Success stories

[Missidi]

I'm in need of some success stories...

Horse is NQR and probably hasn't been for the best part of the year if I'm honest. I've put it down to saddle, yard moves, stress, saddle again, ulcers and now I'm in a position where the ulcers have reoccured, probably some kind of hind limb lameness/possibly bilateral going on.

Vet is coming next week, but in the meantime I need some positive stories to keep me going. Has anyone got any ideas of something fixable that could be causing enough pain for the ulcers to have reoccured in a very short time frame? He is very stoic as a rule anbd I can't stop jumping to worst case scenarios.

 

[DabDab]

I have no similar experience to share I'm afraid, but replying to bump the thread in case someone else can offer some words of wisdom.

 

[AppyLover1996]

Baggs my 20 year old is prone to ulcers, so I have to be careful what I do with him etc - I have him on an ulcer friendly diet of grass chaff, soaked grass pellets, boswellia, spirulina and msm.

With him his ulcers were due to undiagnosed arthritis in his hocks and stifles - got that under control and he's been right as rain ever since. I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right with him when schooling him, had the vet out for a full check up and work up, and found the arthritis. I don't school him much if ever as it doesn't help him, but we do lots of hacking, which includes hill work of varying degrees and he's been fine ever since x

 

[Missidi]

Baggs my 20 year old is prone to ulcers, so I have to be careful what I do with him etc - I have him on an ulcer friendly diet of grass chaff, soaked grass pellets, boswellia, spirulina and msm.

With him his ulcers were due to undiagnosed arthritis in his hocks and stifles - got that under control and he's been right as rain ever since. I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right with him when schooling him, had the vet out for a full check up and work up, and found the arthritis. I don't school him much if ever as it doesn't help him, but we do lots of hacking, which includes hill work of varying degrees and he's been fine ever since x

Thank you! I am dreading an arthritis diagnosis, but it sounds like yours is still living a very happy life! There is hope yet...

 

[AppyLover1996]

Thank you! I am dreading an arthritis diagnosis, but it sounds like yours is still living a very happy life! There is hope yet...

In all honesty, when the vet told me about my lad's arthritis, my heart sank and I did have a little self pity sob to myself - I thought it was the end of everything and that he'd have to be retired with immediate effect....

My vet was wonderful and even helped me research some supplements to help - the ones that I feed (boswellia, spirulina and msm) all help with the gut and joint, which is what Baggs struggles with x

In terms of what I do with Baggs, we go out hacking lots, over different terrain as it helps him to build muscle and also helps with his hooves as he is barefoot - after a 2 hour hack he's still bouncing into the yard like he never left! My yard owner came out to say hi the other day and said "Well he doesn't look arthritic at all - he's bloody full of himself still!" which we all laughed about and Baggs shook his head in agreement

I do avoid schooling him too often as I find he struggles with the constant change of direction and not having an open space to move freely in, but when we do the odd session in the school, I make sure to do tons of big circles, give him his head so he can find his own balance without me interfering, any changes of rein or bend I do slowly and come down a pace from what I'm doing, so he has extra time to adjust x When warming up/cooling down I spend an extra 10 minutes doing each to make sure that his muscles etc are ready to work, and when I'm cooling down in particular, I'll actually get off his back and hand walk him too xx

I also have the bodyworker out on a more frequent basis, as I work on the balance of catching something early before it becomes a big problem, and she leaves me with some exercises to do to help him keep flexible. Baggs also enjoys the sessions and we've had to gently wake him up on several occasions!

For me, I also noticed a massive positive change after popping him on the supplements - they're not going to cure anything but they help with the niggles x It's handy that they are also in their pure herbal form as I can add an extra scoop in if I know the weather is going to get colder in the next day or two, as he does struggle with the cold and damp x

 

[smolmaus]

Thank you! I am dreading an arthritis diagnosis, but it sounds like yours is still living a very happy life! There is hope yet...

Arthritis is not a bad diagnosis! There are many various proven treatments!

We haven't done x-rays but it's very likely we have some in the hocks, as well as dodgy stifles, and cartrophen has Sadie happy as a clam. It wasn't spotted for a while as it is also bilateral and everything just got blamed on the stifle problems, but so much spookiness and stress just disappeared, she's a different pony with it.