Launched, your thoughts please. Sorry long.

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Louby

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Im feeling very sad atm, have a fractured jaw and stitches where my tooth went through my now big fat lip! Im feeling sad though as I thought I'd finally found my perfect horse and I just dont know what to do.
So, bought this horse last September, found her by chance really, passed 5 stage vetting and pretty much everything was going great until she got kicked in the field. Dont get me wrong she isnt a dope on a rope and does have the odd quirk. She ended up with a fractured splint bone and then a large swelling in the bursa on the inside of the hock which the scan shown some level of a strain. She has had time off, came sound and had the swelling recently injected with a steroid and her hock looks totally normal now. Shes being brought slowly back into work, but I dont think she looks right on one rein on the lunge, not coming through properly on the injured leg but she works through it in a few minutes. She is sound on the straight. Im lunging because I was told by the previous owners to lunge before I got on if she had time off. The vet is aware of this and I have worked hard over the months to stop her going crazy the minute her feet touch the sand on the school when lunged. She is being seen by the physio which is ongoing and her short stride coincides with her injury.
So rode yesterday, everything was fine, she was totally calm on the lunge before I got on, we were trotting, she was coming soft and she totally exploded, out of no where. I ended up whacking my head on her neck, she continued to leap and buck and she got me off. She meant it and she wanted me off.
Im sat here wondering if this is her quirk and is why she was sold in the first place or is it pain related. She has done this once before in walk but I managed to stay on. I really dont know what to do as tbh I cant risk getting hurt like this again or worse. I'd consider myself to be a competent rider but her reaction was dangerous and I will be honest that I dont want to get back on her as she will get me off if she does it again. I keep thinking about something a friend of the prev owner said and its making me think hmmmmm and looking back a couple of other things are making me wonder too.
Sorry its long and thanks for reading, but I dont know what to do.
 
If she has had time off work, is it possible that her saddle no longer fits as well as it did? I also wonder how long you had asked her to work for, as re-habbing needs to be done very slowly ime and very much follow the old advice for fittening hunters. I hope you heal quickly and get to the bottom of her problems.
 
I think you were wrong to ask her to work on the bit, which involves taking more weight on her hocks, on the first ride after an injury to the hock. My guess is doing that caused her pain and she exploded because of it. When she did it before in walk, could pain have been the cause that time? It could be that this is her response to anything she feels she can't cope with. I can understand you not wanting to get back on after the injuries you've sustained from this fall. You'll probably never know if this explosive reaction is why she was sold, but if you don't want to get on again your choices are sell, PTS, or retire her.
 
Thanks for replying, teeth done and saddle checked, sorry I forgot to put that. I had done about 20 mins in school but mainly walking. She wont hack alone so its difficult, but managed to hack with someone a couple of times last week and walked her out in hand, in between doing the physio work with poles and light lunging. Im thinking of phoning the vet for a chat.
 
Is she turned out at the moment ? If not then I would be tempted to turn her away for a few months, let her and your injury heal and then maybe hack for a while when you start riding again and get both of you enjoying life again......just seen what you posted above, why won't she hack out ?
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
I think you were wrong to ask her to work on the bit, which involves taking more weight on her hocks, on the first ride after an injury to the hock. My guess is doing that caused her pain and she exploded because of it. When she did it before in walk, could pain have been the cause that time? It could be that this is her response to anything she feels she can't cope with. I can understand you not wanting to get back on after the injuries you've sustained from this fall. You'll probably never know if this explosive reaction is why she was sold, but if you don't want to get on again your choices are sell, PTS, or retire her.
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Thanks, sorry Ive not been clear, its not the first time Ive ridden her, we are about 3 weeks in now but maybe I was asking a bit much of her and she is a sensitive soul so it wouldnt suprise me at all if her exploding is down to pain. Its so sad, shes such a lovely girl. The explosion in walk was post injury too. She has been occasionally 'cold backed' since I got her too.
 
bonny said:
Is she turned out at the moment ? If not then I would be tempted to turn her away for a few months, let her and your injury heal and then maybe hack for a while when you start riding again and get both of you enjoying life again......just seen what you posted above, why won't she hack out ?
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They get half a day out atm. I didnt know she didnt or hadnt hacked when I bought her, just something good old Facebook revealed later :) It was a bit errrr interesting when we first tried but she was doing really well with the hacking in company, we'd just not tried going alone before her injury. Im sure in time she would.
 
I suspect she has done something similar in the past, being told a horse required lunging after time off would have set off alarm bells for two reasons, 1 that she has obviously been sharp before 2 that she had been given time off more than once with her last owners, did you ask why she had been off before you bought her?

Having to lunge before riding is not a major issue but having to do more than a little to get the sting out of them is not "normal" that you still need to lunge after weeks and she still exploded out of the blue would make me want to look into it further, saddle not being right does not explain why she did it in her last home, she may just be fresh and sharp but it could be physical and needs looking into.
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
Any chance she has a minor problem with her back, and is tense from being not 100% sound, and the tension is making the back problem worse, causing the bucking?
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Tbh, I did expect the physio to say this that and the rest of its wrong but I was suprised really. She did say she had tension coinciding with her injury but nothing other than she would expect.
 
be positive said:
I suspect she has done something similar in the past, being told a horse required lunging after time off would have set off alarm bells for two reasons, 1 that she has obviously been sharp before 2 that she had been given time off more than once with her last owners, did you ask why she had been off before you bought her?

Having to lunge before riding is not a major issue but having to do more than a little to get the sting out of them is not "normal" that you still need to lunge after weeks and she still exploded out of the blue would make me want to look into it further, saddle not being right does not explain why she did it in her last home, she may just be fresh and sharp but it could be physical and needs looking into.
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Thanks, I found out a lot after I bought her, its a small world so dont want to go into too much detail on a forum :) but shes had 2 foals a few years apart and I gather not an awful lot of work for what reason I dont know. I am starting to think this is a quirk of hers, although the hock issue may not be helping, or poss something else.
 
I think if a professional yard isn't a good idea for you (I know they are expensive) I would be tempted to treat her kind of like an unbacked youngster and go back to basics since she has issues anyway.

Since she isn't good at hacking and frankly getting on her right now doesn't sound like a good idea, I would use long reining and take her out for walks everyday on basically hacks but you leading from the ground. Do that for a few weeks increasing the time you spend out. For one thing this will help strength her leg and back after time off from a pretty serious injury and it will be good experience for her for hacking.

I think only once she is settled with that and you have had more physio for her and saddle checked, would I get on her then but again slow work, do the hacks again in walk. Do some schooling in walk only, ask for nothing but rhythm. Yeah it will suck and be boring but the more slow strengthening you do the longer she will last long term. Think she also needs it mentally, poor girl sounds like she hasn't had the best time when younger.

I might be totally wrong, but that's just what I would do. I think trying to fix her issues with needing to be lunged a lot before being ridden and the bucking while trying to get her stronger and fitter is going to be quite difficult. She now associates riding with pain and probably has since before you had her.
 
rachk89 said:
I think if a professional yard isn't a good idea for you (I know they are expensive) I would be tempted to treat her kind of like an unbacked youngster and go back to basics since she has issues anyway.

Since she isn't good at hacking and frankly getting on her right now doesn't sound like a good idea, I would use long reining and take her out for walks everyday on basically hacks but you leading from the ground. Do that for a few weeks increasing the time you spend out. For one thing this will help strength her leg and back after time off from a pretty serious injury and it will be good experience for her for hacking.

I think only once she is settled with that and you have had more physio for her and saddle checked, would I get on her then but again slow work, do the hacks again in walk. Do some schooling in walk only, ask for nothing but rhythm. Yeah it will suck and be boring but the more slow strengthening you do the longer she will last long term. Think she also needs it mentally, poor girl sounds like she hasn't had the best time when younger.

I might be totally wrong, but that's just what I would do. I think trying to fix her issues with needing to be lunged a lot before being ridden and the bucking while trying to get her stronger and fitter is going to be quite difficult. She now associates riding with pain and probably has since before you had her.
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Thank you. Im not against the pro yard, its just I will need to get back on at some point and tbh the thought atm fills me with dread! She doesnt do this everytime and the lunging atm is probably more for my benefit than hers as I know she hasnt been in work and I can judge what frame of mind shes in, sounds daft I know lol but works wonders for my confidence. Before her injury I didnt lunge before I got on as I was doing something with her pretty much every day. I will do the walking out, she does enjoy it, Ive just got to be careful for now until this blooming jaw heals as Ive been lucky and not needed surgery as it isnt displaced. She has done so well with the lunging and we can walk round now (most of the time!) before she explodes. Its sad as afterwards I always reward her with lots of praise and she is practically talking back to me, gently whinnying and nickering, Maybe shes saying thankgod for that lol but it seems more Ive been good and like shes insecure. I really hope we will come through this.
 
I would either send her to a pro for some training or go right back to basics with her. Is there a trainer in the area who you could get too come out a few times a week to do some work with you both together?
 
What a terrible injury I really wish you better, you say she has been cold backed at times do you think she could have a back or spine problem, I think after what has happened if she were mine I would get a vet to check this before continuing with her being ridden, even for your own piece of mind and safety and then if she has nothing going on at least you know it's just how she is.
 
i think at this point you have to give her the benefit of the doubt? i'm really sorry you've been so badly hurt but very few horses are angels 100% of the time and they dont know that their buck fart and a squeak can hurt us.

confidence is a fragile thing but i wouldnt say 2 explosions and 1 fall make a PTS or sell situation.

cold backed can cover a multitude of issues-is it the weight of the saddle, the girth being tightened or pulling down stirrups etc that causes the reaction?

i woulkd be thinking sore back, ulcers and maybe just fresh and silly tbh-its the time of year for the latter.
 
Thanks for all your replies, Ive so much going round my head at the moment but was chatting on the yard this morning and it could be her 'thing' but as she was so good for the first couple of months Im starting to think it could be more pain related. I suppose I will never know but have to say I dont think I want to see if it happens again!! I am going to have a chat with the vet and am happy to do further investigation, as despite all this she is a lovely horse, its such a shame. The taking more weight on her hocks was mentioned today too and that makes sense as it happened soon after she softened but kissing spine has also been mentioned. My only 'if' with that is she was fine until her injury. Hopefully I will get some answers so I can decide what to do for the best.
Thanks again.
 
Part of the treatment for KS is to get the back strong, well muscled and keep it that way, having time off for any reason can allow the muscle to slacken and the symptoms to show up, it would certainly be worth getting the back xrayed in my view, it may be something that you can deal with fairly easily once you know the cause.
 
If she was fine until her injury, could it be ulcers - they can be caused by so many different things, and can cause extreme reactions in some.
 
OP you have my sympathy, I was launched off the pony 2 weeks ago. Still have bruised/cracked ribs and not doing much other than watching daytime tv. My problem was expecting pony ( who has a tendancey to explode from shear joy of life) to go quietly after not being ridden for 6 weeks. It really does make you question yourself & your motivation. Having said that I am looking forward to getting back on to sort the little b****r out!
 
This is such a shock for you and something I experienced myself quite a few years ago now when 'my horse of a lifetime', which I'd had since he was a 2 year old, suddenly exploded very dramatically at 5 while being ridden. It's a very, very long story involving vets and a lot of 'experts' and we never got to the bottom of it. They all believed it was behavioural (also supposedly corroborated by a bute test, which I have since discovered are not all that reliable). The horse could never be relied on after that, as he had become so unpredictable and was eventually PTS at 8. With hindsight I wish I had followed my instincts and insisted on x-rays, scintography etc at the time, instead of following 'expert' advice. I do wish you all the very best with your horse.
 
TotalMadgeness said:
I've known a couple of horses to do the 'sudden explosion' thing and they were later diagnosed to have kissing spines.
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This. I've owned one and been in orbit from nowhere. I would have x rays of her back, because it's the only way that you can rule them out.

I hope you feel a bit less sore soon.
 
Pigeon said:
I agree it sounds very much pain related!! :( Still not an ideal response though!!)
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Aye, something's up you just doesn't know if it's linked to the kick or so,thing efore that. Ames it difficult to know but either way, I'd be getting her checked out again. Sorry you got such a bad injury,mthars rotten luck! Hope you mend soon x
 
Out of interest, what are people's views on horses exploding when they are in pain? Presumably they are trying to 'free' themselves /run away from the pain? Is that it? Presumably they don't rationalise in the same way as us and associate the pain with movement/weight bearing?
 
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