Here are his original values. He never was really high on anything but the OSPF. Which I suppose means when I caught it, he had had it for a while. So it has gone down. I wonder if as Simkie says there is no value in testing too soon?
OSPA: 98 Negative
OSPC: 182 Negative
OSPF: 12484 Positive
Dropping 30% in less than 90 days seems like a pretty solid response to treatment!
Thanks! Good to know!
@Huntin_Fool I would 100% think that Lyme disease and/or ulcers are most likely causing the behavior you are seeing in your horse. Iâm no expert on Lyme disease, so I will defer to those more experienced than me on that. But in my experience, ulcers reoccur quite easily in horses that are prone to them.
I echo @Critter, I have had an almost identical experience with my horse with ulcers.
Best of luck and report back to us with how you make out!
Iâve also found both Lyme treatment and EPM treatment hard on their belly, and have needed to add coverage for that during both. If his ulcers were successfully treated in the fall, then he went through Lyme and EPM treatment, itâs not a stretch to think he could have ulcers again from those meds.
And yâall just to add to all thisâthe saddle thing. The experienced saddle guy, that numerous folk around here like, says my saddle is fine. The newly trained saddle person says it doesnât fit. Slight evidence, he bucked after a wee jump with her 4x, then she changed saddles and no buck for 2 repeats of the wee jump. Two days later try another saddle I own thatâs stiff with disuse, horse still seems better-tho ride is very very brief.
I put the saddles on yesterday and squint at them, etc. I am NOT a saddle fitter of course. Anyway, when I was ridding the saddle the older guy said was ok, and put my hand in the gullet, it was so low that it really was right at his back. I could see that if you jumped it would hit him. AND that guy never asked me to get on, he said he could tell if it fit without that-well it fits very differently with me in the saddle.
So is he full of excrement? Is she inexperienced? I contacted another saddle fitter to triangulate. She messaged back but hasnât confirmed that she can do it or a time.
Is this affecting his spooking as well as the bucking? Good grief I donât know. And I wonât even bore you with the trauma of my new (to me) trailer needs or efforts to find another horse.
Regards,
HuntinâFool
On the saddle-fit issue, the horse is the ultimate decider on what fits or not. And, just to complicate things, a horse thatâs been ridden in a saddle that doesnât fit in one way (maybe pinches the shoulders, for example), might initially respond very positively to another saddle that doesnât fit well, but that also doesnât pinch the shoulders.
It can be helpful to learn a bit about saddle-fit yourself just so that you can spot possible problem areas without having to wait for a pro to show up.
On Lyme disease: Lyme disease, if itâs been untreated for a while, can cause long-lasting issues. You might consider supplementing with significant doses of Vitamin E for a while. Both Lyme and EPM can cause neural issues which Vit. E might help.
Just as an aside: what do his feet look like?
Posting Trot, his feet are excellent for a TB and really actually good for any horse.
Re the saddle, I wish!!! I wish I could figure out what of all this mess is missing the buddy, ulcers, Lyme, EPM, just being a horse. Tho the latter I will rule out since his spooking was up exponentially and heâd never been prone.
Also, I guess the saddle is mostly a different thing. He has bucked after jumps almost since Iâve gotten him and almost never otherwise. So if he quits bucking after jumps with a different saddle then I guess that was it-for that problem. Tho I also see what youâre saying-it may be the one thing that heâs sick to death of is fixed with the new saddle but another issue might be there. How to fix that myself I donât know. I used a saddle fitter that was recommended and praised by folk I respected. BUT he did fall short in areas I know are important and I let that slide because he was âgoodâ. I do know better.
And to update-the 3rd saddle fitter came out and said neither one was great, the one I usually use is better. She stuffed it as best she could but it is still too low for his back. What I liked is that she tried both saddles on, tried them with the pad, had me wtc, relooked, took it off, stuffed the best one, put it back, tweaked it, had me ride, tweaked again, had me ride again. And whatever else she was giving it full attention and effort. And she is not a rep and has no saddles for sale, so no push to buy a brand.
I will give vitamin E a shot!
And thanks all for the help and advice. I sincerely appreciate it.
Regards,
HuntinâFool
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