So to throw some information into prospective quickly:
10 year old OTTB, raced into his 7th year
He’s been retired from racing since 2015 and in my care. He had time off from the track and I restarted him uneventfully by myself.
He came off the track incredibly back sore. He was sour and in pain and very angry while still in a stall at the track. He would attack grooms who came into his stall. I never experienced any of that hateful attitude when I got him. He received PEMF work to his back as a donation when he retired, and it seemed to have taken care of the “issue”. He was treated for ulcers then, and has been treated for stomach ulcers twice since then, as well as hindgut ulcers. He currently does not have ulcers.
Last December, actually a year to date, he hurt his deep digital flexor tendon along with his check ligament in his left front leg. Ultrasound showed minor fiber disruption, few torn fibers, but nothing major. He had 6 months stall rest, controlled turnout, and eventually went back to his normal life of 8 hours stalled, 16 hours turned out with his herd. I attempted to start legging him up post injury, and we got to the point of walk trot canter before I realized that due to the amount of time he’d been out of work, his body had changed drastically, and my saddle would no longer work for him.
I stopped riding him at all in September. He presented back sore at that time. He saw a veterinary chiropractor and a massage therapist. He won’t hold adjustments and is STILL back sore, 3 months later, with NO riding.
I talked to the farrier, because I’ve heard of instances where a foot sore horse presents with back pain. He claims to find no pain or discomfort in my horse’s feet. He’s currently wearing shoes up front.
I’m concerned his back pain from the track was more than body soreness, and it’s finally manifesting its self in such a way that it’s become a big problem.
Several things I’ve tried to “excuse away” could easily be answered by a back problem. He has always seemed to “run away” when we canter. NOT take off, not speed off, but get really strung out, and heavy up front. I’ve never not been in control of him, but I’ve NEVER been able to get a quality canter out of him. It’s as comfortable as can be, a rocking horse, I can sit his canter for days, but he just seems to rush around and never truly “settle”. We thought it was a saddle problem. He also dislikes sitting trot. I can get a quality trot when posting, but sitting trot, no matter how still and deep I sit, is a problem for him.
He hates being groomed. I have confirmed he does NOT have active ulcers, but he’s been treated regardless, and is STILL hateful about grooming. I use a tiger tongue to remove sand, but have just come to live with the fact that he doesn’t enjoy grooming, and blamed it on him being a sensitive TB. Could it be pain? Yes.
He plays hard in the pasture with his herd mates. But I feel like he shouldn’t be back sore every single day because of that.
This weekend I did some stretching with him when I discovered his back had gotten so sore that he’s dipping down when I run my fingers down it. When I did shoulder extension stretches, which he used to lean back into and really enjoy, grunting like an old man, he instead started swapping off back and forth on his back legs as if he was unable to hold himself. That was scary. He’s never done that before. Is that neurological, or could that be due to a sore back?
My next step is to get the vet out after the holiday next week. It’s been a really really hard year, and this is the icing on the cake. I want my boy to be comfortable. I had given him bute over the weekend which did not seem to touch the back pain, so I stopped.
What are everyone’s thoughts? How should I guide the vet appointment? Anything I should insist on if my vet isn’t suggesting anything specific?
