Gastric Ulcers Now Gone but horse still won't trot - anyone?

How are things going vanrim? My boy is the same as yours as in wont trot so im taking great interest in how you are managing yours.
 
vanrim, please give us all a update on how yours are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so interested in this post xxxx
 
Impu1sion, I will have saved up enough to go the KS xray route by payday (24th May) so will get booked in asap & see what we find. Will report back.

It's so odd - Trev looks bright & alert, is moulting properly (didn't shed very well when ulcery), eating fine, looks amazing...but he won't go. We're at the 'few strides of trot' plateau atm & have been there without change for several weeks. He does stride out quite nicely in walk & isn't what I would call 'lame' but in trot the back end doesn't do anything.

The ideal result for me would be to find the sort of KS that's fixable with the new surgery. The worst thing would be to find nothing & be no further on. He is by far & away the most athletic thing I've ever sat on, even including my Cruising showjumper (in avatar). It would be so amazing to have him back full power as he can practically jump a house from anywhere & his paces & balance for dr are just phenomenal.

T x
 
My horse had ulcers, all going fab for last 18 months due to change of routine and been on maintenance supplement for ulcers, until last week, went to ride her became spooky, planted bad attitude and would not go forward then she did the most amazing vertical rear!!!!!!!!! i thought ulcers straight away, straight to the vets and hey presto no ulcers, back to square1, had the saddle fitter out and guess what, it is the saddle, this saddle was from a master saddle fitters which is 12 months old has caused damage to her back, can't use it again and my poor horse now poorly with bad back, physio and osteopath now all booked to get her back right and of course a new master saddler to get the correct saddle for her. What i am saying is what i find with mine is that if there is any pain anywhere she reacts has if she has ulcers so maybe not ulcers there maybe a underlying problem somewhere else!!! Just a thought to the above, my friends horse would t go forward last year, very lethargic loss of energy but looked amazing he was only 10years old and it ended up been cushsions, just a thought most vets do this test free maybe a problem eliminated. xxxxx
 
I've just started my new horse on chia seeds. He was showing signs of gut discomfort, been on them just over a week and seeing a huge improvement. Apparently they are effective in easing hind gut ulceration as they form a gel which coats the inside of the gut. In true horse-fanatic tradition, I'm trying them on myself as well! Definite easing of mild IBS symptoms.
 
I bought my daughter a 5 year old Connie x pony last September. He was great for the first two months then is education started going backwards. We had the usual things checked back, teeth, saddle etc. we invested in a new saddle but things didn't really improve. He showed no signs of lameness or pain anywhere. We persevered with him then about 6 weeks ago he reared vertically when a stronger rider pushed him forward. Convinced it's was behavioural, as again we went through the usually checks of back etc, we sent him off to be schooled. After three weeks it's was agreed we would fetch him back as no progress was being made and it was costing a lot of money. It was still felt that it was not pain related and that the pony was just very naughty. I refused to believe this so I took him to vets for peace of mind. I wished I'd taken him earlier. Vets thought kissing spine initially. He was booked in for a full assessment and after various X-rays, scans etc kissing spine was eliminated. He was diagnosed with the condition OCD in his hocks. However it was felt that there was something else causing him problems. They decided to scope him even though the classic sings of ulcers weren't present. I'm so glad they did, his ulcers are that bad he even has them in his oesophagus. They've been graded at 3. He is on a full dose of GG and will be re-scoped in four weeks. Treatment for the OCD will start in 10 days once the GG has had time to kick in. I feel very disheartened having read this thread as I thought the answer to all our problems had been resolved. My feeling is now that the behavioural problems will still be present and my daughter will still have a pony that she can't enjoy. Can someone please tell me the names of the supplements that help the hind gut. I'm also very interested to find out more about the salt as we've noticed he won't leave his salt lick alone when in his stable.
 
Hi Rockyroad :) I'm finding that so far we've only needed to add Yea saac lots of turnout and ad lib hay and the removal of all things chemical and by products that can irritate. Have a look on FB horses with ulcers in the files is a list of supplements and what they do . Mine just gets Agrobs chaff ( totally chemical free no oils ) micronised linseed,limestone flour,yea saac and salt. Mine also has OCD hocks and therefore cannot give bute of Devils claw so we use Boswellia as its does both hocks and digestion . They say alfalfa ( high calcium content and sugarbeet for the pectins ) but my mare is not good with either of these alfalfa make her footy and loopy and the sugarbeet actually irritates her probably due the the chemicals they use to process it . Hope this helps xx
 
catembi said:
Impu1sion, I will have saved up enough to go the KS xray route by payday (24th May) so will get booked in asap & see what we find. Will report back.

It's so odd - Trev looks bright & alert, is moulting properly (didn't shed very well when ulcery), eating fine, looks amazing...but he won't go. We're at the 'few strides of trot' plateau atm & have been there without change for several weeks. He does stride out quite nicely in walk & isn't what I would call 'lame' but in trot the back end doesn't do anything.

The ideal result for me would be to find the sort of KS that's fixable with the new surgery. The worst thing would be to find nothing & be no further on. He is by far & away the most athletic thing I've ever sat on, even including my Cruising showjumper (in avatar). It would be so amazing to have him back full power as he can practically jump a house from anywhere & his paces & balance for dr are just phenomenal.

T x
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Thanks, Catembi, I am very interested to hear how you get on with the KS investigation. I am amazed at the amount of people (and horses!) with this problem - I thought it was just me - I have struggled with this for the best part of 7 years and have a few tools in the box now that work most of the time.. (have you tried any of these, Catembi?) 1. Feed a few handfuls of alfa A before riding. 2. Put saddle on for 15/20 mins before so back is warm. 3. Walk for 20 minutes first. 4. Stay sitting in trot and let horse dawdle a bit, but keep asking for trot - with a long rein (I know, I look like a complete numpty). If I go rising it is worse. 5. Try to get into canter and get off their back for a few circuits. After 20 minutes or so of this, I can usually get some decent work out of her.
Believe it or not, we have been placed in top 10 at the Regionals every year with this problem! She has scored 70%+ scores at affiliated competitions when in the warm up I have felt like crying!! Oh, and if someone pretends to lunge with me riding, she is forward - also some poles encourages her too. She is worse if I wear spurs though I have worn them for years, she really just plants then, so I have stopped wearing them for now. The hard part is, she has never looked lame! Interested to know if any of these scenarios sound familiar to anyone else..or if anyone else has any helpful hints?
Ps Catembi, have you tried to ride him behind another horse? Works for me sometimes, but like you I have mine at home so ride on my own most of the time.
 
Darcydoo said:
Hi Rockyroad :) I'm finding that so far we've only needed to add Yea saac lots of turnout and ad lib hay and the removal of all things chemical and by products that can irritate. Have a look on FB horses with ulcers in the files is a list of supplements and what they do . Mine just gets Agrobs chaff ( totally chemical free no oils ) micronised linseed,limestone flour,yea saac and salt. Mine also has OCD hocks and therefore cannot give bute of Devils claw so we use Boswellia as its does both hocks and digestion . They say alfalfa ( high calcium content and sugarbeet for the pectins ) but my mare is not good with either of these alfalfa make her footy and loopy and the sugarbeet actually irritates her probably due the the chemicals they use to process it . Hope this helps xx
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Hi thank you for your reply. I know this sounds ridiculous but I don't use FB. I have tried to search the Internet for irritants re gastric ulcers but I'm not having much luck. Do you have a link I could follow for FB. rhsnk you.
 
UPDATE EVERYONE.
Ok both horses were scoped clear mid Feb but still wouldn't trot. They had ultrasound of hind gut, biopsy of hind gut and poo tested for nasties. Everything was ok. Blood test also ok. Conclusion was that the feed I was using had not only caused gastric ulcers but had also killed all the good hind gut bacteria so we started them both on a pro biotic containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae. According to the vet specialist at the equine hospital this is one of only 2 probiotics that actually reaches the hind gut before being broken down. I noticed an improvement within 36 hours. We agreed to give them 3 months in the field to let nature take it's course. I recently lunged the gelding and whereas before he would only trot with his ears flat back he is now quite happy to trot on the lunge so I plan to keep going with him and try riding him next week. The mare has always been much more tricky but before if I asked her to trot loose in the manege she would rear vertical and come at me with her ears flat back. I swear she would have killed me before she would have gone into trot. Now she does rear but I can then send her into trot and she will canter of her own accord too. I plan to build up the loose schooling slowly until the rearing stops and then I will try riding her. This has been an incredibly slow process and a real learning curve for me. The feed company (not one of the big well known names) has admitted that the soaked Lucie Nuts could ferment and go acidic if soaked for too long. However they couldn't tell me at what point they go off just that they should be ok for 24 hours. As I was soaking overnight they are clearly NOT OK for up to 24 hours and the food never looked or smelt off and the horses always eat it. This has cost me approx £4,000 vets fees and the lesson I have learnt is NEVER EVER BUY FEED FROM A SMALL FEED COMPANY AS THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES OF THE BIG COMPANIES TO DO TESTS AND TRIALS ON THE FEED. This particular company thought trials on 15 horses was sufficient! I have also come across other people on various forums who have had horses badly affected by the feed.
 
vanrim said:
UPDATE EVERYONE.
Ok both horses were scoped clear mid Feb but still wouldn't trot. They had ultrasound of hind gut, biopsy of hind gut and poo tested for nasties. Everything was ok. Blood test also ok. Conclusion was that the feed I was using had not only caused gastric ulcers but had also killed all the good hind gut bacteria so we started them both on a pro biotic containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae. According to the vet specialist at the equine hospital this is one of only 2 probiotics that actually reaches the hind gut before being broken down. I noticed an improvement within 36 hours. We agreed to give them 3 months in the field to let nature take it's course. I recently lunged the gelding and whereas before he would only trot with his ears flat back he is now quite happy to trot on the lunge so I plan to keep going with him and try riding him next week. The mare has always been much more tricky but before if I asked her to trot loose in the manege she would rear vertical and come at me with her ears flat back. I swear she would have killed me before she would have gone into trot. Now she does rear but I can then send her into trot and she will canter of her own accord too. I plan to build up the loose schooling slowly until the rearing stops and then I will try riding her. This has been an incredibly slow process and a real learning curve for me. The feed company (not one of the big well known names) has admitted that the soaked Lucie Nuts could ferment and go acidic if soaked for too long. However they couldn't tell me at what point they go off just that they should be ok for 24 hours. As I was soaking overnight they are clearly NOT OK for up to 24 hours and the food never looked or smelt off and the horses always eat it. This has cost me approx £4,000 vets fees and the lesson I have learnt is NEVER EVER BUY FEED FROM A SMALL FEED COMPANY AS THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES OF THE BIG COMPANIES TO DO TESTS AND TRIALS ON THE FEED. This particular company thought trials on 15 horses was sufficient! I have also come across other people on various forums who have had horses badly affected by the feed.
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Oh wow!!!!!! well they do say we are forever learning with horses!!! surprising you not got ulcers yourself with what you have been threw, very interested in the product your vet has put him on, where do you buy if from?? think your been very sensible too by giving your horses time out to recover, thats what i did with mine, wishing you all the best and please keep us posted how you do get on, this has been amazing post which a lot have learned so much from, personal thank you from me whom is so interested in ulcers xxxx
 
Okay, so we're booked in for KS xrays on 3 June. Shall see what the verdict is. The jackpot would be to find something that explains the utter lack of performance and which is also fixable. Hope we don't either find a) nothing (=back to drawing board) or b) something NOT fixable.

T x
 
After mine finished ulcer treatment I found that he needed myofacia release as he was tight over the back and girth areas. It made him grumpy and sore- worse behaviour than when he had ulcers. So far he seems sweeter, but he may need a few more sessions to keep on top of things.
 
catembi said:
Okay, so we're booked in for KS xrays on 3 June. Shall see what the verdict is. The jackpot would be to find something that explains the utter lack of performance and which is also fixable. Hope we don't either find a) nothing (=back to drawing board) or b) something NOT fixable.

T x
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Just remember all horses have some form of kissing spine, i went to a vets talk on this last week!! if they think it has kissing spine by x ray, they then should block out the vertebra by local anasetic, then you should ride your horse, if its loads better then it will be kissing spine. let us know how you get on. fingers crossed for you xx
 
That's useful, Fuzzle. In that case, I'll take tack. (They didn't say to.) TBH, they're not remotely interested in getting to the bottom of it. They seem to have the attitude that he's just a 10 a penny cr*ppy ex-racer & I'm just a neurotic munchausens by proxy stupid owner. Everything is such an uphill struggle. But he was a successful 2-miler, so surely there is something wrong if he can't trot...?

T x
 
My boy had his back x-rayed and the vet was a little bit concerned about one spot, so he anaesthetised it and i rode him and he was still refusing to trot and kicking out! My vet has virtually said he doesn't know where to go next so chuck him out in the field and forget about him. Im now on my own trying to work out the next plan of action.
 
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