What next?

LaurenBay

LaurenBay

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My 11 year old mare was diagnosed with arthritis in both Hocks last year. Since then we have tried various things to get her sound and now we have (how long for is a different matter) during the time she was diagnosed we started pysio sessions to help the muscles she had damaged as she was working incorrectly for a long time. The pysio mentioned her back was tight, got the saddle checked and saddler was happy with it and did not want to flock it. Horse has had another session since she became sound and again pysio said her back was very tight. I got another saddler out for a second opinion but she also said saddle was perfect( although did mention the numnah I was using was quite thick and this did tilt the saddle back very slightly) changed for a thin numnah and gel pad. This was a week and half ago. She has an arnaca gel massage every day, carrot stretches and stomach curls every day.

To me she still doesn't seem happy and is very tense when i first mount. She does calm within 5 minutes and then works well. She works nicely in a pessoa also.

Am I being over paranoid by asking the vet to xray her back? Or should I wait for the pysio again (due in the next 2 weeks) how long would you expect back muscles to repair?
 
How is she if you lunge first, so her muscles are warmed up before you get on?

I have a horse with arthritis and a muscular issue and she feels very tight and cold backed if I get on her straight from the stable or field.

I hurt my back in October and its still not right yet despite 6 weekly physio sessions - so I have a lot of sympathy for horses with bad backs!
 
In all honesty SEL I haven't tried doing that yet. I will lunge before getting on tonight and see if there is a difference.

Can a Horse suddenly become cold backed? She has always been such a laid back girl.
 
We have a horse that didn't seem right through his back. It turned out that he had arthritic changes in his hocks - he was compensating for his hock problems by becoming tight through the back. He improved hugely after steroid injections in the hocks. We did get the vet to x-ray the horse's back at the same time as the hocks and fortunately there were no underlying problems there. It could be that your mare just needs a few minutes to warm up and get loose and then she stops compensating through the rest of her body??
 
I hope you are right. She came sound in January so maybe I haven't given her enough time to get back to normal self? We are not jumping or doing any fast work because I didn't want to rush her.
 
So tonight another Livery kindly let me borrow her heated bean bag, I heated this and then left it on mares back for 15 mins. I then lunged in walk and trot for 10 mins before getting on and she was so much more settled.
 
Have a look at the equilibrium massage pads. I think they're great for warming their backs up before getting on. My boy can be a little bit sharp in the winter when I first get on but if I put the pad on first he's going.
 
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