Thank you!
Yes it is possible.
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My mare was so fat shiny healthy that I never thought she had ulcers but when on a trainers advice I gave her a month of Gastrogard, suddenly for the first time ever she enjoys being brushed and doesn’t bite me doing the girth up and warms up much faster.
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I have a horse whose ulcers presented like this.
He did not have the explosive behavior on the ground, but he was anxious and unhappy on the ground, classic didn’t like being groomed, girthy. He was anxious and worried under saddle, with a lot of bit chewing and jaw chomping. Left untreated long enough, he would develop explosive behavior under saddle. I got him when his previous owner lost confidence in him and realized he couldn’t be managed correctly at her boarding barn.
He is a wonderful, useful horse as long is on ulcer meds. Even managed perfectly, he can not be off of the ulcer meds, we’ve tried several times and the symptoms recur.
Just an FYI, if your horse turns out to have ulcers, IME with this horse, just medication is not enough. You HAVE to have the management piece as well as the medication piece. This horse’s previous owner spent more than she paid for the horse on multiple scopes and treatments, but because the management piece wasn’t there, he was still symptomatic.
So I will never sell him. He is, again, the world’s most delightful and useful horse when he’s happy and being managed correctly, but I just can’t risk having him go someplace else and a new person or barn not following the management routine he needs.
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This is an interesting thread. My horse is occasionally explosive. I’ve used Ulcergard when hauling but really know very little about ulcers as I would never have suspected that he has them. He has always had top notch veterinary care. Abler is trustworthy??? I’ve seen it mentioned before. If I try the 30 day trial, do I have to taper afterward? Thank you -
I think this is a great place to start.
I feel for you. My second horse as a teen had some similarities to your situation. Green broke 5YO appaloosa gelding. The first month, he was totally fine and almost 30 days to the day, a switch flipped. He would bolt over ANYthing, me lifting my hand up to scratch my neck was the first time. I could ride him through that. He pulled the bolting for a while, and then that turned into bucking. Not crow-hopping…bronco launch you on your head bucking.
The difference is, in his stall…he would make a ruckus. My trainer had tied shavings bags and other things that made weird noises in there to help desensitize him. If a human touched something and made a noise, he would go nuts. You would walk into an empty barn though and he would be playing with them making all sorts of noise.
In any case, there was also a natural horseman/cowboy type guy at the barn that started working with him and got bucked off on the way to no-where. Trainer found a pasture home for him and that was that. I had a decent degree of self preservation at that age thankfully. This was before the usual suspects were things to check for, at least in my area and I suspect there was probably something medical off with him. He was ok on the ground, it seemed that having a rider on him was the big trigger.
I hope you get some answers soon!
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What do you have to do as far as management? My older mare is on a SmartPak supplement for ulcers…but I think you mean something more than that? I frankly don’t see how I can keep this horse at this point, regardless of whether his issues resolve. I have too much fear, and my physical injuries are a problem, too. For the next year or so at least, I’ll only be riding kids’ lesson horses or my older mare (who can be quite dramatic herself but somehow knows when I’m not feeling well and turns it way down). Depending on how extreme the management has to be, I share your fears about rehoming. I don’t want him to get in a bad situation or for any other person to be hurt.
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With my horse the euthanasia problem was especially difficult because he was only 6 and when he was good he looked happy and healthy. When he had an episode, he was dangerous on the ground and under saddle. One of my fellow boarders wanted to take him off my hands and rehab him. My vet was quite sure that the problems were neurological and not “rehab able.” So I opted to euthanize.
I was afraid that he would end up in a bad situation and I did not want to have that happen.
The vet and I made the right decision as the necropsy showed severe narrowing of the spinal canal as well as damage to the spinal cord itself.
How he made it to 6 shows how much try he had. It was heartbreaking to put him down, but I know it was the right thing to do.
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There is a reason everyone mentions ulcers. I bought a 2 year old and she came in small, underweight and ribby. Immediately started training with her (she wasn’t even halter broke) and upped her grain. She was very very spooky. So spooky that I never thought she would make a good riding horse. But sometimes she wouldn’t want cookies and I thought that was odd. Then one day she was down with colic for several hours. The vet said she had ulcers so badly she was anemic.
She turned into a different horse with ulcer treatment and I still have her 17 years later. The spookiness improved vastly. If I get a horse that seems overly spooky, the first thing I try treating for is ulcers. Especially if that horse is a new arrival to my property or comes in underweight.
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This might be an unpopular opinion, but I feel you need to rehome him sooner rather than later. Don’t euthanize him- from your description, it doesn’t sound like his options are anywhere near exhausted yet. Don’t spend thousands of dollars trying to fix him, either. Rehome him now.
There are many capable horse people who can work with dangerous horses. There are even more people who have no business owning a dangerous horse. So the tricky part is networking to find the right home for him. Maybe you can reach out to a reputable rescue, explain the situation, and ask who they may recommend.
You probably feel a responsibility of “I don’t want him to end up in the pipeline,” or, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” But you shouldn’t have to self-sacrifice by owning a horse you can no longer trust to prevent that. You and this horse don’t have a future going forward, so the best thing to do is start looking for someone to give him a better future.
I like the idea of rehoming him and washing my hands of this, but how? Are there responsible people out there who would take a horse (even for free) with this description? Who wants to spend thousands of dollars on diagnostics that may or may not work out? And, just as importantly, how do I distinguish a capable person who can manage him vs. a person who thinks they are capable but are not? This is a beautiful horse, and I’m sure there’s no shortage of young, hungry, competent horse people out there who think they can be the one to turn him around…and maybe (depending on the underlying issue) some of them can. But how do I tell who’s who? The two pros who said he’s dangerous are very good riders/trainers who have lots of experience with behavioral issues. If he’s too dangerous for them, who’s left, and why would a rider of that caliber want this horse? Does he not have a better chance if we at least have a diagnosis and know what would be required for management?
And I don’t mean any of these questions rhetorically. If there are answers, I really would like to know them, because the idea of (ethically) finding someone else to deal with is very appealing!
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I’d at least do as Endlessclimb suggests if you’re not going to get much in the way of diagnostics done. If it is ulcers, and could very likely be, you’ll know. And that will be helpful to know trying to find a home for him if nothing else.
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If his behavior was dangerous they would both say something and most likely refuse to work on him immediately. Vision/ eye issue would be my #1.
Back/ neck issue #2
Not ruling out ulcers but how is his eating? Is he showing girthiness, sensitivity to touch , or if someone was in the saddle long enough was he reactive to leg pressure? Balky? I may have missed you posting those issues.
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In my opinion rehoming this horse before any diagnostics would be terribly irresponsible. Send him to the vet school with the history you do know, and let them so their thing.
I had a client with one like this. She hurt 5 people before they decided to euthanize her. It came out of nowhere each time, but I distinctly remember when I sat on her the first time feeling a sense of unease, even though she didn’t do anything that day.
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Yes, I will do the ulcer test (either ulcerguard or scoping, will talk to my vet) and will also send to the vet hospital and see what they suggest. My post that you responded to was in response was to the earlier comment that suggested rehoming quickly.
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Eating fine, loves to be groomed, not girthy. The second trainer was not in the saddle long enough to say, but the one before said he was very well trained under saddle, and when I rode him (in March) he was fine until he exploded.
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This is my feeling as well.
Seconding euthanizing being the kinder option to re-homing.
I bought a horse that had some giant behaviour issues. They were issues that I could work around/with. I knew about them and took things slowly. He never had a miserable day (aside from always separating himself from his herdmates when turned out) and was sweet and lovely. However, when he went ‘weird’ with a lameness that I could feel when riding, but no-one could see including me while longeing, I got some damned good advice and took him to school for a neuro exam. Wobbler’s.
How long had that horse been in pain and compensating or acting out when pushed too hard? He came to me in not great shape after being re-habbed from absolutely dreadful condition. What if I had pushed him, set him off due to pain, ignored it and sent him on his way to a new owner because he was too much horse for me? He probably would have ended up on the slaughter train or worse. I sleep at night knowing I didn’t push him, listened to him AND his previous, very chequered, history, and did what was right and put him down.
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Nothing really to add OP other than commiseration. I have a horse that I’m going through the same questions with. Does he have a serious back issue? Or is he just a tester who will see what he can get away with and eventually escalate in order to win? I have some evidence of both being true.
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I just got off the phone with his vet. She is going to test for Lyme and EPM (I am aware that this is only going to test for exposure). She is also setting up a referral to the vet hospital, where we’ll consult with ophthalmology, orthopedics, and neurology, as well as do an ulcer scope. Whether we do the ulcer treatment at home first depends on how soon the hospital schedules us.
Thanks so much to all who gave advice and sympathy. I am immensely grateful and will provide updates.
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