Horse not quite right... any ideas?

[Christmas Crumpet]

Further to my various posts I have been struggling with my horse since bringing him back into work after his tendon injury and wondered if anyone could shed any light on the situation.

The vet has diagnosed him with weak check ligaments and a touch of spavin in both hocks. His tendon is fine (and the least of his worries apparently). When he was brought back into work he felt quite wrong- crabby going down hills etc so I got the physio out who said he'd been overcompensating behind for his bad leg and we had a few sessions and he felt a bit better then worse again. We started trotting and he would do a strange sort of hop once in a while which worried me so I got both the saddler and the vet out. The saddler said his saddle was fine and reflocked it. No improvement. The vet sedated him and gave him a neck flexion session and put him on 2 bute a day and told to do carrot stretching exercises every day as well as H Wave sessions twice/three times a week which we did. Horse given a week off then walking again. The vet came out again about a month later and did another neck flexion and then we started walking again. Then trotting. He was still doing the strange hop once in a while.

We then started doing canter work which he found very hard - its been much harder to get him fit this time - he is 20 now!!

Trotting up hills he doesn't seem to get his hocks underneath him and his head and neck are stretched out as if its a very steep hill and he is using everything he's got to get up it. He is fine when we are out with hounds (surprisingly enough!!). Sometimes he will see the hill and start to race up it and then lose power near the top and do his head/neck stretchy thing again. He is always happier going homewards.

I am wondering whether it is a) his saddle b) hock spavin c) back ache d) old age or e) something else completely.

I would be very grateful if anyone could shed any light on why he isn't the same horse I knew last year!!

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Forgot to add that he is on Cortaflex HA and added MSM/Glucosamine as well as Cod Liver Oil and Cider Vinegar - for his clicky hip!! He has quite a bit of arthritis too!!

 

[OrangeEmpire]

If the vet is thinking neck trouble you need to build up his topline. The TB in my sig below has major arthritis in his neck which interfers with the nerves to his hind legs causing intermittent lameness. By a careful programme of training he has become much happier and pretty much sound bar the occasional blip.

By building up topline and engaging the bum you build the muscles that support the neck and back. Do this very gently - I spent 6 months in walk just teaching my horse to flex gently. I use draw reins (Very Very Loosely!) to help him understand where to go. He is also only ridden on the flat (where possible!) as he finds hills aggravate it. I have the same drugs/remedies as your horse but also use NoBute.

The trick is to keep them mobile but manage the workload so that you don't ask too much. There are a lot of excercises you can do in walk so you don't need to over do it.
Good luck. It sounds like you're really doing a good job by this horse so keep it up.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Thank you OrangeEmpire. His neck is so tight its unbelievable which the vet thinks is probably due to a variety of falls he has had in the past as well as his problem of being tied up - if he realises he's tied up he pulls back until he has broken free. I obviously never tie him up but people have forgotten and done so in the past.

The carrot stretching exercises are done every night and he is booked in for H Wave once a week till god knows when!! The vet did say yesterday to not do enough work with him would have dire consequences and just to get on with it and keep working him.

Thank you for kind words!!

 

[OrangeEmpire]

Absolutely - if he is anything like Jack, the more he does the stronger he gets. Rest is the worst thing possible. I'd ride in draw reins and slowly introduce the concept of flexing. He'll probably find downwards easier than side to side to begin with and you're aiming for tiny changes so keep them loose!

Bizarrely enough there is a possibility acupuncture might help. I can't afford the course of treatment, but if you can, it is worth looking in to.
I'm really impressed to hear how much effort you are putting in. I'm sure you'll see a positive improvement soon.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

You are sweet - I hope so!! He's been back in work since June and I am so desperate to get him right because I know what a star he is when he is right!! However, I am also aware that he is an old horse and probably won't get back to how he was. Sadly, the tendon injury meant that he had 9 months or so off going from full fitness to nothing and everything seems to have seized up.

He is a hunter and that's what he lives for - take him out with hounds and he is a different horse. The other thing is that he used to be with 9 others and exercised with all the others too. My old boss gave him to me and we have moved to Dorset where he is on his own and he misses being exercised with others.

He was fantastic out autumn hunting last week and jumped things and felt like the old horse I know and love so well. Fingers crossed that taking him once a week will keep him happy and we'll just have to deal with the exercising not being as great!!!

 

[mrsbloggett]

My Pony seems to do a similar thing. She was diagnosed with hock spavins a couple of years ago & has had a year off work battling laminitis. She started doing this 'hop' shortly before she went down with lami so I thought this was the reason.

I have recently brought her back into work (with a new saddle), but she still does this 'hop' intermittently. There is no consistency with the ground type she does it on. Sometimes its in trot and/or canter but never walk. Interestingly she never does it when long reining. On an earlier post someone has suggested bridle lameness which I'm looking into.

 

[cyearsley]

Me again! Just wanted to say, don't get disheartened, my horse is now in the final stages of his cantering following tendon injury and due to return to schooling over the next week or so.... Although we've done our 4 weeks walk, 4 weeks trot, now 4 weeks canter and most the time he feels nice, active and when we canter I think of the times we had pre-injury....every so often we got out, like today, and he was a bit stiffer, stumbling (being shod at the weekend) and a bit lazy and didn't feel pleasant at all. I then get all worried somethings not right and then the following day he feels fine.
I think that time out from injury has quite a huge effect, especially for the older horse and though I think you're right to be cautious, think sometimes they're just a bit like us and have an off day. Arthritis type conditions tend to show themselves with age, colder weather and the time off has prob not helped this at all bless him. Hopefully it could be that it will just take him a little bit longer to get back to where you were prior to the injury due to age etc ( my horse is eight but have to say when I first started riding down hills again it was like riding a table with three legs and filled me with dread... and occasionally still does!) Take care and good luck!

 

[kerilli]

tbh it doesn't surprise me at all that he's fine out with hounds, adrenalin's a wonderful thing! a friend had an old hunter who was slightly lame on the way to every meet, sound as a pound all day (he was amateur whip as well, so it was galloping and jumping all the time!) then lame on the way home as soon as hunting stopped. i wouldn't have hunted him, but he lived for it.
have you tried lots of gentle massage on his neck? i think i'd try that, and a little aloe vera deep heat, massaged in gently, esp on trapezius muscle.
tbh i think draw reins are the very very last thing he needs... levering his head and neck to where you want them to be will only make his neck ache like mad, the poor old boy, and if they're as loose as they need to be (i.e. having no effect at all, imho!) then what's the point?

 

[OrangeEmpire]

I know draw reins are not to everybody's cup of tea, but used correctly (ie by not cranking the head in) they can be very beneficial.

He would not flex his neck by normal riding methods so I use draw reins to encourage him to relax his jaw and flex all along his neck rather than just at the poll (which is what was happening before). By building up his topline I have given him the muscles to support the struggling vertibrae. The draw reins just start the process off by preventing him from setting his neck. Everything else is done at his own pace.

I started off Jack with 6 months on the lunge in a DIY pessoa but given that the horse in question has hock problems this really isn't feasible.

There are many different ways of tackling this kind of problem and what works for one horse will not necessarily work for another. I'd try every option and see what works.

 

[kerilli]

totally agree, OE. the trouble with draw reins is that most people do not seem to be as patient as you... the horse doesn't give in quickly, so they crank them in a bit more, and a bit more.
i have witnessed people riding with the true reins dangling loosely, and even someone hacking out just in draw reins, with no true reins at all. i have recently heard that the person who perpetrated this, which i have no hesitation in calling heinous, is now judging dressage. *genuinely despairs.*

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Oh god - not the draw rein thing again!! I started the last one quite innocently and then world war 3 almost started!!!

I can see how by using draw reins he would move in a "more correct" outline but I don't want to force him to do anything to be honest. I just want him to be happy out exercising and happy hunting and that's it.

But thank you for all advice given!!