Why are horses never easy?

[Ceriann]

I'm sure there are lots of you with far worse stories and I'm not trying to be self indulgent but since newbie arrived just over 3 months ago (with a full vetting) she's been lame (vet and farrier out multiple times), cut her tongue and has now got a wound on her leg (I decided to put her in with my other two 10 days ago and they've clearly had a squabble yesterday). It's not serious. Last year one of my other mares was investigated for back end stiffness issues under saddle - ulcers which were fully treated but didn't resolve the issue. Months of investigations and still unable to identify cause so turned her away (hence newbie). The third and final mare is field ornament - we think pain related bolting and broncing but full scans couldn't identify the issue properly. She's a different horse not ridden, which speaks volumes. The oldest is 9. I'm a competent owner who's admittedly made some bad choices (though not my latest - she's a princess but perfect for me as a rider), they get lots of time and care and money spent on them (I've been a vets wet dream!) and yet they have all been a royal PIA!

Does anyone have a horse that's been easy in every way?!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Yes several. Then I bought a WB. That's been an experience.

 

[scats]

I'm sure there are lots of you with far worse stories and I'm not trying to be self indulgent but since newbie arrived just over 3 months ago (with a full vetting) she's been lame (vet and farrier out multiple times), cut her tongue and has now got a wound on her leg (I decided to put her in with my other two 10 days ago and they've clearly had a squabble yesterday). It's not serious. Last year one of my other mares was investigated for back end stiffness issues under saddle - ulcers which were fully treated but didn't resolve the issue. Months of investigations and still unable to identify cause so turned her away (hence newbie). The third and final mare is field ornament - we think pain related bolting and broncing but full scans couldn't identify the issue properly. She's a different horse not ridden, which speaks volumes. The oldest is 9. I'm a competent owner who's admittedly made some bad choices (though not my latest - she's a princess but perfect for me as a rider), they get lots of time and care and money spent on them (I've been a vets wet dream!) and yet they have all been a royal PIA!

Does anyone have a horse that's been easy in every way?!

I feel your pain. I have a 13 year old retired with navicular and kissing spines, he has a grass allergy and did a tendon 3 years ago, he's been a nightmare for the whole 6 years I've had him.

My 9 year old mare has just been diagnosed with a rare breathing disorder for which there is no treatment and no cure. She can no longer do anything other than hack (she was a dressage and fun pony previously).

Last year I lost a gelding to complications arising from cancer. He was 18 but had been a field ornament since wrecking a collateral ligament at 6.

I lost my Dales pony in 2011 to colic, 4 years post-surgery...

The list goes on!

My easiest pony? A 14.1hh mare that was riddled with melanomas, 18 when I got her and struggled to keep weight on, but she was as sound as anything and I had an amazing 9 years with her.

I'm currently horse shopping and have one being vetted today. Wish me luck!

 

[whiteflower]

I know where u r coming from. I have a new 4 year old that I haven't even backed yet that has gone lame and the the you has written him off as never being a riding horse. He was my new pride and joy follow having to semi retired another at 7 to just hacking (was my competition horse). I'm now at the stage where I've pretty much given up riding as I cant deal with the constant barage of issues. I brought well bred horses that weren't cheap in the hope their good confomation would give me a better chance at a long working, injury free life......nope ! I must just be unlucky as like u they get the best of everything and all the vet care they need. Don't really know what to say, it's heart breaking but I count myself as lucky that I still have them and can enjoy their companionship (not that that makes things much better !)

 

[Ceriann]

Yes several. Then I bought a WB. That's been an experience.

I have an ID x, cobby thing and now an ID sports horse (v TB though so some princess like behaviour expected). I've just reminded myself of the sweet itch and mites my cob has and the bad choke episode my Idx had on a bank hols (that was expensive)!!

 

[atropa]

I feel your pain.

I had my old gelding on loan for 4 years so can't complain too much, but in our last summer together he had a series of insanely bad abscesses that kept him off games all summer.

I then went on to buy a well bred, 5 stage vetted warmblood, got 8 months of work out of her and since then have had 14 months of laminitis, colic x 3, navicular and PSD. Touching all the wood around me, she has now come sound enough to start bringing very slowly back into work but probably not to the level I bought her for.

I bought a 7yo unvetted ISH whilst first horse was originally off with lami, with a melanoma under her tail that I knew about. 3 months in, she had a complete change of character, very girthy, didn't like being groomed or having her feet picked up, just unhappy in general. I spend probably about 2 grand having her back and pelvis xrayed, ovaries scanned and having her scoped for ulcers, as well as some physical workups, veterinary physio and a wolf tooth removed. Nothing was ever found to explain the behaviour apart from the fact that she has an uneven pelvis and healed torn chest muscle, so goodness knows what happened to her before I got her. Touching all wood again, with consistent handling she seems to have worked herself out of most of the girthiness and now tolerates being groomed again, but is still a bit funny with the farrier. Odd.

People tell you that horse ownership is hard, but I didn't realise how hard.

 

[Damnation]

Yep.

First mare, bought as a 4 year old ex racehorse, Lame when in full work, vets told me I wa paranoid, partial to the odd rodeo display and ditching you, napped, wouldn't leave the yard alone ever. Slipped disc in her spine was eventually diagnosed when I moved away and a different vet looked at her. PTS aged 7.

Current mare, bought at 9, always sharp but manageable, slowly got worse, the more work she was in the harder she became. Huge fear of whips and although sound has always been ever so slightly short on one hind leg. After about 2 years a muscle tear became apparent in her hindquater just behind her hip. Advised there is nothing they can do and to work her. Worked her and again the fitter she got, the more she was ridden the more stressed and upset she became. Everything checked. Muscle tear has gotten bigger over the last 4/5 years and vets responses are the same, nothing they can do.

Got a different vet out who has come to the same conclusion that within the tear there is scar tissue which is probably restricting the movement in that leg. He doesn't think she is in pain as you can lift the leg, pull it every which way etc, poke the tear and no response from her. He think it probably feels "tight". When it gets sore is when it is asked to do things there isn't the physical movement there for. So no jumping and hard schooling. She is the kinda mare that it is either full work or nothing, so at 16 she is officially full time retired. Although she had been semi retired since about 12 as I wasn't confident she was "right" physically or mentally as I suspect something has happened to her in the past that has scared her.

Currently she is playing nanny to a 2 year old. She loves baby horses!

P.s Ffion, current mare is a Dutch Warmblood

 

[ihatework]

Many years ago I had on loan a 15hh oddball. He was probably Welsh cob x Anglo Arab or similar. Big backside, short back, short weedy neck. Lived out 24/7, ate whatever I could afford at the time, didn't wear shoes. That horse never took a lame step and it jumped like stink. I so wish I had that horse slightly later in life when I had the knowledge and funds todo it justice.

Everything else has been high maintenance !!

 

[FfionWinnie]

I've had lots of Welshies who have never taken a lame step, never needed a vet for anything the entire time I had them. But you know, they are very *Welsh*!

 

[wiglet]

I think this is something a lot of people can relate to - me included.
Maybe the most irritating thing is we all know someone who doesn't seem to care much about their horse, leaves them in the field, rarely visits yet nothing ever happens to their horses…

 

[Ceriann]

I will admit to feeling more than jealous of people I know who've picked up horses on the cheap, not vetted and seem to be out there competing etc. I'm at the point where I feel some might think I can't ride (I'm not amazing but I don't break them!) or i'm just not up to it. Given some of the stories here there are a lot worse off than me but every now and then I do think to myself that I don't deserve this. It's just blinkin hard work - I'm now in the office thinking I should have put a fly rug on newbie (she's got sensitive skin!) as it's not rained all day like it forecast!!

I am also glad to see there are some rare examples of horses that have at least been injury free!! There is hope!

 

[Ceriann]

I feel your pain. I have a 13 year old retired with navicular and kissing spines, he has a grass allergy and did a tendon 3 years ago, he's been a nightmare for the whole 6 years I've had him.

My 9 year old mare has just been diagnosed with a rare breathing disorder for which there is no treatment and no cure. She can no longer do anything other than hack (she was a dressage and fun pony previously).

Last year I lost a gelding to complications arising from cancer. He was 18 but had been a field ornament since wrecking a collateral ligament at 6.

I lost my Dales pony in 2011 to colic, 4 years post-surgery...

The list goes on!

My easiest pony? A 14.1hh mare that was riddled with melanomas, 18 when I got her and struggled to keep weight on, but she was as sound as anything and I had an amazing 9 years with her.

I'm currently horse shopping and have one being vetted today. Wish me luck!

Best of luck with the vetting - do update us!

 

[SEL]

I think this is something a lot of people can relate to - me included.
Maybe the most irritating thing is we all know someone who doesn't seem to care much about their horse, leaves them in the field, rarely visits yet nothing ever happens to their horses…

I've just left a livery yard where a number of the grass liveries just used to leave their horses for days / weeks then catch them up and ride without problems. I'd be there 2 x day with my walking vet's bill wondering what I'd done wrong in life to have so many issues. I couldn't believe some of the other horses didn't get laminitis given their unrestricted access to dairy grass, but maybe their owners just don't spot problems.

 

[doodle]

I feel the same. I had 2 tb's who both spent their time injured and were pts. So I went for a wb next. All was great for 6 months. Then the problems set in. And for the last 10 months has basically been off. I have decided no more horses after him as I just can't cope with the stress anymore! I am clearly fated. I do everything for my horses and give them the best of things. But like others have said people at yard who ignore their horses and they are fine.

 

[whiteflower]

maybe their owners just don't spot problems.

This is what my oh says when I say the same thing and even my vet commented the same when I was just at the end of my tether with the latest issue. I've just chucked mine out in the field and will leave for a year then reassess. Maybe for once luck will go my way.....you have keep hoping !

 

[Kezzabell2]

I never appreciated how lucky I was with my old girl Kelsey, until I got my youngster Sam.

I had Kelsey for 15 and a half years, until she was 31 (lost her last Sept). In the first 10 years I only ever had the vet for her annual vaccinations. After that she started to colic twice a year for 3 years, only gastric. but I eventually moved yards and she stopped colicing, so we think that was because of the clover in the old fields! the last 2 years she had cushings and where her immune system was low she had a few things like hives, and reactions to fly bites, a low immune system caused her to have skin infections and potentially mites, so a couple of additional vet appointments in later life! but in the grand scheme of it, she was very easy to keep! lived of fresh air!

Then I got Sam at 18 months, he got kicked and had a swollen hock, he got an abscess, never had to deal with 1 with Kelsey, so called the vet for that! then at 4 he went lame front and hind. £6k vet fees later, he ended up having his remedial shoes removed and hocks fused and touch wood he's been doing good for the last 2 years! but he was also xrayed for kissing spine, luckily all was okay there. but whilst on box rest he got 2 abscesses, bumped his eye so extra vet bills for those! an he's had 2 more abscesses since then!! but i guess that's just the risk of no shoes!

 

[atropa]

I think this is something a lot of people can relate to - me included.
Maybe the most irritating thing is we all know someone who doesn't seem to care much about their horse, leaves them in the field, rarely visits yet nothing ever happens to their horses…

THIS with absolute bells on

 

[Bernster]

Nightmare, I hope in your case it's just very bad luck with new horse and she gets it all out of the way in these few months with nothing else after that!

I've been fairly lucky I suppose overall. Had a saint of a horse who had a long back and pigeon toes, never saw the vet other than for teeth and vaccs. Always snapped back quickly from any minor knock (and he didn't have many of those) and he's still going strong many years later.

Had a trickier one who sadly did have a series of issues over the years and is doing ok now but unlikely to ever get back to a full work load. Real shame as she's been the best horse to ride and has the most amazing personality. Has left me a bit paranoid now. I went and got myself a hopefully more robust ID who so far is proving to be pretty sturdy 2 years on. I hope!

 

[honetpot]

For 35years I had them and had no problems, even the 17year old TB I bought that I was sure that would need shooting after a year or so.
In the last three years, two with sarcoids both under four, one with a chronic chest disease only 7, , lipoma colic and PTS in foal only 12. Oh I forgot the one PTS with a sudden catastrophic neurological problem.
The oldies who I could do with the grim reaper paying a visit, no they are still here.
The only saving grace is that I never pay than I can afford to lose. I have a yearling could be worth a fair amount of money, I am going to move on before anything happens.

 

[scats]

Best of luck with the vetting - do update us!

Unfortunately she failed on soundness. I'm gutted.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a horse who was always in trouble. Nothing too awful, just enough to stop him being ridden for a few weeks. I well remember having entered in a dressage competition to find the day before he had managed to cut his leg when out in the field. Or pulled off a shoe, or got a cough. It went on and on. I managed to get to the point of registering him with the BSJA and entered in a competition, to find that I was expecting my first baby and feeling sick all the time. Actually since I hadn't got to a competition the BSJA did the decent thing and refunded my membership.

So I sold him and was overjoyed to have a "genuine reason for sale" - and sad to say he went on in exactly the same way with the new owner. Oh yes, he failed the vet - he had pulled off a shoe and the vet suspected it was a cover up for navicular, it wasn't. As far as I was concerned he was, then, sound and well. They bought him. The next time I saw him he was being hunted (!) - great jumper apparently - and they wanted to run in him a point to point. I made discouraging noises about him being not 100% TB but they went ahead and I guess it wasn't a success because I never heard of him again.

 

[mytwofriends]

In the six years I had the younger of my late horses, he broke his leg, did his ddft twice and was bitten by an adder which resulted in him being pts last year. I probably had a year's riding time on him in that time. The rest was box rest.

I'm currently horseless, and reading lots of threads on here isn't making me want another any time soon!

 

[Antw23uk]

I wasnt going to comment on this thread seeing as I'm off to camp for three days with one of mine tomorrow but I was only thinking the other day how easy they were to look after. Since moving them home and having the option of 24/7 turnout they live a really simple happy life, everything is very basic, everything about their care on a livery yard has been stripped away and simplified and life is easy. I've never ridden so much in my life, they have never looked better and now I will probably wake up to two dead or dieing horses because I've posted in here being all smug, lol

 

[Ahrena]

I was thinking a few weeks ago how cheap my gelding is to keep compared to my mare.

Barely needs any feeds, never needs extra physio treatments, decent feet, his only extra is a joint supplement ect ect.

Then boom, Monday will be our 4th vet visit in 2 and a half weeks after going lame (scan shows small tear between skin and tendon) then a nasty kick which has left him with 5 staples, tonnes l
of antibiotics and the following bruising left him convinced he couldn't weight bear Wednesday morning (once someone helped me chase him in he realised, in fact, it wasnt that sore after all and the x-rays that initiated were perfectly fine). Just waiting for number 3 now! 😳😳😳

 

[Michen]

Oh yes! After 8 months of vet bills I had to PTS my ex racer as he was never going to be right. Then bought a lovely mare who turned out to have a serious rearing issue which ended in me taking the seller to court. Then found my horse of a lifetime who gave me 18 months of sheer joy before losing him suddenly after colic surgery.

Now I have a nutty Irish pony who also racked up a grand in vet bills (thank god for insurance) from having to have a hoof resection. He's still around- for now!

 

[Dancing_Diva]

I feel you pain majorly!

In the space of a year I've lost two horses at the age of 6yrs & 8yrs, had a grass sickness, a lame Shetland, a evil to touch overnight pony (still no idea what's wrong, spent a small fortune on vets and tests) an anarexic shetland who's just had dental surgery and a stay in the vets. And most recent my pony who was only in the vets last Wednesday (evil pony) ended up back at the vets Thursday night as an emergency due to slicing her leg open in more then one place and ring rather lame whilst left in the stable alone for two hours!

Oh and not to forget the pony I took for a vacanation last week to then be told her lungs sounded a bit raspy and her breathing rate for a horse at rest was very elaavated. Still no change with different management so looks like drugs it is for her to try now.

And mine are all natives! Think it's time to get some gold fish haha!!

 

[Ceriann]

I wasnt going to comment on this thread seeing as I'm off to camp for three days with one of mine tomorrow but I was only thinking the other day how easy they were to look after. Since moving them home and having the option of 24/7 turnout they live a really simple happy life, everything is very basic, everything about their care on a livery yard has been stripped away and simplified and life is easy. I've never ridden so much in my life, they have never looked better and now I will probably wake up to two dead or dieing horses because I've posted in here being all smug, lol

Honestly - it's good to hear a case of straightforward horses and fingers crossed for you that it continues! I'm hoping that with my newbie, once she realises that a simpler less pampered life is survivable she will embrace it!!

 

[Ceriann]

Unfortunately she failed on soundness. I'm gutted.

Oh ****** - flexion, hard surface or multiple issues? With my history I wouldn't buy one that failed but I am struck by the fact mine sailed through and the well respected vet even commented how glitch free it was (and how suitable for purpose she'd been). He did say I need my farrier to start working on her feet - not an issue as such but now was the time to look st the underrun heels and flare etc. 6 weeks later my farrier did that and she was lame in days. She would never have passed the vettingat that point!

 

[fjordgirl75]

I feel your pain. I have a 13 year old retired with navicular and kissing spines, he has a grass allergy and did a tendon 3 years ago, he's been a nightmare for the whole 6 years I've had him.

My 9 year old mare has just been diagnosed with a rare breathing disorder for which there is no treatment and no cure. She can no longer do anything other than hack (she was a dressage and fun pony previously).

Last year I lost a gelding to complications arising from cancer. He was 18 but had been a field ornament since wrecking a collateral ligament at 6.

I lost my Dales pony in 2011 to colic, 4 years post-surgery...

The list goes on!

My easiest pony? A 14.1hh mare that was riddled with melanomas, 18 when I got her and struggled to keep weight on, but she was as sound as anything and I had an amazing 9 years with her.

I'm currently horse shopping and have one being vetted today. Wish me luck!

What was the rare breathing disorder?

 

[scats]

What was the rare breathing disorder?

It was a full length tracheal collapse.