Sensitive to being brushed

Birker2020

Birker2020

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2008
Messages
23,591
Visit site
My horse has all of a sudden become very sensitive to being brushed although I'm brushing his coat in the same way I've always done. I've had him 7 years and he has always been fine, never nasty, never bites/kicks. But since about 6 weeks ago he has become very unpleasant. I usually start and the top of his neck and work my way along his body, neck, withers, side, belly, flank, hocks, bottom. But now I only get as far as the neck, and side and he is proper whipping round to bite. When he actually made contact with me the other day I cried out, and the look on his face was one of utter horror that he had hurt me. Most of the time when he does make contact with my skin he just touches me with his teeth, he is not deliberately trying to hurt me, just saying 'ouch Mum'. Of course I chastise him, but I am not stupid and realise that he is trying to tell me something. So I am trying to get my thinking cap on to work out why he is this way, as I know horses don't change without a reason.

It has really upset me to see the change in his attitude as I totally love him to bits and hate to think he is upset about something which I am too thick to work out on his behalf.

I wondered if it was the change in his coat with the winter approaching and the brush I was using has suddenly began to hurt him although I've been using it for at least ten months. So I've dug out a real soft dandy brush. He is still reacting the same way. Not sure if this is because of 'learned behaviour' or not. Incidentally he does not do this when my friend brushes him as she has tried to do this to see his reaction one morning although I didn't see as I wasn't there. It makes no difference if I brush him with a firm push, or a soft push onto his body. I usually put quite a bit of pressure on, I certainly don't irritate him by 'tickling him'.

He does have issues going on with his suspensory ligament and coffin joint both of which are being treated. He is in less work than before but this has been the case for over three months now. He is going out in the field and is being ridden (walked) daily for an hour every other day, 20 mins other times. Think I might ask other people to groom him and watch what happens.

Anyone any suggestions? Are any of yours finding brushing a pain at the moment??
 
Last edited by a moderator:
applecart14 said:
My horse has all of a sudden become very sensitive to being brushed although I'm brushing his coat in the same way I've always done. I've had him 7 years and he has always been fine, never nasty, never bites/kicks. But since about 6 weeks ago he has become very unpleasant. I usually start and the top of his neck and work my way along his body, neck, withers, side, belly, flank, hocks, bottom. But now I only get as far as the neck, and side and he is proper whipping round to bite. When he actually made contact with me the other day I cried out, and the look on his face was one of utter horror that he had hurt me. Most of the time when he does make contact with my skin he just touches me with his teeth, he is not deliberately trying to hurt me, just saying 'ouch Mum'. Of course I chastise him, but I am not stupid and realise that he is trying to tell me something. So I am trying to get my thinking cap on to work out why he is this way, as I know horses don't change without a reason.

It has really upset me to see the change in his attitude as I totally love him to bits and hate to think he is upset about something which I am too thick to work out on his behalf.

I wondered if it was the change in his coat with the winter approaching and the brush I was using has suddenly began to hurt him although I've been using it for at least ten months. So I've dug out a real soft dandy brush. He is still reacting the same way. Not sure if this is because of 'learned behaviour' or not. Incidentally he does not do this when my friend brushes him as she has tried to do this to see his reaction one morning although I didn't see as I wasn't there. It makes no difference if I brush him with a firm push, or a soft push onto his body. I usually put quite a bit of pressure on, I certainly don't irritate him by 'tickling him'.

He does have issues going on with his suspensory ligament and coffin joint both of which are being treated. He is in less work than before but this has been the case for over three months now. He is going out in the field and is being ridden (walked) daily for an hour every other day, 20 mins other times. Think I might ask other people to groom him and watch what happens.

Anyone any suggestions? Are any of yours finding brushing a pain at the moment??
Click to expand...

my hunter gets arsy when i brush him this time of year and onwards so i dont brush him! i just bath and clip him and he gets a massage every now and again which really helps this may benefit your horse as if problems going on in the leg and foot may mean he has been tensing up thru his body you know like we would if we are trying to avoid full weight even if sound !! i also lunge him every now and again with just a headcollar and encourage him to really stretch his head and neck down in his own time!! or just get your friend to brush him!!! you may even be giving him electric shocks without realising??? just a guess but who knows . if he hates it that much dont brush him as much??
 
It may be stomach ulcers, I had experience with a mare that changed over night to very sensitive to touch and groom an we got her checked and she had extremely bad ulcers. Worth a check maybe.
 
Gastric ulcers would be one suggestion

As would it being linked to being uncomfy in work. My girl when uncomfy in work gradually progresses - first bridling becomes harder, then saddling and then grooming. Perhaps he doesn't suspect others will ride him so let's them brush?

On my monkey I can only use metal shredders and plastic curry combs - she has skin stuff going on and can't stand soft brushes
 
popularfurball said:
Gastric ulcers would be one suggestion

As would it being linked to being uncomfy in work. My girl when uncomfy in work gradually progresses - first bridling becomes harder, then saddling and then grooming. Perhaps he doesn't suspect others will ride him so let's them brush?

On my monkey I can only use metal shredders and plastic curry combs - she has skin stuff going on and can't stand soft brushes
Click to expand...


Thanks guys for your suggestions. Yes it maybe that he has gastric ulcers. He has always been a very colicky horse although over the last year or two he has been much, much better. It was always gassy spasmodic colic which was always treated really easily with bute and walker/faster work/lunge. Return to the stable and then analysis. If ok no vet. If same as before/worse = vet call out. Approx 60 times over the seven years (that I am aware of). Last time the vet came for a possible colic episode whilst I was at work - again she diagnosed yet again, gassy colic. This was whilst he was on box rest also. But she also suggested he may have gastric ulcers and that if i wanted I could get it checked. Told her I didn't really want to open up a whole can of worms and be open to exclusions and goodness knows what on my policy as if he ever required a colic op I wouldn't be covered.

I might just buy some cheap antacid tablets and get him to take those for a while and see if they do the trick. My friend used to feed her mare Andrews antacid tablets for her gastric ulcers, which were quite effective.

Hmmm after googling it appears that feeding human antacid tablets are not so good after all.

Over the last three years, Kentucky Equine Research has worked to develop
an equine antacid that would satisfy the above criteria. The first attempt at an
equine antacid used ingredients that are common in human preparations.
Unfortunately, when this type of preparation was fed at high doses to horses, they
became ataxic and displayed signs that were similar to tying-up. Apparently, the
horses were sensitive to magnesium hydroxide, one of the common antacids used
for humans. Therefore, magnesium hydroxide was removed from the formula.
Another class of antacids contains aluminum. A concern with these is that
the aluminum will interfere with phosphorus absorption.

Not so simple after all, so there's another flipping expensive supplement to feed on top of the other two!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As alaready said, I'm no vet and cannot diagnose, but stomach ulcers seem to be more common than we think.

Have you tried just going over him with the flat of your hand?

Do you get the same reaction?

Are there any places that are either hot or cold to the touch?
 
m afraid as your horse ha already sufferdd multiple colic bouts it is very very unlikely that your insurance company would pay out for colic surgery even if they actually havent slapped an exclusion onto your policy. Id just go ahead and get the ulcer work-up (maybe try and rule out simpler issues first though)! How long has been irritated by grooming?
 
Use ranitidine, supermarket own brand, to test for ulcers. That works. 12 tablets a day.

Do you brush your horse before riding? If you do, and your friend doesn't, then his reaction could be to the idea of being ridden and not to the brushing itself, maybe?

Has he had trimethoprim antibiotics recently? In humans with compromised immune systems, and in horses, this can cause genuine pain on touching the skin. A friend of mine had a horse who was sensitive for over 6 months after being treated for septicaemia.
 
glenruby said:
How long has been irritated by grooming?
Click to expand...

About 6 weeks.

'Quote' I'm afraid as your horse ha already sufferdd multiple colic bouts it is very very unlikely that your insurance company would pay out for colic surgery even if they actually havent slapped an exclusion onto your policy.

No this is not true. I have asked the vet before now and he has said that he would be covered if it was deemed an emergency. All horses at one time and another have had a vet out for colic, there's no reason to think they would be excluded for colic surgery. It depends what caused the colic. Trying to link a twisted gut or an impaction to an episode of spasmodic colic many months ago would not really work in my eyes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am afraid i have come across a number of horses who the insurance companies have refused to pay out over. The only previous colics they had suffered were of the spasmodic variety. Some horses are more susceptible to colic than others and it is absolutely not uncommon for surgical colics to have had a history of more than 2 previous bouts of spasmodic. Of course, if your horse ever does require surgery I hope they will pay out but I certainly would not be banking on it!!

ETA - and i disagree with all horses at some stage or other having the vet out for colic - I have had numerous horses over the years and never had a colic. I would believe the number of horses who have a vet treated colic during their lifetime to be less than 50%.
Your horse has had 60+ bouts of colic - Im afraid that is much much easier to link to a serious impaction or twist than an isolated case years previously. I vaguely understand your vet saying in a true emergency but that certainly does limit the causative factors that cold possibly be covered - its highly unlikely anything small intestine related would be included in that. Also I fail to see how if you re so sure he will be covered with multiple colic bouts on his history that you think an ulcer related workup would be more likely to affect his insurance cover.
 
Last edited:
cptrayes said:
Use ranitidine, supermarket own brand, to test for ulcers. That works. 12 tablets a day.

Do you brush your horse before riding? If you do, and your friend doesn't, then his reaction could be to the idea of being ridden and not to the brushing itself, maybe?

Has he had trimethoprim antibiotics recently? In humans with compromised immune systems, and in horses, this can cause genuine pain on touching the skin. A friend of mine had a horse who was sensitive for over 6 months after being treated for septicaemia.
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for your reply. I've found the ones to which you refer to : http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesc...Ranitidine_Indigestion_Relief_Tablets_12.html

I've got some tesco's peppermint flavour indigestion tablets http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesc...permint_Flavoured_Indigestion_Tablets_48.html as we have a stash of them in the house. They relieve indigestion, heartburn, dyspepsia, acidity and flatulence! They have nothing other than calcium carbonate (which I've just found out is good old limestone flour) and sucrose so nothing dodgy like aluminium or the other nasty thing which can cause ataxia. But if they are no good will try the ranitidine ones.

I'm remember and night school it being drilled into us by our teacher about feeding bran and that you must feed limestone flour at the same time to counteract the calcium/phospherous inbalance.

I do brush before and after riding so maybe that's what it is, but like I say I've had him seven years now and not changed a thing so don't know if my friends grooming him means anything to him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am insured with Petplan and I know 100% if you have even a mild colic on your horses clinical history, they will NOT pay out. I know this from experience. As soon as you put your claim in, the first thing any insurance company will do is ask your vet for full clinical history plus any other vet you may have used in the past.

If the horse is under YOUR name on the vet records, they most definitely will not pay out if you have had problems in the past no matter how mild. Your vet has ill advised you sorry :(
 
I had one horse who was impossible to groom and very difficult to touch on his sides. His behaviour was terrible and he was very sensitive. I decided it was either acidity in the gut or ulcers. I solved the problem with stable label charcoal and limestone flour.
The difference was incredible. I could groom him all over and he loved it.

Recently he got more touchy on his sides again. I realised that I had reduced the amount of charcoal. I increased it slightly and there was improvement.

Interestingly I noticed that as he got more touchy my pony (out on grass) got more "grass mad"
Our grass has been growing recently and I suspect the grass has been causing my problem horse gassiness due to fermentation.
 
applecart14 said:
Hi thanks for your reply. I've found the ones to which you refer to : http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesc...Ranitidine_Indigestion_Relief_Tablets_12.html

I've got some tesco's peppermint flavour indigestion tablets http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesc...permint_Flavoured_Indigestion_Tablets_48.html as we have a stash of them in the house. They relieve indigestion, heartburn, dyspepsia, acidity and flatulence! They have nothing other than calcium carbonate (which I've just found out is good old limestone flour) and sucrose so nothing dodgy like aluminium or the other nasty thing which can cause ataxia. But if they are no good will try the ranitidine ones.

I'm remember and night school it being drilled into us by our teacher about feeding bran and that you must feed limestone flour at the same time to counteract the calcium/phospherous inbalance.

I do brush before and after riding so maybe that's what it is, but like I say I've had him seven years now and not changed a thing so don't know if my friends grooming him means anything to him.
Click to expand...


If his problem is related to grass sugars then sucrose could be the worst possible thing for him. Buy limestone flour instead.

Ranitidine stops the acid production, limestone flour neutralizes it.
 
applecart14 said:
All horses at one time and another have had a vet out for colic
Click to expand...

I've owned multiple horses for over thirty years and I have never had a vet treat a horse for colic. I had one get a bad case last year and made the phone call but he was on his feet and eating ten minutes later so I stopped the visit before she arrived, that was as close as it's ever been, touch wood. Only one of my friends has had colic treated, once, in their many horses in the last fifteen years. I'm not sure it's as common as you think for vets to treat it, and therefore probably more likely that the insurers will refuse to pay out. I think even if you do not have a specific exclusion the policy will state a general exclusion for any pre-exisiting condition which is known to be recurrent, they are so tight about paying out these days :(
 
I have also owned between 2 and 35 (riding school) horses for 20 odd years and never had one with colic.

Colic isn't (thank goodness) common at all.
 
Is it possible that it's muscle tension from leg problems? Mine used to be very touchy (no biting, just tail swishing, ears back, moving away). I put it down to being a mare and seasons, but I have had no problems since she's had physio treatments following bone spavin diagnosis/treatment. I can only imagine that it was whole body tension that made her far more sensitive/sore? to touch/brush.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top