Miserable horse??

N

noodle_

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2010
Messages
5,083
Location
Earth...
Visit site
For the past 3 days my horse has been acting very strange/miserable - she comes accross as...well devastated tbh.. (her look!) is that even possible!?

She has just moved onto winter grazing with lots of grass, shes not colicing (believe me i know shes had it 3 times this year...), shes eating grass sort of - shes mostly just standing there miserable...shes drinking and her poos are normal - so technically shes fine.....??

She was miersable monday morning which i thought nothing off- just full of grass? ... then we gave her the vaccination (as planned)and shes got no better.

Today i went up to get her as she looked hot in her 140 with neck (shes fully clipped) - little witch woludnt let me catch her - so spent 10 mins or so seeing the backside of a galloping horse....

caught her - changed rugs - she seemed ok...but i am utterly stumped. Am i missing something??? shes never been this miserable - she is happy on her yard....i havent worked her since sunday and shes not a field ornament (shes a bitch when not in work) but never miserable?

i know its difficult that you lot dont know my horse but anything i can do/check???

thanks :)
 
sounds like she has a virus but if you are that worried you can get your vet to do bloods... just think about it like us having a cold shes just feeling a bit under the weather and no one is particularly happy when they have a cold :o there are a lot of viruses about at the moment :o

i would check her temperature daily so see if there is any change in temperature with change in behaviour and see if they link together :)
 
she was a bit iccy a while back and needed 2 weeks off work (she was anemic) - she had bloods etc - on vets advice stuck her on vit b stuff which i ran out of a few days ago....however its not the first time shes been "off it"....i forgot to buy some a while back too and she was fine (i have bought some today btw) :)

"problem" is our bloods are £97 :o money i dont really have - i will see how she is tomorow morning and then ring my vets to come out thurs afternoon if needed....The call outs £30 alone + consult.... something id like to avoid but if she needs is - she needs it :)
 
see what she is like with the vit b supplement if no change possibly just ring for advise - keep an eye on her water intake she might be dehydrated

i must admit i dont really tend to call the vet unless his leg is falling off ( has happened a few times now ) i have never had bloods done but then i wouldnt even know if taz was off anyway he doesnt have a 'normal' self even though i have owned him for 8 years. i think at the price of that i would just ask advice from them :)
 
^ i will do thanks :)

I did half think it could be her vaccs...? But she was a miserable git monday morning before she had it done.... mabey its made her worse?
 
^ no never!

i am very paranoid about her cause she is very prone to colic - any changes/wormers are the worst....

everytime shes wormed i have to allow a good 2 hours after in case she colics :/

To put this politely - shes a freak. anything she doesnt like she colics.... i thought she was last night as she didnt eat her hay like she normally does - but was having bits n bobs (She'd scoffed the lot by this morning and not doing her normal lip twitch/shuffles)

I know this isnt colic - unless she goes worse then it could cause it??




should have also added - she loves her yard shes on (as do i!) shes been a different horse since i moved here.....

She has her own paddock, company, wonderful stables etc :)
 
Last edited:
i know this sounds a bit random but has the weather changed since sunday? new bale of hay? change in feed? new bag of feed? any of the horses moved around at all? change in routine?

she probably is just feeling under the weather, she may even have a slight stomach ache, keep a close eye on her give her sloppy food just to be sure - dont change anything about her routine or if you do do it slowly :)
 
Snap!! Mines been like this for the past 10days, quiet, just not himself really. I did think about putting him on Feedmarks Recharge. I dont really want to spent £100+ for vet to tell me its a virus and give him rest if thats all it is
 
She could have a bug, just monitor her for a few more days and if your worried get the vet to do bloods.

If shes just been turned out into a new paddock, it could be that or maybe shes not with a friend she was with before?

Or her hormones might be out of wack. Whens she due to be in season? is she usually different in behaviour when she comes into season?

If the weathers changed, food changes, friends change, hormones. anything can cause 'unhappyness'

Also make sure shes not getting too hot in her rug, that can cause horses to become 'down'

I would suggets some herbal remedies, but as she is sensitive i would not be too sure unless you want to try them. She might have 'stomach ache' but not colic if shes sorta eating.

If you just watch her from the gate, is she looking 'sad' then or does she look normal?
 
ellie_e said:
Snap!! Mines been like this for the past 10days, quiet, just not himself really. I did think about putting him on Feedmarks Recharge. I dont really want to spent £100+ for vet to tell me its a virus and give him rest if thats all it is
Click to expand...

glad im (well she) isnt alone! still crap tho isnt it :(


feed - i added some new feed y'day - (alpha a) she was/is on chop - she gets next to nothing anyhow so slowly adding it all in etc.... but ive done this before and its never an issue...

hay no.... paddocks yes... but shes in heaven - grass/huge paddock (ok i admit i love it too... best yard ive ever been on:) ) hence why im like wtf is her problem??


im going to go see the little monkey now - any problems or i think its something more - i will ring the vet now... :)
 
Hope shes better, keep us posted, my mum was going to speak to our trainer (the vets wife) today they both know him very well so hoping they can give some advice without costing me a fortune!! :) Ahhh the joys of horse ownership!!
 
I would keep an eye on tempurature and how much shes eating...can be the start of many different virus' inc. strangles so tempurature checks etc just to be on the safe side :) could just be shes having a mareish moment! But I wouldnt just in with bloods unless she starts having physical symptoms or gets worse...waste of money IMO!
 
If her temperature high, given what you have said as well, then she needs the vet, could be a virus or a slight infection on the lung.
 
Don't you just wish they could talk! Something I don't think has been mentioned (apologies if I missed it) does she have company in her field? has her company changed at all, you said you'd just changed to winter grazing could she be missing a 'friend' even one she saw over the fence but now can't?
 
hiya all thanks for the replies (was in work wsorry!)

shes in season - she has a new field - but shes always (past few months) been on idividual turnout - she gets stressed easily and pair bonds badly.... this way its easier and shes been 100% brilliant up till ths week!

I whipped her 140 off today and put on a no fill this afternoon, she perked up a tiny bit but nothing to report back with...

Temp... i am going to sound like an absolute tool..... thermometer up backside ?? or is there another way

i hve NEVER taken a horses temp

i am not a novice but sometimes a numpty........ :o
 
updatel;

shes much better this morning :D

will give her the time off till the weekend then get back into ridden work :) :)

Temp is normal and shes deifnately perked up :)

Obviously a little bug/virus - shes ok tho :D
 
how old is she? cushings includes symptoms of depression and lethargic behaviour and october and november are months where the horse's hormones naturally rise and cushing sufferers are affected even more. we had a horse at our yard who looked miserable and seemed to lose all personality and was diagnosed as a strong cushings case. now on prascend he is alot happier and has a bit of bounce back in his stride : )
 
I know this might sound a tad bonkers but she could be pissy cos you've moved her to winter grazing - i know you've said there's loads of grass but quantity is'nt everything and the summer paddocks , although probably eaten down , would be growing lovely sweet grass , whilst the winter paddock which i assume is older , longer grass would probably be more bitter , it may take a day or two for her to get used to the ' new taste ' also watch out for hay that has been fertilized but not washed in enough ( as it has been quite dry earlier in the year ) if the fertilizer doesn't get washed in enough it can be bitter and pretty unappertising ( sp?) try tasting some yourself you'll soon know if it's sweet hay!
 
Also, you said she had her vaccinations on monday? It could be her body reacting to them, vaccinations are a small bit of the virus that you are vaccinating against. Take the flu jab in humans for example, people feel like poo after having that, they are also not allowed to have it if they already have a cold because it attacks the immune system. Could be any number of things but I would be inclined to think it was linked to the vaccination :D
 
i would have agreed queen bee - but she was a miserable cow before i had her vaccinated :)


PI- thanks - good point! she is a crabby bitch tbh... :D

sophstar - shes only 5! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top