Got a bit of a weird case here with questions at the end-
My ottb gelding who is turning 18 next month has had contact issues for the better part of my owning him. Along the way of diving into this, we’ve discovered fusing hocks, mild navicular changes of his right front, a teeny tiny bone spur between C6 & C7, and a couple summers ago he started head shaking. The headshakers is managed very successfully with Magnesium 5000, his hocks are injected, he gets monthly Legend, etc among other things. He also cribs.
Now, I had my vet out to check up on him because he’s felt like total crap. He gets halfway through a ride and just kind of loses steam (he has been in 6 day a week work for years, flatting and jumping so it shouldn’t be a fitness thing). He’s super, super hard in the contact-using your leg at all to get him round causes him to bare his teeth and jerk his head a bit. This has always been a problem for him but lately it’s been exacerbated. He’s holding the bend one direction and refusing to change it, and he’s very behind the leg, among other things.
So anyways, my vet took a look at him and of course we checked his neck first because I was concerned about that the most. No neurologic signs at all, he does carrot stretches very well, etc. On the lunge he looks phenomenal, honestly-appropriately active in the hind end, very sound, just awesome. He has a tendency to be back sore, so my vet said they were thinking of checking his back but wanted to see him go under saddle first.
Well, the first thing my vet asked was “has he always made that sound?” What?! I feel crazy!
He has always made a very light puffing sound, only in the canter. It‘a so mild that I guess I just always thought it was him breathing a bit heavier because he was cantering? He doesn’t even do it on the lunge, just once he steps up to canter with a rider on him. I can’t believe I never thought further about this-I have known about roaring, known horses to get tie back surgery, but never considered it for my own horse.
We are going to scope him in a few days to see if something is up. My vet is thinking if something is restricting his breathing in a frame, that’s why he’s so difficult and that’s why he would get lethargic and fall behind the leg.
I am wondering if falling behind the leg and being so difficult in the bridle could then cause his pretty frequent back soreness as well-I just always figured his problems were the hind end not his actual head.
Has anyone had these secondary symptoms in a horse that roars mildly? Tough in the bridle, super behind the leg, back sore? Did the roaring get worse in the winter (thinking maybe I didn’t notice it before because it wasn’t ten degrees outside)?
