Fidgeting Horse Whilst Putting Saddle & Girth On...

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acorn92x

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My horse has become a MASSIVE fidget, pain in the bum to put a saddle and girth on. She fidgets and walks around like no ones business and it's becoming very annoying. Last night, she squashed me against a fence and had my OH not been there to pull her forward, it's quite likely I would have been hurt.

I use a Thorn show saddle pad on her (http://www.thornsaddles-pads.co.uk/saddle-pads.html) and a humane girth which I haven't had any problems with before until recently. I'm not sure if her girth has been pinching her as she gets worse when she realises it's time for it to be done up so I'm not sure if an elasticated one might suit her better? The Thorn pad is treeless and very supple and accomodating to her shape so I'm not really sure if something like this could cause her a high level of pain/discomfort? Has anyone else had experience of any kind of saddle pad and discomfort? I used a nuumed numah with it and have ordered a gel pad to go underneath the saddle to see if that helps.

Once I'm on here, she moves forward fine and we've had no bad behaviour whatsoever so I'm not sure if this is just an evasion and bad behaviour on her part to make tacking up more difficult? I've contacted a physio who I'm in the process of discussing her needs with to make an appointment.

I would be really interested in anyones opinions here who uses saddle pads or that has experience as a saddle fitter etc :)
 
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I realise I am like a broken record, but its down to my own experience so I will just say it...have you had her checked for ulcers? My horses early symptoms were not wanting to be saddled and fidgeting when girth was done up. Wish I had had him scoped earlier as would have saved a fortune in physios, saddlers etc!
 
The thought did actually cross my mind after reading various things on here about ulcers. She is a Highland pony so less likely toget them than say an ex-racer but obviously an horse can get them! I'm one of those awful panic button people who have to have literally everything checked when behaviour changes to put my mind at rest as I'll just worry mysef silly otherwise. She has never had a physio appointment since I've had her (Since July) so I might get one as well just to double check. If this comes back clear, I'll definitey get the vet out to have her scoped though - thank you :)
 
acorn92x said:
The thought did actually cross my mind after reading various things on here about ulcers. She is a Highland pony so less likely toget them than say an ex-racer but obviously an horse can get them! I'm one of those awful panic button people who have to have literally everything checked when behaviour changes to put my mind at rest as I'll just worry mysef silly otherwise. She has never had a physio appointment since I've had her (Since July) so I might get one as well just to double check. If this comes back clear, I'll definitey get the vet out to have her scoped though - thank you :)
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My horse is a irish/connie type cross so also not a "typical" ulcer horse. Vet was quite surprised when we scoped and found grade 3 ulcers. I am a panic person too so I know what you mean about getting everything checked. The good news is that if it is gastric ulcers, the medication is very effective and your insurance should cover it.
 
Hi - please don't think this is bad behaviour, you pone is telling you something and in my experience, it could well be ulcers. I had the same, quite a strong reaction to being saddled and girthed even though I'd do everything gently. I went down the vet/scoping route but didn't use the vet prescribed medicine as I'd done a load of research and figured it was a quick fix and not a long term solution. I then used GastroPlus - horse changed within a week. Please give Deborah a call at Equine Science and don't wait as you can imagine, ulcers are very distressing for them. Good luck with finding the answer.

PS I attended a Dr Kerry Ridgway seminar (he is American and one of the key vets re; ulcers) and he said "there are two types of horses; those with ulcers and those who will get them"
 
It started quite suddenly but she has had literally no other symptoms of ulcers. Did either of yours or was it just the dislike to girthing?

Worldiscomplete, can I have a bit more info on the Equine Science thing you said about? What is it etc? And what is involved in scoping?
 
acorn92x said:
It started quite suddenly but she has had literally no other symptoms of ulcers. Did either of yours or was it just the dislike to girthing?

Worldiscomplete, can I have a bit more info on the Equine Science thing you said about? What is it etc? And what is involved in scoping?
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No mine didn't have any other symptoms initially - he never dropped weight or looked poor. It was just the tacking up. However it did progress to other symptoms as time went on.... he became anxious to ride, more spooky. He would barge through the stable door but only when tacked up. He had almost cold backed symptoms I suppose. when I first took him to the vet, they thought so too and xrayed his spine- which was fine.

Scoping - well, you have to starve your horse first for 12 hours(that's the worst part, IMO). then they sedate them and pass a camera on a long tube up a nostril and down into the stomach. that only takes about 15/20 mins. And that's it really.
 
The more you say, the more I think it could be possible :/

Do they do the scoping at home or would I have to take her to the vets for that? She can be a bit difficult with vets (That's putting it politely - she hates them) so it might unsettle her a lot but if needs be, that's what will have to be done.
 
acorn92x said:
The more you say, the more I think it could be possible :/

Do they do the scoping at home or would I have to take her to the vets for that? She can be a bit difficult with vets (That's putting it politely - she hates them) so it might unsettle her a lot but if needs be, that's what will have to be done.
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My practice can do either but I always took him there for his scopes. I would talk to your vet about whether they think it a good idea to scope before you book it in though as after all, we are not vets! I sometimes jump to the ulcer conclusion because I have had a bad experience. Good luck.
 
They don't need to have a myriad of symptoms for ulcers as each horses responds individually. The only other symptom my boy had was when I mounted he would take a step forward. He doesn't do that now and I've not done any training with him on that issue. It was these, plus a mild colic episode, that I then thought, enough is enough, and in conversation with the vet we got him scoped. Its not nice. They have to be starved for at least 18 hrs and given they potentially have ulcers is horrible due to all the acid build up. They then are sedated and a tube put down their gut. You get an instant diagnosis and it was really interesting to watch. the only trouble with scoping is that they can't detect ulcers in hind gut where some can end up.

Equine Science is a natural formal containing nitric oxide amongst other herbal things including ginger and turmeric. They have two varieties, to cure the problem and then a maintenance product.

I'd bought my horse Aug last year and he didn't really present with these symptoms until Jan the following year and then mild colic late March which was when I then got him scoped a week later. I was quite confused as the lifestyle he has is as natural as possible out 24/7; field mate, barefoot, forage diet and I am his second owner - he's a homebred horse. So not sure why he ended up with them.

I use simple system feed and have added micronised linseed plus maintenance product to his feed and on the advise of Jane at simple system (qualified nutritionist) I now feed him before I work him and then if on a long hack, I allow him to graze after 45 mins. I just have to make sure that there's something in his tummy for the acid to work on. They produce 1.5 litres of acid an hour !!

And just to top it all off, my insurance company have now said they won't cover 'stomach related issues' so be warned ;-)

Edited to add: ES product gets to the hind gut. sorry to miss that out.
 
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