Pippity
Well-Known Member
I went up to ride Blue on Tuesday, and she was acting odd - breathing fast and heavy, flared nostrils, stress lines on her muzzle. I'd have been worried about colic except she was definitely pooing well and had plenty of gut noises! I opted not to ride because she just seemed so out of sorts, but did spend a few hours loitering just in case I was wrong about the colic.
Yesterday, she was the same. I had a lesson, so pushed on and rode her anyway. She was fine at first - perhaps a bit more energetic than usual. However, she started to object to me putting my leg on. First just by tossing her head around, but then she threw in a proper buck - front end up, then back end, not just a little fly buck. She was happy to trot from voice aids and only objected when I put my leg on. She also started looking at her stomach. (I stopped the lesson at this point, because it's extremely out of character for her. She naps by ignoring all your aids and going where she wants to go, not by bucking and waving her head around.) Again, plenty of poo, plenty of gut noises, and eating happily.
She was scoped for ulcers last year and apparently had one of the cleanest stomachs the vet had ever seen. I suppose it's possible she's developed ulcers in the past year, but she's had no real stress factors.
The only changes are that I stopped soaking her hay a couple of weeks ago because she was getting a bit lethargic and her weight's fine at the moment. Also, she was wormed (Equest) and moved to a (very wet) winter field last week. I haven't changed her hard feed at all but about a month ago, she started to be a lot more enthusiastic about eating it. She used to finish her hay and then reluctantly eat her hard feed, but now does it the other way round. (Handful of Dengie Healthy Hooves, micronised linseed, Pro Hoof, mint.)
I've got the vet coming out this afternoon, but she didn't seem to have many idea on the phone about what could be causing it.
Yesterday, she was the same. I had a lesson, so pushed on and rode her anyway. She was fine at first - perhaps a bit more energetic than usual. However, she started to object to me putting my leg on. First just by tossing her head around, but then she threw in a proper buck - front end up, then back end, not just a little fly buck. She was happy to trot from voice aids and only objected when I put my leg on. She also started looking at her stomach. (I stopped the lesson at this point, because it's extremely out of character for her. She naps by ignoring all your aids and going where she wants to go, not by bucking and waving her head around.) Again, plenty of poo, plenty of gut noises, and eating happily.
She was scoped for ulcers last year and apparently had one of the cleanest stomachs the vet had ever seen. I suppose it's possible she's developed ulcers in the past year, but she's had no real stress factors.
The only changes are that I stopped soaking her hay a couple of weeks ago because she was getting a bit lethargic and her weight's fine at the moment. Also, she was wormed (Equest) and moved to a (very wet) winter field last week. I haven't changed her hard feed at all but about a month ago, she started to be a lot more enthusiastic about eating it. She used to finish her hay and then reluctantly eat her hard feed, but now does it the other way round. (Handful of Dengie Healthy Hooves, micronised linseed, Pro Hoof, mint.)
I've got the vet coming out this afternoon, but she didn't seem to have many idea on the phone about what could be causing it.
