catembi
Well-Known Member
The horse is a 6 yo QH that I have owned for nearly a year. He was brilliant to start with - v laid back, v athletic, bright, quick to learn, brave jumping etc. After about 6 months, he started having the odd 'angry' episode of not working forward, being sharp, exploding... Back, teeth, saddle all checked. He has also always been a bit stumbly, but behind, especially on landing from a jump, & has lately been bucking on landing. Teeth & saddle done again. I have been afraid to ride him as he will suddenly go off on one with no correlation to how long he's been worked for. I.e. not 'fresh horse' syndrome as he's as likely to do it after 30 minutes.
Anyway, yesterday I did an arena hire, lunged for 10 minutes, all well, got on, after a few minutes in walk, asked him to trot - and he went down to roll (I thought). No warning - in fact, when his head went up, I thought he was going to buck/rear, so was ready for that & v surprised when he went down. Got him up, got back on, carried on, did another 20 minutes in walk, trot, canter. He was resistant & uncoordinated in canter.
Today I went for a lesson with a v experienced ex international eventer. Lunged for 10 minutes, one rein was okay, had a bit of horse shaped kite on the other rein, got on, okay in walk, went to do a trotting pole in trot...and he went down. The trainer said she had never seen anything like that before, & that he collapsed when the hind leg was taking the load of stepping over the pole. So not rolling...collapsing. He also struggled to get up. I have been advised not to ride him again.
He isn't insured (long story) but tbh, if I got this investigated, is it likely that they'd find anything fixable? What would you even do to find this? Neurological workup? Bone scan? Xrays...? I am v v deflated, both for myself & for him as he is a very, very nice natured & capable horse and I think this is probably it for us :-(
All experiences appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Anyway, yesterday I did an arena hire, lunged for 10 minutes, all well, got on, after a few minutes in walk, asked him to trot - and he went down to roll (I thought). No warning - in fact, when his head went up, I thought he was going to buck/rear, so was ready for that & v surprised when he went down. Got him up, got back on, carried on, did another 20 minutes in walk, trot, canter. He was resistant & uncoordinated in canter.
Today I went for a lesson with a v experienced ex international eventer. Lunged for 10 minutes, one rein was okay, had a bit of horse shaped kite on the other rein, got on, okay in walk, went to do a trotting pole in trot...and he went down. The trainer said she had never seen anything like that before, & that he collapsed when the hind leg was taking the load of stepping over the pole. So not rolling...collapsing. He also struggled to get up. I have been advised not to ride him again.
He isn't insured (long story) but tbh, if I got this investigated, is it likely that they'd find anything fixable? What would you even do to find this? Neurological workup? Bone scan? Xrays...? I am v v deflated, both for myself & for him as he is a very, very nice natured & capable horse and I think this is probably it for us :-(
All experiences appreciated. Thank you for reading.