Please help? Any experience with tense horse.

LittleBluebell

LittleBluebell

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I'll apologise for the essay, as I'm trying to get everything down.

I'm having some issues with my 15.1 ISH, who is 10.

He is generally being very tense, choppy and nappy to ride, this started getting alot worse about 3 months ago. I called out the Chiropractor about 8 weeks ago, and got the vet to check him over and his teeth, who was happy with him but refered him to Physio (6 weeks ago) for a check up as he had a kick on his shoulder, both corrected any problems, and were all happy with how he was. Was told to give him some time off, then walk him out on a long rein. He carried on being a bit tense, rushing home, not really any different than before.

He also got a new saddle a month ago, I have been assured that this fits and is not a problem. I would agree with this as he is better to tack up than he was with the previous one. He is great on the lunge, with the saddle or nekked and an absolute sweetie on the ground. Feedwise he has a small feed after working of double handful of hi fi, handful of fibre nuts, scoop of brewers yeast (he also cribs) a sachet of bute (vets suggestion) and a handful of grass nuts. We do streches everyday, he neck normally clicks, used to be to the left, but is now to the right.

For the past 2 years (I have owned him for 3) he has always been forward going to ride, most of the time has to be at the front, generally a bit of a stressy ride but easy to cope with. But it has got a lot worse this year. He will no longer just walk out, it's always a fight and he will sweat a ridiulous amount regardless of only walking or anything faster he dances around and has reared as a last resort. He is always in a rush to get home or get round the school, very choppy and head up in the air, whereas before he would overbend a bit if anything. And he poos alot when ridden.

He's just not happy, and I'm not sure where to go from here. I have spoken to the vet, who wants me to take him to the clinic, I'm with a rubbish insurance company and so will end up footing the bill for most if not all of this, so obviously want to get to the bottom of the cause asap.

Thanks in advance
 
i know it seems to be the bog standard reply to this sort of problem ,so sorry in advance, but have you considered getting him tested for ulcers ?
 
ulcer horses react in so many different ways to situations ,just the weight of a rider could make him uncomfortable, they are very sensitive to weight etc, is he overly tickleish to groom around the belly area or flank?
 
ah honey sounds like my boy! where as he's always been laid back and even when he got strong jumping (he thinks he knows what i want him to do and just does it!!!) i never felt unsafe and never had any problems. however, in last month he has switched overnight from my lovely calm boy to a completed turd. He throws his head up and rolls his eyes when i ask for a transition and he has threatened to buck which he has NEVER done! his gait is really short now too and he's become mega girthy. ppl on here have said ulcers, so i've booked my vet to come ad check him over. in every other respevct he's happy and calm but soon as being ridden he's like a diff horse!

I'm by no means an expert and it is very easy to say 'ulcers' but it sounds like the syptoms. My lad has started to get the 'wet' poo too so i'm going to get him checked asap. someone on here told me to go to tesco and buy some ranitidine, put 3 tablets in his feed and if he calms down you know its ulcers (they're an antacid tablet) or put baking soda in his feed to see if that helps xx
 
while waiting for any tests things you can do at home are : plenty of fibre ,if your grass is as short as ours due to lack of rain try putting out hay , give feed of chaff before exercise this helps soak up excess acid and stop splashing in the gut , your diet for him seems to be pure fibre but avoid starchy sugary feeds and acidics like apples etc
 
Pharphar! said:
I'm by no means an expert and it is very easy to say 'ulcers' but it sounds like the syptoms. My lad has started to get the 'wet' poo too so i'm going to get him checked asap. someone on here told me to go to tesco and buy some ranitidine, put 3 tablets in his feed and if he calms down you know its ulcers (they're an antacid tablet) or put baking soda in his feed to see if that helps xx
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Ditto this. Also try giving him a fibre feed like Allen & Page Fast Fibre before you ride. If he improves with that and the Rantinidine then you know it is likely ulcers. A cup of Limestone flour also gives temporary relief to a horse with ulcers, for testing if this is what they have, but it won't heal them!
You should feed no molasses or cereal feed to a horse with ulcers. Good Luck
 
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fuggly said:
ulcer horses react in so many different ways to situations ,just the weight of a rider could make him uncomfortable, they are very sensitive to weight etc, is he overly tickleish to groom around the belly area or flank?
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Yeah, he is a bit sensitive. Tenses up a bit when brushed there. I will sepak to the vet about getting him scoped, thank you :)
 
Pharphar! said:
I'm by no means an expert and it is very easy to say 'ulcers' but it sounds like the syptoms. My lad has started to get the 'wet' poo too so i'm going to get him checked asap. someone on here told me to go to tesco and buy some ranitidine, put 3 tablets in his feed and if he calms down you know its ulcers (they're an antacid tablet) or put baking soda in his feed to see if that helps xx
Click to expand...

Thank you for that :), I will pop out and get some apres work.
 
fuggly said:
while waiting for any tests things you can do at home are : plenty of fibre ,if your grass is as short as ours due to lack of rain try putting out hay , give feed of chaff before exercise this helps soak up excess acid and stop splashing in the gut , your diet for him seems to be pure fibre but avoid starchy sugary feeds and acidics like apples etc
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I do aways make sure he has something to eat; hay when he's in, he isn't always interested in it though. Ok, will do. Thank you :)
 
LittleBluebell said:
Thank you for that :), I will pop out and get some apres work.
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its tesco own brand indigestion relief ranitidine 75mg, pack of 12. i was a complete thicko and walked past them twice and had to ask! not saying you are as unobservant as me but in my local tescos they took a while to find as they were tucked away! they're in a white and blue box just in case! :D
 
YasandCrystal said:
Ditto this. Also try giving him a fibre feed like Allen & Page Fast Fibre before you ride. If he improves with that and the Rantinidine then you know it is likely ulcers. A cup of Limestone flour also gives temporary relief to a horse with ulcers, for testing if this is what they have, but it won't heal them!
You should feed no molasses or cereal feed to a horse with ulcers. Good Luck
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Will get some Fast Fibre too. I do try and keep his diet mostly fibre. Will get some Rantinidine too. Thank you :)
 
Pharphar! said:
its tesco own brand indigestion relief ranitidine 75mg, pack of 12. i was a complete thicko and walked past them twice and had to ask! not saying you are as unobservant as me but in my local tescos they took a while to find as they were tucked away! they're in a white and blue box just in case! :D
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I go to my 'happy place' when in Tesco, so would most likely miss them. Thanks for the heads up :)
 
fuggly said:
ulcer horses react in so many different ways to situations ,just the weight of a rider could make him uncomfortable, they are very sensitive to weight etc, is he overly tickleish to groom around the belly area or flank?
Click to expand...

I can second that. We have a mare at our yard who started stressing when ridden and then flatly refusing to go forward ridden. When pushed she reared. She was fine on the ground and to lunge. It took a year to discover that ulcers were the problem.

OP - firstly I would not be riding this horse. He is obviously in some sort of pain and getting extremly upset by being ridden. Just do ground work until you get to the bottom of what is wrong with him. You need to be very insistent with the vets and get him sorted.
 
Which insurance company are you with? If you have any trouble tell them you will be publicising your experience with them on the net!
 
Wagtail said:
OP - firstly I would not be riding this horse. He is obviously in some sort of pain and getting extremly upset by being ridden. Just do ground work until you get to the bottom of what is wrong with him. You need to be very insistent with the vets and get him sorted. Is he insured?
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I have stopped riding him, didn't seem worth it when there was obviously something wrong. He is insured, I will have a look through the paperwork later and see what the deal is with that. I will speak to my vet too and see about getting him scoped. Thank you :)
 
Wagtail said:
Which insurance company are you with? If you have any trouble tell them you will be publicising your experience with them on the net!
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I was silly and went with E and L! Never got round to changing it, my own fault. I'm not sure they would be too bothered though, judging from some things I have read :)
 
LittleBluebell said:
I was silly and went with E and L! Never got round to changing it, my own fault. I'm not sure they would be too bothered though, judging from some things I have read :)
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Okay. I've had personal experience with them so will tell you their tactics.

Firstly, you will not even get a claim form without chasing them up about it. That is their first attempt at a delay.

They often then claim that you are late informing them of the problem. In my case it was because they wouldn't send me the blooming claim form until I had chased them up 3 times! So ring them every day to chase up the progress of your claim. Don't feel you are a nuisance as that is what they are banking on.

They will usually ask for veterinary history. Again you must chase it up as they will claim that they have not received it. Write down the names of everyone you speak to and the date and time of the phone call.

They will look for aything that you have not informed them of in the history. Even if it is totally unrelatedto the problem you are claiming for, they will say that by not informing them you have broken the policy agreement and they will not pay. They tried this with me. In the end I demanded to speak to one of the managers. I lied that I had got a group together of other dissatisfied customers on the internet and that we were going to go to Watchdog if they did not pay up. I got a cheque two days later!

Finally, if you get through all these hurdles, you will have to keep chasing them for payment.

Good luck!
 
Wagtail said:
Okay. I've had personal experience with them so will tell you their tactics.

Firstly, you will not even get a claim form without chasing them up about it. That is their first attempt at a delay.

They often then claim that you are late informing them of the problem. In my case it was because they wouldn't send me the blooming claim form until I had chased them up 3 times! So ring them every day to chase up the progress of your claim. Don't feel you are a nuisance as that is what they are banking on.

They will usually ask for veterinary history. Again you must chase it up as they will claim that they have not received it. Write down the names of everyone you speak to and the date and time of the phone call.

They will look for aything that you have not informed them of in the history. Even if it is totally unrelatedto the problem you are claiming for, they will say that by not informing them you have broken the policy agreement and they will not pay. They tried this with me. In the end I demanded to speak to one of the managers. I lied that I had got a group together of other dissatisfied customers on the internet and that we were going to go to Watchdog if they did not pay up. I got a cheque two days later!

Finally, if you get through all these hurdles, you will have to keep chasing them for payment.

Good luck!
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Do I tell them I am planning on getting him scoped, or just ask for a claim form?

Thank you :)
 
Did your vet and physio find anything? You say the physio recommended time off and the vet prescribed bute.

If he does have ulcers bute can make them worse. If you are doing a painkiller trial to see if he improves then try using danilon which is not so harsh on the stomach.
 
I too would say ulcers. My mare had them, I now have her on an anti acid from Feedmark- Ulcer Calm, this seems to be doing the trick and touch wood they haven't re-occured, or she isn't showing symptoms of them anyway
 
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