Mare refused to hack today. Totally out of character.

MDB

MDB

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Hello all,
I have had my lovely PRE, 12 year old mare for 2 years now. She is a sweet little thing on the ground, although quite bossy over my other horse. Out hacking she is always prone to be spooky, looky, and over reactive but there is never any malice in her. She is ridden bitless.
Today was an unusually hot day here for October. 24 degrees. I noticed she was a little sweaty tacking her up. Off we went, my friend on my other horse, and I. It became evident within minutes that my mare was very reluctant to go forward. We carried on for 10 minutes but she wasn't right. Stopping and planting, turning for home, walking up into verges and heading to the trees. This is the first time in two years she has ever done anything like this. She is normally very forward going.
I have a new hackamore, which I wasn't sure was fitted 100% properly. It was the second time we went out with it. It was so obvious that she wanted to go home that we turned around and went back to change the bridle to the old sidepull, just in case this was the problem.
By the time we got back, bearing in mind that we had been out 15 minutes, at a slow walk, she was dripping in sweat. Sweat running down to her hooves, and literally dripping off her chest. She didn't appear anxious, in fact she was reasonably happy on the way back.
Changed the bridle, went back out, same thing. Totally unwilling to leave home. We made her go around the block, another five minutes, then returned. We untacked and she immediately went to the far end of the field to the shade. Normally she and my other horse stick together, especially at the end of rides when they get carrots. So this was a bit unusual. Anyway, when my other horse didn't follow she cantered back up the field looking fine. Which confused me a bit more cos I was thinking maybe she had a temperature and was unwell, but she looked fine in the field cantering around and is eating and drinking ok. Equally, she isn't lame. When I mounted three times today, she stood still, impeccably behaved and showed no signs of discomfort. This mare bucked me off twice last year when I tried to mount and the saddle was not right. She now has a lovely treeless saddle.
Bought a thermometer this evening to check her temp tomorrow. Will get someone to help as I have never done this before. Thoughts anybody? Did I do the right thing coming home? Should I have pushed her on a bit. It was just sooo out of character for her.
Thanks all.
 
yes i think you did the right thing, this was out of character and therefore you listened to her and came home.....if she has a thick coat and the weather is very hot it could be that you need to clip her if this continues.....if she is not right tomorrow it may be worth calling the vet in case she is in pain somewhere...
 
Thankyou splashgirl45 and LittleBlackMule.
You have both made very good points. I never thought about her having a thicker winter coat. Whilst it is is not super thick, she definitely has a longer fluffier coat now. So it may be that she was uncomfortable in the heat. And I did wonder whether she was a bit colicky. Although she has never shown signs of colic before, she went off afte the ride today and looked like she was going down several times to roll, but never did. That was a bit odd. She did eventually go down and roll, but that behaviour, walking around with her head down, almost going down but not quite, could be a sign of being colicky. I have kept an eye on her, and although dark outside now, she was out grazing looking fine an hour ago. That was five hours after our ride.
Will see how she is tomorrow. I cannot go out riding tomorrow or Sunday, as both days are hunt days, and the hunters are mad. It is too dangerous as they shoot everywhere. So she will have two days off and we will go early Monday.
 
LittleBlackMule said:
If your horse does something unusual, there is always a reason. The excessive sweat may have been a clue, possibly she was a bit colicky..? That was my first thought.
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The one time I have seen a horse suddenly sweat excessively (dripping) on a hack in similar temperatures, he had colic. However it was very obvious it was colic once it happened. Did you listen to her gut sounds?
 
MargotC said:
The one time I have seen a horse suddenly sweat excessively (dripping) on a hack in similar temperatures, he had colic. However it was very obvious it was colic once it happened. Did you listen to her gut sounds?
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No I didn't. :( I just kept an eye on her for several hours after. She is in the field outside my window. Happily grazing. No outward signs of distress. I may pop out now that it is dark and check on her again.
 
MDB said:
No I didn't. :( I just kept an eye on her for several hours after. She is in the field outside my window. Happily grazing. No outward signs of distress. I may pop out now that it is dark and check on her again.
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Have a listen at her upper and lower flanks if you can. It is useful to keep track of and get a feel of what her normal gut sounds are like anyway. :) You'll want to hear noise from the gut working when you press your ear against her flanks. Has she pooed since the incident?
 
MargotC said:
Have a listen at her upper and lower flanks if you can. It is useful to keep track of and get a feel of what her normal gut sounds are like anyway. :) You'll want to hear noise from the gut working when you press your ear against her flanks. Has she pooed since the incident?
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Ok, thankyou I will. Great advice. Yes, she pooed a couple of hours after. no diarrhea or constipation. Just normal looking poo.
 
Agree, she has had a colic, and may have another one, press your ear to the upper flank, and if abnormal, call the vet.
Do not wait, the "minor" colic symptoms can be the worse.
But if the poo is being poo-ed, then that is very reassuring.
Other symptoms are:
ears, cold/hot/sweaty/sensitive
lying down flat out
any sweating anywhere
looking at belly, looking at you
 
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Bonkers2 said:
Agree, she has had a colic, and may have another one, press your ear to the upper flank, and if abnormal, call the vet.
Do not wait, the "minor" colic symptoms can be the worse.
But if the poo is being poo-ed, then that is very reassuring.
Other symptoms are:
ears, cold/hot/sweaty/sensitive
lying down flat out
any sweating anywhere
looking at belly, looking at you
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Thanks Bonkers2.
Just an update. All fine this morning. Nothing abnormal. Thanks for all the comments and advice. x
 
MDB said:
Thanks Bonkers2.
Just an update. All fine this morning. Nothing abnormal. Thanks for all the comments and advice. x
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That's good news OP. I immediately thought colic too when I read your post.

Good for you for being vigilant, and how nice to have her outside your window! Hope she continues to feel better. 😃
 
feeling 'flat' reluctance difficulty regulatng temperature sweating and a slightly fluffy coat are all early signs of Cushings .I have an anglo arab with it and he didn't display symptoms that screamed Cushings (his coat was fine) But he was out of sorts a test reveiled a score of 280 (under 30 is normal) on prascend for 2 years and score down to 23 back to normal .What age is the horse?
 
mytwofriends said:
That's good news OP. I immediately thought colic too when I read your post.

Good for you for being vigilant, and how nice to have her outside your window! Hope she continues to feel better. 😃
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Thanks mytwofriends,

Yes it is wonderful having them outside the window.

I did have another thought which suddenly occured to me whilst poo picking this morning. The section of paddock in which they are grazing, (they were moved just a couple of days earlier) has dozens and dozens of mushrooms in it. I wondered whether maybe she ate something and that caused her to be a bit off colour. Needless to say they have now been moved to a mushroom free section.
The other weird thing whilst riding which I remember now was that she was very very difficult to turn / bend to the right. Left, no problems. Right, she really didnt want to. I will check up on my equine abdominal anatomy, but I wondered whether there could be a reason for this relating to mild colic symtoms.
 
Ahh yes, quite possible. My friend's horse colicked fairly severely in the spring and she traced it back to the mushroom compost the landowner had 'helpfully' spread just before the the horse moved onto the field. She'd expressed her concern, but was assured it was safe. It appears it probably wasn't, so mushrooms might have contributed in your mare's case too.
 
mytwofriends said:
Ahh yes, quite possible. My friend's horse colicked fairly severely in the spring and she traced it back to the mushroom compost the landowner had 'helpfully' spread just before the the horse moved onto the field. She'd expressed her concern, but was assured it was safe. It appears it probably wasn't, so mushrooms might have contributed in your mare's case too.
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That's interesting! Well, they are now in a section free of mushrooms. I also reckon the the refusal to bend right must have been because something was uncomfortable in her abdomen. I know that when I have had a bad stomach or wind in the past, certain positions and movements have been painful. So that would make sense to me.
Hopefully we have gotten to the root of the issue. Fingers crossed she is ok on Monday when we go out. thanks again!
 
Daughter's mare colicked earlier this year after we moved paddocks and she stuffed herself on new grass. We'd wormed very recently too. Symptoms came on whilst hacking and she was bustled home as had every intention of rolling in the road. Gave her a tube of painkiller and fine within 30 mins or so. Rang vet who thought grass and wormer likely culprits and having to keep moving probably helped ease the spasms.
 
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