My mare is 15 and I have had her since she was 3. She has never been grouchy when being touched or brushed, only just slightly girthy when tightening the girth. All of sudden the last few months I have noticed she is quite irritated when I brush her or touch her around her back and flanks. Not sensitive on her neck/chest/head/legs. She just pins her ears but doesn’t actually flinch or move. This is so bizarre to me, she has always been a sweetheart and has loved being touched by people - although she is a typical black mare in the sense she does not like many horses, prefers her personal space. She is absolutely wonderful under saddle and doesn’t seem back sore or body sore. Am I missing something? Is she trying to tell me she is sore or unhappy about something? I mentioned it to my trainer and she said she had noticed her getting a bit more cranky but just figured it was typical Black mare getting older and a bit particular about things. We decided we would keep an eye on it and if it gets worse then get her checked out. Any ideas or similar experiences? And just a side note that there have been no changes in feed or barns (same place since I bought her at 3). Thanks for any advice!
Sounds like it could be ulcers. I would look more into that.
Thanks LadyB, I will mention that to my trainer and vet. Is the grumpiness a common symptom of ulcers? She doesn’t seem stressed, very laid back girl - but not sure if that matters when it comes to ulcer symptoms. Thanks again!
My guy is super laid back, but I guess he internally stresses. I just found out he has ulcers. He’s never been girthy, but he was more nippy than usual. He likes to play with his lips, but instead was using his teeth more, when he never would before.
Grooming his back has always been a problem with him, so I thought nothing of it. I had a chiropractor come out and she did acupuncture pressure points, which was so cool to see. Just by touching certain points, she immediately said it was ulcers.
So if they are a bit more sensitive in their lower back/flank area its most likely hind gut ulcers. Its definitely something to look into. Ulcers are so common now its actually disgusting. I’ve done weeks and weeks of reading up on them. I swear it sounds like every horse has them.
Maybe put your girl on some probiotics?
My horse is the same way - very grumpy when curried or brushed on his stomach and lower back/rib area. I have him on Succeed and one of the Smartpak stomach supplements, I’ve done a full 30 day Ulcergard treatment, plus he gets Ulcergard anytime we do anything stressful (shows, worming, etc) and he just stays grumpy. The vet and massage therapist have examined him and he has no areas of pain. It doesn’t get better or worse in different situations so I think he’s just very ticklish. Body clipping him is fun…
Hi Tiffani B - Thanks for the insight, has your guy always been grumpy to brushing or did it develop?
I think that is what’s getting me the most - it just started suddenly. She used to love been brushed and would never pin her ears, and all of a sudden she hates it or is ticklish? Just seems odd.
There are mare related problems that can be causing it. My mare all of a sudden got grumpy about me touching her anywhere. We put her on ulcerguard and she stopped trying to bite me unless I was tightening her girth. She’s almost done with the month and now she’s worse again: she tried to bite me when all I did was put a rope around her neck yesterday. I’ve been in close consultation with my vet, we’ve basically ruled out ulcers, so now we’re going to be looking into things like uterine infections, as they can cause mares to get super sensitive.
Desert Topaz - Yes that’s what I am worried about, I don’t want it to turn into something more serious like her trying to bite me when she is warning me about something.
If you do end up finding anything could you let me know? I would be curious as I am going to be working with my vet as well. Thank you, and I hope your mare gets happier again soon too!
[QUOTE=Hunter85;8350235]
Hi Tiffani B - Thanks for the insight, has your guy always been grumpy to brushing or did it develop?
I think that is what’s getting me the most - it just started suddenly. She used to love been brushed and would never pin her ears, and all of a sudden she hates it or is ticklish? Just seems odd.[/QUOTE]
I’ve only had him for about 18 months so I can’t say, but from what I understand he was like this with the previous owner as well. It has gone away for brief periods of time (like, a day here and there) but I suspect that is because he was distracted while I was grooming him and not because he was suddenly less ticklish LOL.
I did the whole 30 day ulcer treatment for other reasons, and I had hoped this would clear up with the treatment, but it didn’t. The other symptoms all went away but this has remained, so for him, I don’t think it’s ulcer related.
They might not be responding to regular ulcer treatments if it’s hind gut ulcers. In fact, regular ulcer treatment can make hind gut ulcers worse.
You might also consider magnesium deficiency. I had a gelding who had a really hard time tolerating grooming until I put him on dimagnesium malate, and then he was fine. I noticed similar symptoms developing in my other guy last year, and they went right away with supplementation. Although, I suppose that would also act as an antacid, wouldn’t it? So I may have been treating them both for ulcers without even realizing it!
[QUOTE=dacasodivine;8351171]
They might not be responding to regular ulcer treatments if it’s hind gut ulcers. In fact, regular ulcer treatment can make hind gut ulcers worse.[/QUOTE]
I agree with this, but my horse has been on Succeed for about 6 months now without any change. He didn’t have any of the symptoms you would typically associate with hind gut ulcers, but did have several of the symptoms seen with stomach ulcers (and they got worse at horse shows or when on bute so it was very obvious what the issue was). Those cleared up, but his hatred of grooming has not.
He is not girthy, eats fine, has never colicked, has a beautiful coat, has plenty of energy, doesn’t drink water in excess, has normal manure, gets free choice hay and very little grain (is an easy keeper), has no issues under saddle, is not spooky or reactive… his sensitivity to grooming is not ulcer related. Obviously it could very well be for OTHER horses but I’ve done everything and then some to make sure he is ulcer free.
Thank again everyone for input! I went out to ride last night and I started with a rubber curry - she loved it. No change in facial expressions, just her regular self. Moved on to a soft body brush and she grinched just a small amount when I was brushing her back/flanks/belly…maybe this is a sign of being ticklish? I would think rubbing briskly with a rubber curry would be more irritating if it was anything pain related. So odd.
I had a good chat with my trainer last night in my lesson about this. She agreed if it doesn’t improve or gets worse we should have the vet out to see about possible ulcers. She mentioned maybe it has something to do with being cold backed as the weather is changing, or just getting more mare-ish over the years. She is brilliant under saddle, and is happy and quiet to work so we don’t think it could be a back pain issue - I hope she would let me know when riding her. Either way I am going to get my massage lady to come out and do some body work and then re-assess. We are going to try and track which days she is most grumpy in relation to time of day/weather/what type of brush etc. and see if we can narrow down exactly what is bothering her.
She is my baby and I know her inside out after 12 years together. I can just tell something has changed and I don’t want to be missing something bigger than she is trying to tell me.
Just throwing this out there, if ulcers or the cold-backed ideas don’t lead to answer - I’ve known a few horses who suddenly became grumpy about being groomed who then tested positive for Lyme. They had some other symptoms but Lyme can present in various different ways and isn’t the same for every horse, so sometimes it’s the last thing you might think of.
I don’t know what the Lyme rate is your area (Canada, going by your location), so if it’s something that rarely happens (you could call your vet and ask), ignore this little tidbit 
I was going to suggesting testing for Lyme, too. A change in attitude and sensitivity to being touched and groomed are classic symptoms. This summer my guy was also off-the-charts jump. Test score was high for an older infection that the Doxy didn’t completely get rid of. Stronger antibiotics took care of it. Whew!
