I think I must've done something terrible in a previous life!

EternalVetBills

EternalVetBills

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It's a well known joke on my yard that I 'break' horses. I obviously don't as I am extremely contentious about workload, physio, farrier, vet, ect. However, the fact remains that I seem to have nothing but bad luck with my horses.

I sadly had my old mare put to sleep last Friday, and Mum very kindly agreed to let me take over her pony. Mum has had this pony for 10 years, since he was a yearling, I can count on one hand the amount of non routine vet visits he's had in the last 10 year. None of which are to do with lameness.

I have done a grand total of 4 days of work with him, just in walk as he's a driving pony and I haven't driven for years.

I am currently sat waiting for a vet as he is now on 3 legs 😬. He's gone very lame very quickly, so I'm hoping it's just an abscess as he was okay Wednesday evening and only slightly off yesterday. But honestly, my mum has had him all this time, I take over for less than a week and we get this?!

Not point to this other than a vent. Is anyone else cursed with the bad luck gene?
 
Oh no!! Fingers crossed it is a abscess!

I'm the same person as you but on my yard. 2 out of 4 I've owned put to sleep before the age of 11.. 3rd a happy hack due to lameness issues and the 4th (current horse) turned away for 6 months due to having 101 things wrong with her at 6. She will get put to sleep next year if she isn't right.

I think those like us that are very contentious about everything, get more problems because we notice it. Other horses at my yard I watch get ridden, clearly unhappy, not right.. but owners push and push labelling them 'naughty' rather than investigate.

Have to say, I'm not sure if I'll get another.
 
Yes, same here. New expensive well bred 4 yo has ulcers and ks. The latest in a long line of many that I have broken. The one before was a TB who had a variation of wobblers. Etc etc etc. I read everything I can about management, spare no expense, get all niggles investigated and yet here I am waiting for horse hospital’s opinion on a way forward. In the meantime I am riding my old ex racer who prefers to stay in walk and who keeps getting dragged out of retirement when I have broken my main horse and I am doing groundwork and having brief sit-ons on my Shetland. Yay, sidelined yet again.
 
Aw, that's me too! Lost my first mare at 19 from a heart attack, my next horse at 14 in a field accident (where he was spending a year at grass for various lameness problems) and now I have two 17-year-old retirees.

I am seriously questioning if I should get another ever again!

Much sympathy to you - hopefully an abcess, there's been loads at our yard, even horses that have never had them before.
 
EternalVetBills said:
It's a well known joke on my yard that I 'break' horses. I obviously don't as I am extremely contentious about workload, physio, farrier, vet, ect. However, the fact remains that I seem to have nothing but bad luck with my horses.

I sadly had my old mare put to sleep last Friday, and Mum very kindly agreed to let me take over her pony. Mum has had this pony for 10 years, since he was a yearling, I can count on one hand the amount of non routine vet visits he's had in the last 10 year. None of which are to do with lameness.

I have done a grand total of 4 days of work with him, just in walk as he's a driving pony and I haven't driven for years.

I am currently sat waiting for a vet as he is now on 3 legs 😬. He's gone very lame very quickly, so I'm hoping it's just an abscess as he was okay Wednesday evening and only slightly off yesterday. But honestly, my mum has had him all this time, I take over for less than a week and we get this?!

Not point to this other than a vent. Is anyone else cursed with the bad luck gene?
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Nothing to add except to say that I could have written this myself! I really don’t know what the answer is- do hope your pony gets sorted soon and it’s nothing serious.
 
I hope everything is ok.
I break horses too 😅 In my defence, I have had some weird and wonderful horse conditions thrown at me that aren’t very common (one of my horses was the only recorded horse in the world with her condition… that sort of rare!) so I think it’s either just bad luck or fate throwing these horses at me so I’ll fix them or do the right thing! I’m also hyper aware of lameness, so I pick up on it when many people would just continue to ride them.

I am hyper aware of everything in life. I have a strange sixth sense with even the dogs I groom and have picked up something isn’t right and then found out they’ve got tumours or cancer (that’s happened three times this year alone!).
 
catembi said:
Yes, same here. New expensive well bred 4 yo has ulcers and ks. The latest in a long line of many that I have broken. The one before was a TB who had a variation of wobblers. Etc etc etc. I read everything I can about management, spare no expense, get all niggles investigated and yet here I am waiting for horse hospital’s opinion on a way forward. In the meantime I am riding my old ex racer who prefers to stay in walk and who keeps getting dragged out of retirement when I have broken my main horse and I am doing groundwork and having brief sit-ons on my Shetland. Yay, sidelined yet again.
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I am really sorry to hear this, I often think about how you are getting on with her.
 
scats said:
I hope everything is ok.
I break horses too 😅 In my defence, I have had some weird and wonderful horse conditions thrown at me that aren’t very common (one of my horses was the only recorded horse in the world with her condition… that sort of rare!) so I think it’s either just bad luck or fate throwing these horses at me so I’ll fix them or do the right thing! I’m also hyper aware of lameness, so I pick up on it when many people would just continue to ride them.

I am hyper aware of everything in life. I have a strange sixth sense with even the dogs I groom and have picked up something isn’t right and then found out they’ve got tumours or cancer (that’s happened three times this year alone!).
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Interesting about you being hyper aware, I feel a bit like this with all animals. Our Labrador I didn't think was right and she had cancer. My gelding, similar thing, pushed for a second vet opinion and he had a deformity in his neck. I just get this 'feeling' about things. I did wonder if it was almost a bit autistic.
 
I know I sometimes ‘overthink’ but I seem quick to pick up on things being NQR with horses. I have had one horse after another with problems- have to say I have cared for and done the best for all of them.
I’d love another horse but so doubting my own judgement now that it has totally knocked my confidence to even look for one.
 
Nocturnal said:
I do think a lot of it comes down to noticing issues that others don’t. Makes you wonder what percentage of horses really do stay sound in work.
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According to a study done by Sue Dyson a while back, of 60 horses considered sound by their owners "73% were found to be suffering with low-grade lameness on one or more legs, 47% had gait abnormalities in canter, and 47% had ill-fitting saddles". So the answer is probably not many.
 
Thank you all, I'm glad I'm not alone! Vet has been and we think it's an abscess. No pus yet, but vet pretty confident. We're to keep poulticing over the weekend and if no improvement by Monday then we will x-ray.

I completely echo what everyone is saying re noticing things that others just don't. The amount of times Ive told someone that something was up with one of mine and they've responded, "oh he/she is fine, he/she is sounder than (insert some poor depressed looking animal here), and I ride him" 🤦‍♀️ Some of the things other horses on my yard put up with! They really are such kind creatures.
 
EternalVetBills said:
It's a well known joke on my yard that I 'break' horses. I obviously don't as I am extremely contentious about workload, physio, farrier, vet, ect. However, the fact remains that I seem to have nothing but bad luck with my horses.

I sadly had my old mare put to sleep last Friday, and Mum very kindly agreed to let me take over her pony. Mum has had this pony for 10 years, since he was a yearling, I can count on one hand the amount of non routine vet visits he's had in the last 10 year. None of which are to do with lameness.

I have done a grand total of 4 days of work with him, just in walk as he's a driving pony and I haven't driven for years.

I am currently sat waiting for a vet as he is now on 3 legs 😬. He's gone very lame very quickly, so I'm hoping it's just an abscess as he was okay Wednesday evening and only slightly off yesterday. But honestly, my mum has had him all this time, I take over for less than a week and we get this?!

Not point to this other than a vent. Is anyone else cursed with the bad luck gene?
Click to expand...
No joke, in the past 9 years I’ve had 2 retire and 6/7 pts the two I have now are dubious.
Horse life Is sometimes crap.
My first horse I had I think 20 odd years with no vet bills til the last year and it’s soul destroying.
I feel your pain
 
catembi said:
FWIW, I am an autistic person & very sensitive to things being 'off'. Then I stop & investigate rather than giving it a smack & telling it to get on with it. I am seldom wrong...and I do often wish that I was...!
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Now I don’t think you should count that as a bad thing!
The people that carry on trying to ride and ignore issues are the ones in the wrong.
 
Burnttoast said:
According to a study done by Sue Dyson a while back, of 60 horses considered sound by their owners "73% were found to be suffering with low-grade lameness on one or more legs, 47% had gait abnormalities in canter, and 47% had ill-fitting saddles". So the answer is probably not many.
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Yes I thought it was approx 70 % of horses, tbh it feels like most horses aren't quite right but some people notice better
 
Debsflo1 said:
Yes I thought it was approx 70 % of horses, tbh it feels like most horses aren't quite right but some people notice better
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And some horses (like some people) soldier on happy to be active and busy.

And some horses feel every niggle acutely & would rather not carry on.

I’m not saying work not right horses full stop.

But I know a fair few mid 20’s horses with lots of issues, thriving on still being active.

And I’ve also owned some princess and pea horses. And the other extreme.

The advantage of a sensitive opinionated horse that tells you is it’s much easier to not break them as they tell you rather than soldiering on.
 
Convinced it’s just bad luck. Two of my dearest friends who hold very senior roles in corporate, super smart and top horsewomen have had some rotten luck.

Both come from a Risk and Compliance background so really understand what they are getting into when they buy a horse and then spend a gazillion on every test under the sun, do background checks on performances and veterinary records, previous trainers in order to inform themselves.

They own their own properties, have control over diet, management, training etc - and then one horse runs through a fence cutting itself to ribbons, one gets chased by a loose dog at a show and runs into a couple of cars whilst dog is chasing it, one gets colic one night, one begins bucking randomly and they discover a brain tumour, one develops a heart murmur that worsens in record time leaving the horse unrideable.

Both have lots of broken but happy horses living on their lovely properties and diminished bank accounts.

Whereas - I will never be the riders they are and it just doesn’t seem fair they had so much heartbreaking bad luck.
 
Update on pony today; massive amount of black pus came out on the poultice this morning, and he's had some errupt from his outside heel bulb too. It was stinky 🤢
Still not sound, and is still hopping, but a lot better than he was yesterday. It's looks to me like the abscess has just completely covered the length of the outside edge of his foot. The entry hole is absolutely tiny, always impressed how they manage these things!
Managed to get him to stand in a hot tub this morning, which I was quite surprised he complied to! Fingers crossed for more pus tomorrow 🤞🤞
 
EternalVetBills said:
It's a well known joke on my yard that I 'break' horses. I obviously don't as I am extremely contentious about workload, physio, farrier, vet, ect. However, the fact remains that I seem to have nothing but bad luck with horses.

Not point to this other than a vent. Is anyone else cursed with the bad luck gene?
Click to expand...
Yep lost four in under 7 years as a one horse owner. None were my fault, accident, broken leg, heart attack, wobblers syndrome. Then my next horse did a hind tendon sheath in the field, was then diagnosed with spavin, then had neck arthritis, broken tooth, suspensory branch on all four legs, coffin joint arthritis and suffered from colic all his life. However in between all the issues we spent half of those 17yrs competing, fun rides and hacking so I was blessed.

When I eventually lost him I bought a horse that flew a five stage vetting and was lame first time I rode it. After investigating he had KS, spavin, coffin joint arthritis, neck arthritis, chronic and acute S.I and potential PSD. Now lives in retirement.

My friends horse career has been equally unsuccessful, she's lost five, one went to the blood bank and last one pts couple years ago.

Glad it's just an abscess with yours OP x
 
Pony update for anyone interested; by Sunday morning he was very uncomfortable again and when I changed the poultice, the hole had closed itself up 🙄. Put him in a hot tub that was only just bearable in the hopes of drawing it out a bit more, but to no avail.

So have got the vet coming out again today. We've decided to hold off on x-rays for now, as he was so much happier when some pus came out on Saturday, and although not happy, he is better than Friday. He's eating again now and isn't just laying down all the time, so that is an improvement. Everyone do the pus dance please💃🕺

ETA: mum's just said when she went to go in his stable just now he tried to make a break for it, so he must be feeling a bit better 😅
 
Nocturnal said:
I do think a lot of it comes down to noticing issues that others don’t. Makes you wonder what percentage of horses really do stay sound in work.
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Agree with this. There are at least two horses I know that are in pain/lame. One is still being worked, despite me strongly hinting that something is off (he's got stress wrinkles above the eyes as soon as he's tacked up and has been planting when leaving the yard, refusing to canter and so on). The other was being brought into work after a lay off, with no saddle check, physio or vet visit to find the cause of his original extreme behaviour. Despite it being early days and him being very wired, the owner allowed another livery to take him out, resulting in him bolting for home and her coming off badly. No, he still hasn't seen a vet or physio...
 
Fransurrey said:
Agree with this. There are at least two horses I know that are in pain/lame. One is still being worked, despite me strongly hinting that something is off (he's got stress wrinkles above the eyes as soon as he's tacked up and has been planting when leaving the yard, refusing to canter and so on). The other was being brought into work after a lay off, with no saddle check, physio or vet visit to find the cause of his original extreme behaviour. Despite it being early days and him being very wired, the owner allowed another livery to take him out, resulting in him bolting for home and her coming off badly. No, he still hasn't seen a vet or physio...
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I find it amazing how some people are in denial about their horses pain level even when pointed out to them. One horse I knew couldn't maintain canter, pulled a face the whole time it was ridden and would bunch itself together with its tails swishing. Another friend took a video to show the owner but they were oblivious. Is it because of the implications of the cost of ongoing treatment? Or is it because they think they know better. Who knows?
 
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