Booboos
Well-Known Member
Sorry a really long one, but just wanted to share in case anyone is having similar problems and finds this useful.
I've had Rusky for three years and we have always gotten on really well. He is much more talented than me, but I have just about coped. We've been competing BD, qualifying for semis and regionals at Novice and Elementary and even coming in the top ten at the semis. Then about a year ago he started being a bit less forward. At first I put this down to a training problem and got more lessons, but things were getting subtly worse. He has his teeth, back and saddle checked every six months and nothing was showing up there, but over the next six months things went from bad to worse. He changed from being a very forward going horse to being difficult to move on at all, lost all his extended trot and canter, started finding some movements impossible (e.g. counter canter) and in the end wasn't even tracking up in walk. At the same time he started to put in massive spooks for no reason, spinning around and pissing off.
All this deteriorated quite slowly so it was difficult to say 'here is a problem', but one day it was obvious there was something wrong. My physio had another look, my vet did a full lameness work-up and other than mild muscle pain towards the back of the saddle on the right hand side there was nothing obvious. Since this back pain was the only indicator (even though it did not seem significant and the saddle fitted well) we tried a scintigraphy, but it came up clear. We then tried nerve blocks on the back legs and eliminated billateral back leg lameness. By now my vet gently suggested that perhaps I just could not ride the horse and he needed a better rider, but I was worried there was something wrong and did not want anyone forcing the horse to work through pain. So to find out we put him on strong painkillers for three weeks and within a few days it was apparent to everyone that there was a massive improvement, therefore there was pain somewhere!
Since the back was the only indication of any problem I then had the saddler out again and we spent three hours trying on every saddle available. To our surprise we both saw an amazing difference between saddles, with some of them he was almost crippled. My saddler thinks that the horse's spine widens in the middle, so that although the saddle looks OK on the withers, the gullet is actually pinching and what looks like a well fitting saddle at rest, becomes worse in work and prevents the back from coming up. Various saddles later we finally found the solution in a treeless and Rusky is finally back to normal. The spooking has stopped completely, his face is relaxed and happy, he is working through his back (six weeks with the new saddle the physio said that if she had not seen this horse and the change with her own eyes she would not have believed it) and is out competing again.
Sorry about the long post, but just wanted to say that if you think there is something wrong with your horse it is worth persevering even if it takes a year to find out what it is!
I've had Rusky for three years and we have always gotten on really well. He is much more talented than me, but I have just about coped. We've been competing BD, qualifying for semis and regionals at Novice and Elementary and even coming in the top ten at the semis. Then about a year ago he started being a bit less forward. At first I put this down to a training problem and got more lessons, but things were getting subtly worse. He has his teeth, back and saddle checked every six months and nothing was showing up there, but over the next six months things went from bad to worse. He changed from being a very forward going horse to being difficult to move on at all, lost all his extended trot and canter, started finding some movements impossible (e.g. counter canter) and in the end wasn't even tracking up in walk. At the same time he started to put in massive spooks for no reason, spinning around and pissing off.
All this deteriorated quite slowly so it was difficult to say 'here is a problem', but one day it was obvious there was something wrong. My physio had another look, my vet did a full lameness work-up and other than mild muscle pain towards the back of the saddle on the right hand side there was nothing obvious. Since this back pain was the only indicator (even though it did not seem significant and the saddle fitted well) we tried a scintigraphy, but it came up clear. We then tried nerve blocks on the back legs and eliminated billateral back leg lameness. By now my vet gently suggested that perhaps I just could not ride the horse and he needed a better rider, but I was worried there was something wrong and did not want anyone forcing the horse to work through pain. So to find out we put him on strong painkillers for three weeks and within a few days it was apparent to everyone that there was a massive improvement, therefore there was pain somewhere!
Since the back was the only indication of any problem I then had the saddler out again and we spent three hours trying on every saddle available. To our surprise we both saw an amazing difference between saddles, with some of them he was almost crippled. My saddler thinks that the horse's spine widens in the middle, so that although the saddle looks OK on the withers, the gullet is actually pinching and what looks like a well fitting saddle at rest, becomes worse in work and prevents the back from coming up. Various saddles later we finally found the solution in a treeless and Rusky is finally back to normal. The spooking has stopped completely, his face is relaxed and happy, he is working through his back (six weeks with the new saddle the physio said that if she had not seen this horse and the change with her own eyes she would not have believed it) and is out competing again.
Sorry about the long post, but just wanted to say that if you think there is something wrong with your horse it is worth persevering even if it takes a year to find out what it is!
