Ulcer? Something else?

[jp0111]

Thanks for reading.

I've had my new horse for a couple of months now and he's displaying some worrying behaviour - I'm wondering if he could have ulcers. I have spoken to the vet and will, of course, get them out to see him however in the meantime I'd be grateful for anyone's thoughts/experiences.

After having my new horse a couple of weeks he started to be a little girthy to tack up and act almost cold backed once on, sluggish off the leg to begin with and much better once warmed up. He has also become incredibly sensitive to groom, particularly on his right hand side...nothing malicious but fidgeting and moving away from me, occasionally turning to look at his stomach/scratch his side where I'd been touching. If I forced the issue touching his stomach he would really tense and you could see those sort of heave lines appearing.

During this time he had jumped out the field so I had the physio out who found some muscle tears around his shoulder and girth area on that side but that he was also being rather sensitive about it all! She mentioned the possibility of an ulcer having gone from being stabled 24/7 to living out but as he is eating well the idea was dismissed. Massaging and some box rest was recommended however this has caused a bit of a meltdown - incredibly stressed to the point of shaking in the stable (I bought my other horse in overnight to be with him but this made no difference), trashed bed in the morning, turning himself inside out when tied up, pawing the ground and a desperation to roll - I took him for a pick of grass and he immediately got down to roll whilst also being almost panicky to lead. I rang the vet who seemed to think it was a behavioural issue and suggested turning him back out - again super stressy and very fidgety while I changed his rugs, pawing the ground and trying to roll on the small bit of grass on the yard. When I turned him out I'd barely got the headcollar off and he'd thrown himself on the floor to roll. This was followed by a bit of a run around before starting to graze.

He is clearly unhappy and I'm waiting for my normal vet to return in a couple of days to speak to her but I'm very worried about him. Obviously any attempt at riding is off the cards until he is ok but I wondered if anyone had experienced anything at all similar? Throughout all this his appetite has been good - he can't eat his dinner quick enough in fact. I've done a fair bit of Googling and wondered whether it would be ulcers but when I floated this with the vet on the phone it was dismissed as he is still eating fine.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your response. x

 

[Charlie007]

Some symptoms sound like ulcers but could also be other things. Is he now back out 24/7? My boy gets tetchy this time of year when his coat changes.

 

[Beausmate]

...it was dismissed as he is still eating fine.

Plenty of horses with ulcers stuff themselves quite happily, so I don't see how they worked that out.

I have a fat, unstressed cob. He has always lived out, never been trained or ridden hard, never been ill, never competed and always had access to forage. Ulcers were suggested as a possible reason to him having very sensitive sides and a change in attitude.

It appears that his problem is far more likely to be PSSM.

What breed is he and what is he fed on at the moment?

 

[dixie]

I would change your vet if they think that if a horse is eating fine then he can't have ulcers, total rubbish.
It does sound like ulcers altho throwing himself on the ground sounds very extreme. Was it possible a bit of colic? How is he now?

 

[dixie]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr05hMmLCY4

Think is useful to watch if you're thinking ulcers.

 

[vanrim]

I think I have read that some horses with ulcers will lay on their backs to relieve the pain so with the symptoms you describe I don't think you can rule them out. Some other owners of horses with ulcers have reported horses being incredibly stressed in the stable and even double barrelling the walls. The Facebook page "horses with ulcers" is very good and full of people you can ask for advice.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Def sounds like Ulcers. Lots of horses with Ulcers continue to greedily eat, especially hard feed. He needs to be out with ad lib forage. Hope he settles soon

 

[Shay]

Ulcers are a possibility - but so are other things. The element that jumps out at me is that OP has only had this horse 2 months and is now having behavioral problems. They may have a medical cause and that should be checked. But they may also just be a new horse testing his new environment.