Chronic Back Pain-Causes?

[fivestrideline]

@SharonA1

I would agree that you might be spending more money by not doing a full work-up, than you are by taking things in pieces. If your horse is seeing the same vet frequently and you’re not getting anywhere, the horse might benefit from fresh eyes.

In general, you absolutely will spend more money by doing things piece by piece. Been there done that got the tee shirt (and retiree) to show for it. Beowulf is dead on - this horse and the other one OP has are both multi-faceted lameness issues that seem to have multiple comorbidities that are muddying the waters. And that’s just what I can see from casual browsing of an Internet forum! A clinic or school is much more likely to have the experience and capacity to deal with cases like this vs even the best mobile vet - you’ll pay for one or two visits vs years of “let’s try Adequan or shoes and revisit is 3 months”.

However, I’ve also been in the position of only being able to afford the local vet call and a test or two, so hauling to the school was out of the question anyway. I’ve also had a horse that can’t be hauled and would be so amped up at the school that it would be useless for looking at subtle stuff anyway. So, from that perspective I totally get it. However, fresh eyes and a cohesive list of previous diagnostics + responses to treatment might be helpful in guiding OP through this. Honestly this horse sounds like he’s simply losing the ability to cope with his many issues, and either is going to take some experimenting with more costly, targeted maintenance OR should be retired… with maintenance. And a keen eye on QOL.

I hope the vet is able to at least get him more comfortable! Maybe the X-rays will be enlightening. Bad feet can make or break a horse. Keep up updated!

[Ottbaxel]

I sure hope the X-rays are enlightening! He lately has been happy under saddle just plodding around and doing small jumps on days he points himself at them, but if he ever starts to struggle he’s going to be retired quick. Honestly, I thought I was going to retire him in the fall but he felt pretty decent so I just kept trucking and he’s gone through this winter better than he ever has before. The Sure Foot Pads and stretches seemed to make the most difference, which is why I have a hunch about those hind feet making his hind end sore all around.

[Ottbaxel]

@SharonA1

but I am a big fan of being open to what is being offered, before making the adult choice to agree or disagree

Just to reiterate, I said I do not disagree with beowulf. I just simply don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on this all at once right now.

But this thread isn’t to discuss my finances or to say the obvious “go to a vet” - it is just looking for others’ experiences with back pain and what, specifically for them, was causing it if it isn’t on the list of things I’ve already looked into. If anyone comes up with any other ideas I would love to bring them to my vet because we are both very open minded!

[TWH_Girl]

Back pain can be caused by AOE as my massage person says- accumulation of everything, or pain in hocks, stifles or ligaments as stated previously.

@Ottbaxel In your other post, I thought you were doing Adequan?
Otherwise to just treat the pain without a huge expense, I would consider Equioxx or bute, chiro, massage and Roboxin (muscle relaxant). You can go as far as you want down a rabbit hole or not. And obviously adjust his workload accordingly.

[Ottbaxel]

@TWH_Girl

In your other post, I thought you were doing Adequan?

I am going to be! I’m just waiting a teeeeeeny bit longer to put him on it, so he can get the full effect when it’s actually nice enough to get out and about. Not that he’s going to be showing or anything, but hacking and hills and hopefully getting him off property from time to time just for fun.

[Ottbaxel]

Well about a month ago we radiographed his hind feet, and found he had neutral and 1 degree in his hinds. Put him in wedges to get him closer to 3-4 degrees in each and his hind end posture is much, much better.

He is not standing camped under in the back as frequently as he used to. His back still palpates sore, but much less sore after riding (I have been basically riding him around in a two point while asking for stretches and lots of change in bend). He has had one dose of Adequan thus far and is due for his second today-we are doing the dose every 4 days for 7 doses total. He’s also getting stretches every single day-only after riding, or on his days off riding I walk him on the lunge first to warm up his muscles.

What I am noticing still though, is he’s a touch camped under in the front. It’s so subtle that mentioning it to friends at the barn, they don’t see it unless they look pretty hard, and if you pull his front legs out for stretches and place them a bit further forward afterwards, he will stay that way until he has to move again. Not sure whether this could be due to his neck or sore feet, but I’m going to have my farrier hoof test at his next appt (he has front pads on too so I have to wait for the shoes to come off). He certainly looks super sound on the lunge and aside from the toughness in collected work (presumably because of his neck) that we try to avoid doing, he feels very very sound under saddle-his stifles don’t really “slip” much anymore, he’s more forward in the canter than previously, etc. His pecs are awfully sore though-which could either be because he’s camped under, or because of his neck.