will she be ok?

[spring_along]

hello,

I got my first pony, Spring, in July this year. She has been absolutely amazing and i love her so much. She has been healthy and fine up to about 2 months ago, when she went (mildly) lame. Randomly, for no obvious reason, she has been going lame quite frequently on and off for the last 2months now.
She is only 7, so it is quite young for her to be going lame so frequently. Also, she is always fine when i ride her, it is just when others at the stable (as she is on working livery) ride her, then she sometimes goes lame.
Most of the time it was not serious, and was fine after a night. Once she was just worked through it and it was normal again after about 10 mins! Now, because it was getting very frequent, the stables owner called the vet in to look at her.

The vet said she had something wrong with her back, we always knew that her back was slightly stiff- bt thought that it was nothing to worry about as she didnt look in any pain at all. She is going to the vets on monday for xrays and tests to see if they can find out the problem. She doesn't apear to be any pain- and loves to be ridden and adores jumping- she has a beautiful jump. Nothing like that seems to be bothering her.

My mum said that the vet could just say that she needs lighter riders riding her, or needs a different saddle etc. The worst case sonario is that she won't be able to be ridden by most people, because they would be too heavy, so we would have to sell her as a companion horse. The most important thing is that she is happy and in no pain- but it would be a shame because she is so young if it did come to that.

Has anyone experienced anythinng like this with their horses? If there are any vets on here- do you have any idea what the problem might be?

Please help me, i really want her to get better.

thankyou so much,

alice xxx

 

[brighteyes]

Is there any reason you have lots of different people riding her? I certainly wouldn't let any people ride a horse or pony with known back and or lameness issues, never mind heavy ones! I'd be having her thoroughly checked over and her teeth looked at as well.

Look after her properly workwise as well as in her stable.

 

[misst]

Hi Alice
If your pony is on working livery it is difficult to control what happens to her. If you are still at school or college I guess your parents are paying and it keeps the cost down. The trouble is that anything could be happening while she is being ridden and jumped and you might not know. She sounds as if she is in hard work. Some working livery arrangements are great but others are very hard on the horses.

Ponies and horses do not always "look" in pain and lameness is usually a sign of pain in itself and so is a "stiff" back.

You are doing the right thing checking her out at the vets and if they find out what is wrong hopefully it can be managed perhaps with a lighter work load. She may just need a new saddle or her teeth doing, but if a nights rest helps it may be a leg or back problem. I would not be happy if I had a lame horse that was "ridden through it" in a riding school so I would ask them not to use her anytime she is at all lame.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

As misst hun. Lameness is a sign of pain so she is showing pain. Have you got any pics of her? What height/breed/age is she? The thickness of her cannon bone will give you a rough indication of how much weight she can safely carry - the riding school would normally apply that to each of their horses to make sure they weren't injured by too heavy riders. Remember too that an experienced and balanced rider who rides well will be an easier job for your pony than a novice who is all over the place on her back. The problem for riding school horses is that they usually work very hard for their keep. Have you got an agreement that she is only used so many hours a week and by riders below a certain weight? I think you're doing exactly the right thing getting a proper lameness workup so you know what you'r edealing with but I certainly wouldn't let her be used in the school until she's 100% sound again. NB: it could very well be the saddle.

 

[spring_along]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any reason you have lots of different people riding her? I certainly wouldn't let any people ride a horse or pony with known back and or lameness issues, never mind heavy ones! I'd be having her thoroughly checked over and her teeth looked at as well.

Look after her properly workwise as well as in her stable.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do look after her properly! She is always sponged down if she is really sweaty and the weather is warmer or a sweatrug put on her if it is cold. She has the correct diet and is groomed and checked over daily by me and the riding school

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as to just 'not let people ride her if she has known back or lameness problems" She is part owned by the riding school, and we know the riding school well and it is very good and they look after their ponies. But it is also a business and they can't afford to just keep a pony if it cant be ridden, and if they cant afford it then i wont be able to keep her! Unfortunately, we don't have the money to not let other people ride her.

alice

 

[misst]

Alice I am sure you look after her very well. Unfortunately it is not always enough - horses and ponies have a nasty habit of breaking no matter how hard we try to avoid it.
Let us know how you get on and good luck to you.

 

[spring_along]

the vet couldnt find anything wrong with her skeleton- he said she just has a weak back. She is having physio and a new saddle and a more cushioning numnah.

thanks for all ur help!

alice xxx

 

[misst]

That is lovely news

Well done for getting it sorted