Extreme girthiness - what could be wrong with him?

Thanks everyone. I spoke to the vet who now agrees there is something else going on other than his hock spavins. He is booked in for xrays of his back a week on Thursday. Hopefully nothing will be found and I can start to look for something else such as ulcers which are less invasive to treat.
 
Just to let you all know, my boy was diagnosed with quite severe kissing spine. You would never think it to look at him stood there his chestnut coat gleaming and no tenderness at all along his back!
 
Really sorry to hear that, I followed your posts with interest, having had some experience with kissing spines myself in the past.
 
Puppy said:
Hind leg problems very often lead to back problems.

My girl suffered ligament damage to her back after hind leg problems. She used to completely buckle a few seconds after being girthed up.

I'd be checking out the ligaments in his back if I were you.
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It is also often vice versa that the back problem causes a symptomatic problem in the stifle or hock. You need a good vet to trace the source cause and treat that, otherwise everything will recurr. Hence that great saying 'treat the cause not the symptom'.
 
Thanks. Vet seems quite anti the operation, feeling it is a real ordeal to put the horse through. She thinks that steriod injections should help him, though I am pessimistic to be honest. He's a lucky boy though, so long as he's not in pain in the field he can join my other lawn mower. However, he does sometimes look very stiff even in the field but other times leaping about like a hooligan. I am not sure what to do if the injections don't work. Yesterday when he was nerve blocked there was only a slight improvement when ridden. It's hard to tell though as often the memory of pain means they take a while to discover they no longer hurt. He was certainly more relaxed to ride after the nerve blocks though still not great. :(
 
YasandCrystal said:
It is also often vice versa that the back problem causes a symptomatic problem in the stifle or hock. You need a good vet to trace the source cause and treat that, otherwise everything will recurr. Hence that great saying 'treat the cause not the symptom'.
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Interesting. I have to admit, that I feel there may be a third problem going on. Maybe the sacroilliac region? I will arrange for the steriod injections and see how we go from there.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse. I had been following the thread, glad though that you were able to get to the bottom of it. I do wonder how many other horses are suffering from having less responsible and caring owners as you.
 
Flame_ said:
I've known a few horses like this. Its pretty common although not really that well understood. Sometimes its the saddle, sometimes it's a sore back - usually through compensating for some other problem (feet and/or legs), sometimes the muscles that run under the chest under the girthing area are sore - again very likely to be as a result of compensating, or more often it is a mystery that people either learn to work with, or the horse injures itself or the rider during an episode and they stop looking for a reason and give up all together.
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Mine did this when I got him....he had had a badly fitting saddle and obviously remebered this so we had to work through it. He was very tense and had a really high head carriage and he was very tender accross he chest muscles.....I suspect he had ulcers too. Do you feed cereals at all? If you are happy that his saddle fits fine and he has no muscle tension/aches anywhere ( even if not on his back) then I would possibly suspect ulcers. You could ask your vet to scope him.....although actually I didn't bother ....I fed fibre +++++ no cereals- stuck him on Pink Powder and that sorted it.....no need for vet. He's happy to be girthed totally now....from the floor and on top.
 
poppymoo said:
Mine did this when I got him....he had had a badly fitting saddle and obviously remebered this so we had to work through it. He was very tense and had a really high head carriage and he was very tender accross he chest muscles.....I suspect he had ulcers too. Do you feed cereals at all? If you are happy that his saddle fits fine and he has no muscle tension/aches anywhere ( even if not on his back) then I would possibly suspect ulcers. You could ask your vet to scope him.....although actually I didn't bother ....I fed fibre +++++ no cereals- stuck him on Pink Powder and that sorted it.....no need for vet. He's happy to be girthed totally now....from the floor and on top.
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You missed the above post, she has a diagnosis!
 
i had a horse who was so girthy it took 4 years and 4 different owners to break him in. turned out he was bruising his girth area with his own shoes whenever he lay down-some times even caused sores. it helped using an elasticated girth, and i used to tape gamgee over his heels at night. it was better when he was unshod poor love. there might be some kind of cover now available.he was just like yours -rollers were totally out of the question. good luck!
 
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