[QUOTE=vxf111;7625817]
You can go to Ocala to look at new horses but not get yours seen by a competant one?! Okay, well we all have different priorities…[/QUOTE]
That’s totally uncalled for. I will haul my horse anywhere to get him seen by a competent vet. He was just in Tallahassee at AVS Equine a few weeks ago to get his teeth floated. I would probably take him back there to rule out pain.
What is your problem?
[QUOTE=vxf111;7625811]
The vet coming out already is irrelevant. You ought to rule out pain. The vet, by your description, lacks the ability to do so. So, in other words, you will not rule out pain. Call a spade a spade. If you share your location I bet you $100 we can find a proper equine vet in a reasonable distance. Its not that there are no options… Its that you don’t care to look.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps you can. I am about 10 minutes away from Graceville, FL. I DO CARE to look. He is a very special horse and his health comes above everything else, but I also don’t control the finances or the truck and trailer, and my mom works 5 days a week. Kind of limits when I can haul him off to equine clinics.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?435961-Conformation-Critique
Isn’t that the same horse? If so, he really is quite stocky, with short legs for his conformation. Plus being a bit pudgy puts a lot of wear and tear on those knees jumping…alltogether I think that is what the other poster was trying to say.
Behavior changes indicate pain. If you aren’t able to get a good vet out, then do a bute test at least for starters. I would also get the farrier to put some testers on his feet, JUST in case he needs a shoeing change.
Recommendations are hocks (which honestly, a horse hanging in a pasture can have changes, the “life experience” doesn’t really mean anything), feet, vision, and knees.
[QUOTE=findeight;7625858]
Hey, I still have friends in Reining and Working Cow Horse/NRCHA (Snaffle Bit Futurity top 5 twice). They inject as the horses age and pack on miles. Rocking back to slide or spin may not be exactly the same movement but stress on the joints is there same as rocking back to jump. Pretty much the same diagnostics and treatment you see in good H/J barns including ultrasound, MRIs, Shock Wave etc. Some think stock horse types are less likely to get the suspensory injuries…not so. These sophisticated diagnostics are revealing they sure do.
I would also caution against trying to school jumps on him tomorrow. Give it a few days and see how he flexes for the vet. Even if he seems OK, mentally he may be over all the drilling over tiny, boring fences and too much arena work in general- at his age, maybe he does not need 5-6 days a week???. Maybe it’s time to back off instead of press harder.
One other thing, might be you are conveying the stress in your life to him. I know I had a few uncharacteristically bad performances when I lost my Mom. Not that bad performances are that unusual for me:cool:. It was why they were bad-stops and indecision. I’d get there long and take my leg off or bury him and drop contact. Course the horse got pissed and eventually, just said no and stopped.
Then I’d wallow in the old “OMG I am not going to get anything and it means so much right now”…we have all done that and learned that kind of subliminal thinking sabotages us even when we don’t realize that thought is there.
Think about it.[/QUOTE]
Ok, he can have a few days off. The only reason I school 5-6 days a week is because everyone kept saying how fat he was over and over…so I’ve been trying to fix it.
I’m just trying to do the best thing for my horse. It could be that I am negatively affecting him with all the stress from everything.
Going to horse shows doesn’t mean much to me, but this horse means everything. If I could never get another horse and just had to ride him western for the rest of his life, it would be completely fine.
I would absolutely love to move up to the 3’0" hunters and have a solid horse that I could maybe even do a hunter derby on, but it’s not the end of the world if that doesn’t happen.
[QUOTE=Jumper_girl221;7625871]
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?435961-Conformation-Critique
Isn’t that the same horse? If so, he really is quite stocky, with short legs for his conformation. Plus being a bit pudgy puts a lot of wear and tear on those knees jumping…alltogether I think that is what the other poster was trying to say.
Behavior changes indicate pain. If you aren’t able to get a good vet out, then do a bute test at least for starters. I would also get the farrier to put some testers on his feet, JUST in case he needs a shoeing change.
Recommendations are hocks (which honestly, a horse hanging in a pasture can have changes, the “life experience” doesn’t really mean anything), feet, vision, and knees.[/QUOTE]
Yes, same horse.
He is barefoot because he overreaches and tears off his front shoes if they’re there. He also just hates shoes in general.
[QUOTE=kookicat;7625821]
He’s sore somewhere. I’d lay money on it. Horses don’t just start refusing for no reason. Does he flinch or duck away if you run your fingers down his back?[/QUOTE]
No, no flinching or anything.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7625866]
That’s totally uncalled for. I will haul my horse anywhere to get him seen by a competent vet. He was just in Tallahassee at AVS Equine a few weeks ago to get his teeth floated. I would probably take him back there to rule out pain.
What is your problem?[/QUOTE]
No problem. If you were going to the proper vet, why didn’t you say so in the first place?!
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7625870]
Perhaps you can. I am about 10 minutes away from Graceville, FL. I DO CARE to look. He is a very special horse and his health comes above everything else, but I also don’t control the finances or the truck and trailer, and my mom works 5 days a week. Kind of limits when I can haul him off to equine clinics.[/QUOTE]
Maybe ask the person who hauls you to shows?!
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7625880]
Yes, same horse.
He is barefoot because he overreaches and tears off his front shoes if they’re there. He also just hates shoes in general.[/QUOTE]
If that is the case then his feet very well might be stinging him on landing. Maybe there was a show one time with harder footing…who knows.
My mare is downhill and has a massive stride, so likes to pull those shoes as well. Rolling the toes on both hinds completely eliminated the problem. Worst case you can get some shoe-secure’s 
[QUOTE=vxf111;7625884]
No problem. If you were going to the proper vet, why didn’t you say so in the first place?![/QUOTE]
I don’t know. I guess because it’s kind of tough to get him to that vet, so I usually only go there once or twice a year.
I can email AVS Equine a video of him and have the vet see what he thinks. We’ve known that vet for quite a while, and in this horse shopping business he’s been looking over PPE x-rays for me.
If this sweet, honest little horse just isn’t meant to jump, it’s ok.
[QUOTE=vxf111;7625887]
Maybe ask the person who hauls you to shows?![/QUOTE]
She hauls me to the shows. I can only go on the weekends, and only to shows that don’t involve getting on the highway or interstate. It’s been kind of tough to haul since my dad left, because he always did the majority of it.
He can lose weight with reduced calories instead of extra hours under saddle.
When the vet is there, even if he’s more backyard then state of the art, have them watch him jog on a flat, level surface (like a driveway) for at least 10 steps on a straight line. Then do flexions, which are not the be all end all but they are what’s available. “Sound enough” is not enough of an answer, you need is are hocks sore, one side sorer then the other and where else might hurt.
I guarantee you if both hocks are bothering him he is not going to appear lame. Also guarantee that will eventually creep into his reining performance as " scotching" during run downs and popping up in spins.
Involuntary life changes that cast doubt on our future cast a shadow of doubt that creeps into all facets of our lives. Take a deep breath and think about where you are and what you have right now. Take care of the horse-you are his steward, he has nobody else. Forget what might lie ahead, deal with now.
[QUOTE=findeight;7625858]
I would also caution against trying to school jumps on him tomorrow. Give it a few days and see how he flexes for the vet. .[/QUOTE]
this may sound awful, but the last thing I want to do with a not-obviously-lame horse before a vet comes is to give it time off. I want it in the same program so that it hasn’t had rest to possibly relieve soreness. You give a NQR horse a few days off and it can be QR, until it goes back in the program again and you are once again dealing with NQR.
OP: when you compare your horse to ones that are built for jumping, there are very significant differences. That doesn’t mean your horse is not a great horse, it just means that jumping may be significantly harder for him than it is for a horse with the right type of conformation.
FWIW: I leased a QH with a bit of a stopping problem. He had arthritis. We could manage a program that kept him comfortable and jumping, but it took a lot of thought. When I couldn’t keep him in that program, he would start stopping again. We also didn’t jump him more than 2’3". We is a super wonderful horse and is still doing a very important job, 13 years later…it’s just a job that does not involve jumping. The people involved with him let him tell them when something was too much and let him to continue to move down the ranks.
I thought you were near Atl (I recall a prior thread re: shows at Conyers). I must have misremembered?! Have you asked AVS for their recommendation for a local vet you might use?!
Sore in both front feet, backsore, and hock sore may not be visible on a video of jogging.
If you NEED spurs to get a horse over an 18 inch crossrail-- something is majorly not right. If the change is sudden, its almost certainly physical. He’s your heart horse, you owe it to him to get to the bottom of this.
[QUOTE=findeight;7625906]
He can lose weight with reduced calories instead of extra hours under saddle.
When the vet is there, even if he’s more backyard then state of the art, have them watch him jog on a flat, level surface (like a driveway) for at least 10 steps on a straight line. Then do flexions, which are not the be all end all but they are what’s available. “Sound enough” is not enough of an answer, you need is are hocks sore, one side sorer then the other and where else might hurt.
I guarantee you if both hocks are bothering him he is not going to appear lame. Also guarantee that will eventually creep into his reining performance as " scotching" during run downs and popping up in spins.
Involuntary life changes that cast doubt on our future cast a shadow of doubt that creeps into all facets of our lives. Take a deep breath and think about where you are and what you have right now. Take care of the horse-you are his steward, he has nobody else. Forget what might lie ahead, deal with now.[/QUOTE]
He’s off of grass for 12 hours a day and gets no grain or hay. I don’t know how to cut his calories further.
I can definitely at least ask the vet to watch him jog and do flexions. The farrier comes Wednesday, also.
This horse has naturally under-run heels and hyperextends his fetlocks with every stride and especially when landing from fences. I know he won’t hold up to the rigors of 3’0" courses, which is why I have been looking for something else.
I could very well be on the border of a mental breakdown and he is picking up on it. Dealing with the now is turning out to be very difficult.
I am sorry about your personal problems. I doubt that’s causing the stopping but it probably doesn’t help.
[QUOTE=vxf111;7625920]
I thought you were near Atl (I recall a prior thread re: shows at Conyers). I must have misremembered?! Have you asked AVS for their recommendation for a local vet you might use?!
Sore in both front feet, backsore, and hock sore may not be visible on a video of jogging.
If you NEED spurs to get a horse over an 18 inch crossrail-- something is majorly not right. If the change is sudden, its almost certainly physical. He’s your heart horse, you owe it to him to get to the bottom of this.[/QUOTE]
I’m about 4 hours away from ATL, but only about 2 hours from Tallahassee. No, I haven’t asked AVS for a local vet.
It was such a sudden change. I do owe it to him to find out what’s going on, and I plan to. He’s supposed to show at 4-H State in mid-July, but his health and comfort come first.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7625921]
He’s off of grass for 12 hours a day and gets no grain or hay. I don’t know how to cut his calories further…
…I could very well be on the border of a mental breakdown and he is picking up on it. Dealing with the now is turning out to be very difficult.[/QUOTE]
On the first, a grazing muzzle. Feed controlled amounts wen he’s in, he can nibble through the muzzle and stay occupied without actually consuming many calories.
On the second, realizing that will help you avoid it. I’d feel better if you were talking to somebody, online support group maybe, must be one out there.
You can talk to us but nothing replaces more targeted help and support. Hang in there.
Reining is very hard on the hocks. So even if he is not unsound…he may still be sore. You could try giving him bute for a few days and see if you notice a difference…but for a horse who used to jump to say no over that small of a jump is typically a huge huge red flag that something hurts (typically either front feet or hocks…but could be anything).
This is just from the internet… I don’t know the area so can’t comment personally on any of these vets, but they might be worth a call and they may travel…
Carrie Riley, DVM
Crestview, FL
(850) 689-2553
Cumberland Equine Services
Havana, FL
(850) 562-8101
Maya Chapman, DVM
Niceville, FL
(850) 420-0037
Northwest Florida Large Animal Clinic
6736 Quintette Road
Pace, FL
850-994-0900
Stephan Knappstein, DVM
Valpariso, FL
(352) 219-2754
Thomas Bevis, DVM
Tallahassee, FL
(850) 878-1880
Even if they don’t travel or are too far-- they may know vets closer to your area. The other idea is to ask your farrier-- they seem to know EVERYONE.
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