen being a fool in the field) and treated him. After that he went back to being his normal obliging self with his feet!

It could be so many things. I wouldn't worry overly about the cough if it's just started since she's been in, You could try shavings and dampen the hay as you are doing. My horse gets a bit of a morning cough each year as he comes in at night. I dampen his hay sometimes and we also got some rubber matting so he doesn't have to have so much straw. I did at one stage purchase some sort of cough linctus for him which helped - he would take it from the bottle if i held it up for him. He doesn't suffer from having this cough and is out in the day anyway and his cough goes then. If yours is coughing a lot though then certainly try a change of bedding for a start but I second the getting the vet to check for a virus as well.
 
ladyt25 said:
Oh dear, it's never good when you don't know what's wrong with your horse - it would be great if only they could talk! I am sure if your vets are any good then they will get to the bottom of it - there's no use speculating until a diagnosis is given really. My pony who is brilliant at picking up his feet at one stage decided he wasn't going to pick up one front foot at all (he normally picks them up before you get to it as he knows which order i do them in). This was very strange and continued for a few days and, although he was not noticeably lame we had a physio check him over (can't recall if we'd had a vet first). She diagnosed some soreness in his shoulder (he'd probably fallen being a fool in the field) and treated him. After that he went back to being his normal obliging self with his feet!

It could be so many things. I wouldn't worry overly about the cough if it's just started since she's been in, You could try shavings and dampen the hay as you are doing. My horse gets a bit of a morning cough each year as he comes in at night. I dampen his hay sometimes and we also got some rubber matting so he doesn't have to have so much straw. I did at one stage purchase some sort of cough linctus for him which helped - he would take it from the bottle if i held it up for him. He doesn't suffer from having this cough and is out in the day anyway and his cough goes then. If yours is coughing a lot though then certainly try a change of bedding for a start but I second the getting the vet to check for a virus as well.
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The cough has just started this week, I haven't heard her doing it as she does it in the mornings and I don't go up in the mornings as my YO turns her out for me. So when I get up there she has been out all day and stops coughing. Ruby was also very good at picking up her legs.
 
Just got off the phone to the vet, she is booked in for Tues morning. Fingers crossed it isn't serious! Will update you all then.
 
LaurenBay said:
Just got off the phone to the vet, she is booked in for Tues morning. Fingers crossed it isn't serious! Will update you all then.
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Good news. What is she booked in for?

In between then you need to go up yourself in the morning to start monitoring her cough, and look at changing her bedding.
 
Vet is going to come up and just have an overall look at her and see what the next step is.

I will be up on Sat morn so will see how she is then. I have been thinking about it and have decided that is the vet thinks she will be better off being tured out, I will look for a yard that offers grass livery and let her live out. If he thinks she should have limited turnout I will stay at my current yard and start a deep litter bed of shavings to get us through the winter until 24/7 turnout starts in spring, I am lucky that she is quite clean and doesn't churn her bed up. I will buy a few bags of shavings in the meantime and see if it makes a change to her cough. She will also be on soacked hay in the meantime and will continue her daily turnout.
 
Have you or are you able to ask her previous owners as to whether she was stabled and if she coughed?

To be honest I really don't get myself too concerned about my horse's cough - he is the same, only coughs in the morning and this is only generally when we do him early mornings so i suspect it is shortly after he's got up from lying down! By all means change her bedding or turn her out but, if she's not coughing significantly throughout the day I wouldn't get too worried.

Hope they get to the bottom of her lameness/behaviour change.
 
You are having a tough time!
This will probably sound a bit off the wall but have a look at her diet.
Many years ago, after reading an article about a horse which had a cough and a lameness issue, which both were caused by a food intolerance, we stopped feeding our WelshXTB mare on cereals and sugar, to try to help her cough. We were amazed at the effect this had on her behaviour, which I know is not your problem but it is a cheap and easy start to getting to the bottom of the problem.
Good luck!
 
Well, I gave her hay a good soak last night and this morning my YO said she only coughed twice and that was it. So will continue soacking hay. She isn't on any hard feed at the moment. She keeps weight on very well. She has a salt lick in her stable for vits and mins. She lived out at her old yard. I asked owner that when I bought her.
 
I can fully relate to your frustrations. My own mare had to be retired through injury two years ago, and now the horse I got as her replacement seems to be a complete write off. He has exclusions on his policy and if it is one of those then I will not be able to afford to treat him and he will have to retire as I have already forked out £2500 on him to no avail. So that will be two retired horses and I will have to sacrifice having a riding horse.

But back to your horse. You say she refuses to pick up her feet. Do you mean all four feet or just the one hind? If she struggles with all four or even both her hinds then this suggests more of a back or sacroilliac problem to me. Both these areas should be covered in your policy.

I am really sorry you are going through such a tough time at the moment.
 
Wagtail said:
I can fully relate to your frustrations. My own mare had to be retired through injury two years ago, and now the horse I got as her replacement seems to be a complete write off. He has exclusions on his policy and if it is one of those then I will not be able to afford to treat him and he will have to retire as I have already forked out £2500 on him to no avail. So that will be two retired horses and I will have to sacrifice having a riding horse.

But back to your horse. You say she refuses to pick up her feet. Do you mean all four feet or just the one hind? If she struggles with all four or even both her hinds then this suggests more of a back or sacroilliac problem to me. Both these areas should be covered in your policy.

I am really sorry you are going through such a tough time at the moment.
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Thank You Wagtail,

I hope you find out what the problem is with your Horse.

She will pick 3 feet up happily but not one of her fronts. She will pick it up. But her ears go back and she can be nippy. This leg has changed though. It used to be her other front she wouldn't pick up now she will pick that up happily but not the other.
 
LaurenBay said:
Thank You Wagtail,

I hope you find out what the problem is with your Horse.

She will pick 3 feet up happily but not one of her fronts. She will pick it up. But her ears go back and she can be nippy. This leg has changed though. It used to be her other front she wouldn't pick up now she will pick that up happily but not the other.
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Exactly like my boy. He will pick up his feet and then suddenly slam them down. It varies which foot is bad. He has kissing spines and hock problems but I think there are more problems still and he is being sent for a bone scan.

I definitely think your girl's problems originate in the back, sacrum, neck or withers. As usually this produces low grade 'shifting' lameness. However, if she had a positive flexion test then this may indicate hock problems or fetlock problems. However, these could be due to back or sacroilliac problems altering the gait. It can also work the other way around. It is extremely frustrating and I hope you manage to get to the bottom of it.
 
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