Recent odd behaviour (possible sore back?)

[Cubbini]

Hi all, I would be keen to get your thoughts on the following..

Ive had my horse for 5 months (ex-racer). I’ve noticed the last couple of times when I’ve lifted his saddle on when I’ve been to ride him he’s started to lift his head high in the air, pinning his ears back and it looks like he’s becoming irritable. This behaviour ONLY happens when I lift the saddle on to his back. There is no issue when I girth him and tighten it up. He is a saint to ride and on the ground, there has been no change in his temperament during the last 5 months other than this new behaviour.

He’s currently 5 1/2 years old. 2 months into owning him I purchased a very good quality second hand saddle, fitted to him by a professional saddle fitter from the brand themselves (I’ve been using this saddle on him for 3 months now). I’ve made sure he’s up to date with his teeth and has a routine regular physio appointment once per month (even though he’s not ever displayed any back pain or any issues etc). There has been no change in his performance or appetite (he loves his food!). His coat and condition is very good too. Always has available forage and turned out in the day and in at night.

Obviously my instincts say that the saddle is causing pain when I lift it on him? This new behaviour is very odd when he’s never displayed it in the last 5 months.

I would really appreciate advice. Thanks.

 

[stangs]

The behaviour, at its simplest, suggests that he doesn’t like having the saddle on him. That could be pain, that could be being sour from work. Will admit it’s strange that there are no other ‘symptoms’, is there anything very slight you might have missed? Turning his head to look at you when you do up the girth, taking a few more seconds to line up by the mounting block, moving better when ridden bareback?

One simple test is to run your fingers down his spine with medium pressure, looking for when he blinks. If he blinks, keep running your fingers just over the area he blinked during - if he keeps blinking when your fingers put pressure there, it would suggest some muscle pain, however minor.

Bringing his head up very high would suggest to me that he’s trying to adjust something, in the same way that people tilt their head a lot when their neck is sore.

 

[Antw23uk]

This just came up on my news feed, im a big fan of the site and the videos. To me this sounds like he is anticipating pain and is telling you he is unhappy. He will keep escalating his behaviour until you listen. I would have a physio of chiro look at him first and they will give oyu great advise on what to do and look for

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[Squeak]

I would agree with you that something is going on. It's possible that in two months he's changed shape and so the saddle doesn't fit well anymore otherwise, sore back and ulcers could be possibilities.

I'd be inclined to get saddle fit checked, back checked and if those come back clear it maybe worth checking for ulcers. Ex-racers are very prone to ulcers, I think it's as high as 80% of the horses coming out of training have them. The symptoms of them can vary hugely and some are more obvious than others.

 

[Sir barnaby]

are you using a numnah could be feeling cold on his back if he’s had a rug on and his back is warm then you put cold numnah/saddle on. I warm my numnah on a radiator or put hot water bottle on my numnah so it never is put on cold. Sounds fussy I know but I’ve never had any problems with barneys back ever or odd behaviour.

 

[Carrottom]

Things I would consider: has he been clipped recently? Saddle cloth changed or washed? Is it cold or damp from previous use?
I would carefully check all the skin under the saddle for any lumps or bumps that could be missed in a winter coat.
If it continues I would have his saddle checked then maybe a different professional if your physio hasn't found anything.

 

[Jellymoon]

I think he’s telling you quite clearly his saddle is hurting him, and he’s being a really good boy not to react when you are riding him. I expect he’s changed shape a bit and you just need to get the saddler back out to look at the saddle.

 

[Cubbini]

Hi all, thank you for your replies previously. I just wanted to provide an update on this as some may find it helpful or interesting if they are in a similar situation. After we were satisfied that all the recommended checks were done and double checked with nothing found (including back, teeth, saddle, lameness etc) we decided to get my gelding scoped by the vet for ulcers. We’ve just started him on ulcer treatment as the vet identified very mild, grade 1 ulcers.

I wonder if ulcers are more prevalent in the winter? My horse had not shown any symptoms since owning him and seemed to settle very well into his home with us with no ‘obvious’ stressful situations taking place since being with us. I’m so surprised that he didn’t show symptoms sooner if he had ulcers since bringing him home 6 months ago. He has lots of regular turnout daily (half the day out with grass and the other half in the stable with hay) he always has forage available and feeds morning and evening.

I would welcome any thoughts to what may have caused him to have mild ulcers six months into ownership as I’m very keen to do all I can to prevent him from potentially having them again?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and previous replies.

 

[angel7]

He's probably always had them, the acid splashing during fast works causes them in racehorses. they cannot heal without a PPI medication.

 

[ycbm]

He's probably always had them, the acid splashing during fast works causes them in racehorses. they cannot heal without a PPI medication.

There's a racehorse rehabilitation unit that treats them with frequent amounts of aloe vera and aloe vera has been clinically shown to heal ulcers, albeit not as effectively as omeprazole+sucralfate.

Cubbini, when he is better I would recommend that he's kept on 25ml of aloe juice a day as a precaution.

Because he started this recently, and ulcers are very often caused by pain somewhere, I would have him x rayed for back and hock issues and scanned for PSD if you can afford the cost, just on case. It could head of worry and expense in future.
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