Horses that had pain then re-started

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almrc

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Has anyone had a horse with bad back problems, that resulted in it bucking/rearing/spinning/tanking off a lot? I am looking for peoples stories of how they got on re-starting this horse after such issues and after the back/pain was removed, it may have been an ill-fitting saddle that caused the bad behaviour but looking for all experiences :) Were you worried about riding it again due to the behaviour the horse had shown previously, but knowing the pain was gone, re riding on did it worry you incase they showed that bad behaviour again?
 
when my mare was backed (by me) we had a saddlle fitted, but from day one she was nappy, very nappy and used to buck alot. after alot of looking into turned out saddle was causing pain and a new saddle fitter sorted it for me (tried to take legal action against the original saddle fitter) unfortuately, we never really recovered from this as the behaviour was instilled and she contin ued to be difficult
 
Did you ever over come the difficult behaviour? This was my next question, whether they over cam it or whether they continued with the behaviour
 
no, unfortunately. se was retired from riding at 6 and now lives wth me as a companion. dont get me wrong, she had other issues that added to this decision but i honestly think if she hadn't have had the back icsues at first caused by the saddle she may have had a future. unfortunately i also became wary of riding her, which didnt help but once you've been decked 101 times it becomes difficult to keep your nerve! i think if you have a youn horse that is started on the wrong foot, esp if its pain related it becomes very diff to rectify that
 
My horse is just coming back into work after getting a sore back due to saddle not fitting, he is cold backed and tense when i first get on as if he is expecting pain then after a little while is fine. We are just starting work again but seem's to get better after each time i ride.
 
Yes my horse was diagnosed with Kissing spine :(. He has however had steroids and shown a 100% improvement for now. When it came to getting back on I was so nervous!! Didnt want to, was worried he would remeber and generally was very worried. An ill fitting saddle (was sold it after sending it away to have it fitted to him - never using that saddler again) caused it to get worse so the first thing I did was change the saddle.

I started him really really slowly, first off I freeschooled him (hes very sane looseschool but cant just get on due to him remebering how painful his back is). I then started lunging on a huge circle (literally as big as i could walking round with him), then added a pessoa to this and on vets advice had to pessoa every day for two weeks. At first he really resisted and then realised that he could actually move and accepted the contact, he went nicely and I think that helped. When it came to getting on I got my uber brave, uber light and uber helpful friend to do it first :P. I lunged him for 5 mins on each rein first to remind him it doesnt hurt in full tack (he was suprisingly good) and then gave my freind a leg up to lay over, he shifted his weight a bit but did nothing else, so legged her straight on. He was a star and at first arched his back then realised there was no need to. I have now started riding him, very slowly, kept everything calm and gentle hacking as after the two week pessoaing he was bored rigid in the school. He has arched his back once when I got on but there was a show on the yard and last time that happened he had a week off prior and I tried to get straight on (before I even knew he had kissing spine) so he bronked me off. Cant help but think he remebers that! Touch wood though he has been a real star since and I really think it helps that I am aware of his issues and ride/respect him accordingly :)
 
Its lovely to hear what you do with your horses, thank you. Have you found that the horse sometimes reverts back to show their old behaviour or haven't they ever since you re-started them?
 
My boy (who is currently on loan) bolted out of the blue on a fun ride, he wasnt the strong bolting type, I put it down to him being an ex huntsmans horse. about a month later he came in lame. After xrays and nerve blocks it came out he had fused hock spavin that his old owners had not noticed or had treated, all this time he had been compensating for the pain and it had come out as back pain.
he was on box rest, when he came sound I started riding again, he was so well behaved back to the horse I knew, then he had a broncing fit on a hack out (about our 4th time riding again) and his back end went down on the floor, I knew he wasnt being naughty, it wasnt like him.
We got the vet out and he had gone lame again.
He was turned away, and is now totally sound on a little bute. I bought a new horse while he was turned away.
I told his loaner that he has bolted out on fun ride so up to her if she wanted to take him out in group, she has and he was really well behaved.
So it must of been the pain that made him act like this.
 
Long long long experience.
My big lad 18hh warmblood came to me out of a field where he'd been for two years. He picked up an injury to his back near at some point what/how we know not.
At first getting on him and trying to leave the yard was a joke, he would rear and buck til either you got off or he got bored and would just stand there so 6 to 8 weeks of walking out on a lead rein nobody on him. Biggest dog I have ever walked! Then 5 weeks out on lead rein with rider. Only then would he leave the yard.
First school session he kicked off big style went in to a corner and would only come out backwards at speed. So we hacked for 2 months then basic schooling (mainly in one corner) but slowly he got the idea. So 12 months later we still have one step forward three steps back ie ridden schooling (usually weekly) halted for a while, lunged in Pessoa 3 times a week, ridden out daily, Danilon and joint supplements daily and Bowen technique every 3 weeks.
But we have placed 5th in our first dressage he jumps 6 bar gates from a standing start now and slowly but surely the real horse is being revealed from under the damage and he is amazing!!
 
My IDx mare told me she had a bad back by bucking me off twice in close succession on the road. The first time was on the first ride after the snow last winter, I put this down to excitability, although she is normally well-mannered. Then we had a couple of short hacks and then on the next hack she dropped me on my head. Both times she ran off but stopped at a field of horses, fortunately. The vet prescribed at least 3 months off with 5/6 sessions of acupuncture, for muscle wastage. We started in-hand exercise after about 6 weeks. She was very reluctant to walk downhill, even following another horse, which was a bit awkward as we live on a hill in the Pennines. It could take us nearly half an hour to go round a 10 minute route. One of our fields is pretty steep and she was going up and down on her own. At the end of the treatment, the saddler came and checked and adjusted the saddle, which was probably not the cause of the problem, as she had only worn it a few times since the last fitting last Autumn, (in fact I think the problem really stems from an incident before I got her when she injured a hind leg). Then we started in-hand exercise with tack around the same 10 minute route. We have seen her become much more confident. Unfortunately I am unable to ride atm (not sure whether my condition is related to accident or not), so my sister has been riding her for me. The first time she rode in our schooling area in a field and mare refused to move. It took an hour to do 2 x circuits of 20 x 40 space. The next time she went round the short hack like a dream and the time after that did a nice short schooling session in walk. Her movement is now much freer than we have seen it before. I am hoping to be able to ride myself shortly, (fingers crossed). When I thought I was going to be bringing her back into work, I had loads of friends lined up to accompany me on the road but it doesn't look as though I will need that support when I finally manage to get back on, as her previous good manners have returned.
 
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