Horse has unexpalined Condition, Pounding his Bum on stable wall

[ponieslovered]

Im hoping somebody on here may have had similar experience as im at my wits end.
I took my TB straight of the track last yr (at age 5). (he did have a pelvic fracture as a 2 yr old,but healed and raced again) Everything was fine & he was stabled over night through last winter.
In May he started getting abit tetchy, but then out of the blue, would reverse into the stable wall and pound his backend on the wall, to the point his backlegs would slip underneath him and he would end up sitting on his Butt...
The vet came imediatley, took bloods, which showed high GGC, we scoped him & concluded hind gut ulcers. He was immediately put on ulcer treatment, which took away the tetchiness, & he has gained weight & got the shine back in his coat. After scoping we xrayed him head to foot to get a full picture of what else may be wrong, we found slight DJD of the Hocks & suspect DJD of the sacroiliac. he has had cortisone in the hocks and sacro in June. He is still continuing to back into things to pound his backside (its not like rubbing its more like pumping) anyway he's had to have another cortisone into the sacro as he is making himself sore with this silly behaviour. To me it seems he is trying to tell me something, but what !!!???, no its not worms, hes been worm counted every month since May, and treated regulary and had pin worm tests, everything is negative, he has also had lice treatment and dectomax to no avail. We have done absolutley everything to help him & he's fine until he has a wall around then he tries to backup into it. Im at my wits end as i would like to stable him over the winter, but i cant at the moment as he keeps hurting himself. Just wondered on the off chance if anyone else has had a similar behaviour and what the outcome was, thanks

 

[amage]

Has the vet done a rectal exam? Might be a waste of time but maybe time to do the simple thing and glove up and have a feel around the back passage?!

 

[sueonmull]

Poor boy. I may be way out here but if he has/had ulcers, which may relate to some kind of stress, could the bum pounding be a stereotypy which is also related to stress and he just finds it comforting for some reason? If he hasn’t already would it be worth talking to your vet about putting him on bute for a few days, if the behaviour goes away that could point to pain somewhere other than where you have already treated. He may have other issues relating to feeling closed in, does he have company and ad lib hay to keep him occupied (which would also help gut issues). As you say I think he’s trying to tell you something, so frustrating for you both.

 

[flintfootfilly]

I don't have a clue, but what value was the GGT in May (comparing to reference), and has it been looked at since? What were other liver indicators in May, and since.

I know liver disease can cause some strange behaviours in horses, including manic behaviour, but I don't know whether it would cause this behaviour, but it's worth at least ruling out.

Sarah

 

[amandap]

I don't have a clue, but what value was the GGT in May (comparing to reference), and has it been looked at since? What were other liver indicators in May, and since.

I know liver disease can cause some strange behaviours in horses, including manic behaviour, but I don't know whether it would cause this behaviour, but it's worth at least ruling out.

Sarah

I agree or it may be some other sort of system toxicity behavioural response, like pressing head hard into a wall or corner.
My second total guess is pain somewhere.

 

[applecart14]

Are you sure its not something as simple as discomfort in his hind quarters? Or neve pain that is sending impulses to his nerve endings causing him an 'electric shock' type of feeling?

My horse tends to back into things, but he's always had this habit. He has spavin in both hocks and possible back problems.

 

[laurenn1010]

did U ever get to bottom of this ? Excuse the pun. My mare displaying same and I have videos message me

 

[Caracarrie]

did U ever get to bottom of this ? Excuse the pun. My mare displaying same and I have videos message me

My mare suffered from painful ovaries as she approached a season. Pressing her bum on the wall, then squealing quietly and tapping the wall with a back hoof. I avoided sitting trot and schooling for these days, just hacked out or took her out in hand . One time she was in so much pain that she went out in the field and promptly lay down so I called the vet in case it was really colic. Typically, she got up cured just as the vet arrived! The old name for this type of pain is actually womb colic.

 

[My equine life]

Did anyone find the answer with their horses on this string. My mare is box rested and just started this. Don’t know if it is boredom or pain. She’s become very mareish and started developing habits (this being one) and I even thought colic on Friday. Spoke to the vet today and she thinks not colic. We’ve ordered a moody mare supplement and a calmer to see if it is a stress related habit (she doesn’t really like being in) but swollen ovaries could be possible as she is mareish!!