Is it time to cut my losses?

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Ruthyasquith

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Long winded but any help would be greatly appreciated!

I feel awful and like I'm a failure for even considering this but things are really getting me down. I have a 6yo ex racing mare who I've posted about before. She had a bad start in life, she did not enjoy racing she would refuse to go up the gallops and when she came to me she was terrified of people. She had an awful injury to the inside of her right hind just about the hock which she did in the field - came in with a massive hole there. She was never lame but is definitely weaker on this rein. She has an extremely odd gait in walk almost like she's wearing wet knickers! And when I first got her she bunny hopped in canter - not bucking, I mean hopping with both back legs in canter. I've had the vet to check her he says her pelvis is slightly misaligned but nothing that should affect her normal work.

In the 5 months I've had her she's reared, bucked, kicked cars, tried to lie down with me on board, refused to go forwards, run backwards, dragged gates off its hinges, pulled the side of a building off (I don't tie her up anymore) I've had more rope burn than hot dinners anyway I've preserved and been extremely patient. The last 4 weeks she's made incredible progress she used to refuse to canter and now I can canter her on both reins. She stopped the bunny hopping, her whole attitude just seemed to change and things were really looking up. Anyway this weekend I took her out on a hack, in my own stupidity it was the same hack she's been on 3 times this week and on the way home she was being giddy - bucking, wanting to go forwards. This doesn't bother me but there was lots of cars and she ended up clipping one so now I've been told I'm not to hack her. Tonight I took her out to lunge her in the field which I haven't done in months and she was bunny hopping again and stopping in canter and rearing refusing to go forward. I don't know whether I'm becoming disheartened about nothing as she hasn't been lunged in the field in months which would explain her being tense and the ground was wet so she could just be feeling unbalanced.

I'm not sure whether I'm just veing slightly ovr dramatic but I had to have a horse put down in June because he had kissing spines, he was an ex racehorse who I had only had for a year and I went through a lot of 'mishaps' before he was diagnosed, he was a lovely character and I was devastated. After all the troubles with him and now this horse I'm beginning to wonder why I do it, I regret buying this mare but at the same time I know that anyone else would have probably shot her by now!

Anyway any advice on anything or anyone who has had similar experiences or just anyones opinion would be welcome? Is it worth carrying on??

Thankyou for reading :)
 
Ruthyasquith said:
This doesn't bother me but there was lots of cars and she ended up clipping one so now I've been told I'm not to hack her.
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By whom?

Sounds as though you and this mare are making great progress. The clip was unfortunate but not her fault - clearly she didn't bury you. What more does she need to give? Genuine question. She sounds nice?
 
It sounds very much like she has an undiagnosed sacro illiac injury. Her behaviour is very like my WBs was and he had chronic SI dysfunction. I would get her seen by a holistic vet or osteopath. My horse had his sacrum mobilised by a holistic vet in Higham near Newmarket. Bunny hopping is a classic symptom, as is being unable to cope with circling. Hence she is ok hacking and in straight lines.
Your vet found a pelvic misalignment, but for SI problems it's harder to diagnose. The thing to consider is that SI problems can be caused by hock problems or an accident as simple as slipping down. I am sure there are many other reasons for SI problems. This condition is very painful and of course affects the very 'motor' of the horse making them weak in the back end.
 
Um. Coming straight to the point, have you had a vet look at her? Very sorry to say that bunny hopping is often a sign of injury in the SI region, and can also occur in the instance of suspensory ligaments behind. If she is being a nutcase a lot of the time despite your commendable efforts, you may well be dealing with a pain issue.
 
You really do need to try to find out if the horse has something that's giving her pain I don't see how you can go forward until you do that .
If the behaviours are pain driven you are never going to get where to want to be .
 
HeresHoping said:
Um. Coming straight to the point, have you had a vet look at her? Very sorry to say that bunny hopping is often a sign of injury in the SI region, and can also occur in the instance of suspensory ligaments behind. If she is being a nutcase a lot of the time despite your commendable efforts, you may well be dealing with a pain issue.
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This would be my thoughts too,has she seen a vet re behaviour ?
 
It sounds as if she is very lucky to have come to you. So do not feel too disheartened!

However given her behaviour, I would definitely be considering getting the vet out to take a look. I would much rather rule out pain as a cause, or to know what I am dealing with and why.

Hope you get it sorted.
 
HI thankyou so much everyone for your replies, I have had a vet out to her numerous times as since she has come to me everytime I've gone on holiday or away she has injured herself in the field - not sure if its because shes been stressed I haven't been there. Anyway I have discussed with the vet about her behaviour and her symptoms and he gave her a lameness work up. She's 3/10 lame on a flexion test on the leg that she injured previously but given she has only been in work 4 months which has been broken up by me going on holiday, the vet said he would expect her to be weak on this leg. He said this could be the reason she was reluctant to canter and that with work she should improve which she has. He also said that her abnormal walk could be due to her misaligned pelvis which he thinks could be down to her racing career. Altogether he said physically there is no reason why she cannot do her work, she needs strengthening as she had a year off and was emaciated before I bought her. About her behaviour he said if she became unmanageable he was happy to put her down. The last time he came out was around 6 weeks ago and since then she really has improved behaviour wise, until this weekend but as a young horse I suppose I should be prepared for set backs. Thanyou for your replies, it is just nice to have reassurance that I'm doing the right thing carrying on with her.

She is also seeing the physio this weekend which she loves so I'm hoping this will help :)
 
The vet did not seem to think her pelvis was a problem but I do have her regularly seen by a physio who has worked on her sacroiliac region before however we did think that she was better, she is due to see the physio now and I'm taking her to see her this weekend so hopefully if she is having sacro iliac issues the physio will help. Thankyou for your reply if she continues to bunny hop I will find a holistic vet to take a look. Thanks again.
 
Once you've had the SI possible issue investigated, consider hiring or borrowing an Arc equine. I think it could really help with her tone, rebuilding the leg damage and making her more comfortable.
Mine loves a massage pad as well but this varies between horses. I found that a massage pad before and after work was very helpful in encouraging suppleness and forming a positive association. Again, if you can borrow one to check they can be amazing.
(I know the last thing you probably want is expense but these two things have been real breakthroughs with a couple of my troubled ones, and they're transferable to future horses)
Best of luck, she's fallen on her feet with you.
 
As it seems you're confindent there are no pain issues (but I feel that having said that you still have doubts) why not put her on a painkiller for a couple of weeks to see if there is any change in behaviour. If there is, you have some more investigation to do.
I wouldn't give up on this horse, hang in there !
 
leggs said:
As it seems you're confindent there are no pain issues (but I feel that having said that you still have doubts) why not put her on a painkiller for a couple of weeks to see if there is any change in behaviour. If there is, you have some more investigation to do.
I wouldn't give up on this horse, hang in there !
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Like others have said, I seriously suspect a pain issue here. Having gone/still going through similar mysterious reactive behaviour with my youngster it is only because he went lame whilst being re-backed this year (i won't go in to the full reasons!) that a vet came out and referred him for more investigation.
After basically a full body scan (they couldn't find any lameness at all) they diagnosed interspinous ligament desmopathy which essentially is inflammation of the ligaments between some spinous processes that are close together. This, I hope will explain his explosions when being saddled/attempted to be ridden.
Funnily the vet treating him commented about racehorses suffering with similar and it's funny you mention the weird walk - the girl backing mine tried a dummy rider on mine after his rodeo efforts with her on and she commented to me about a weird action he did (once he realised it wasn't coming off!). She described it as his back legs almost not seeming to be attached to his body!
I think if you can afford to it would be worthwhile investing further. For what it's worth our fab chiro actually couldn't find anything really wrong with him other than a bit of tenderness but then my horse is a bit of a wuss! He had previously had severe muscle spasms after a saddle not fitting properly and really reacted to the chiro working on him
 
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