I’ve had my horse for about a year (I mainly do Dressage), and he’s always acted weird. Once we got past the “honeymoon” stage (About a month), he began acting…weird. He refused to go on the bit, sucked back, started these weird rearing things in the canter, had a slightly sore back…It was just a whole mess. Long story short we ended taking him to the university vet in my state, did a FULL lameness exam including x-rays, and they determined he had mild hock arthritis and some coffin joint stiffness as well. Great, we did injections and gave him some rest. I bought him a custom saddle to help the back soreness. Fast forward nothing changed, we had some good days but it was not consistent and would fluctuate. Injected him again. His rearing and sucked back-ness got worse (He was on Bute…which causes ulcers). So I got to thinking, what if every time he received a hefty dose of Bute it triggered something in his gut. So on a final hoorah before Regionals, I bought $1000 worth of Gastro Guard and began giving him a tube a day on an empty stomach. I rode him in my lesson after four days and it was the best ride I’ve ever had, and I was super confident going into Regionals. It was the worst show I’ve ever had. Usually he’s wonderful at shows, but I could tell something was bothering him…So this week I went and did the only thing I haven’t done, back x-rays…Nothing really definitive, He has a slight anomaly in his wither that my trainer is worried about, but my vet wasn’t (I’ll post a picture later)… So now I’m confused because the Gastro Guard worked for about a week, and his back tenderness went completely away. I’m at my wits end, and I hate to give up on him, but I’m a lot of money in and don’t have much time before I go to college. We’ve even tried massage/cold laser and chiropractic…Sorry for this long scattered rant but i’m just at the end of my rope and hate to throw in the towel. 
You could test for PSSM, Lyme, and EPM. If for nothing but to rule it out.
I have a mare who also is NQR under saddle (has been this way for years) but otherwise appears sound. I’ve done the xrays, the injections, the chiro/massage, the supplements, the saddle … I feel your pain 
Sorry to hear things are not going well with your new horse.
Any chance you can talk to his old owners, find out if they had the same issues – and if they didn’t, find out what management changes he may have had and try to replicate the management care of his old home?
Did the farrier change?
What was the timeline on the coffin joint injections?
Ulcers can be a pain response and can be difficult to resolve until the underlying pain is addressed.
I would suspect that the ulcers and back pain are secondary to something else and the GastroGuard provided temporary relief but not enough to overcome the stress of showing. How are his feet, especially the hinds? Any chance of negative angles or something else off? I wouldn’t rely on a generalized lameness exam to rule that out bc sadly a lot of vets aren’t that educated on hoof balance.
Yes I could, at least have some general blood work done. But it’s like, at what point do you stop the financial bleeding. Because in my eyes if we could just let him become a trail horse or therapy horse, we could put money towards my next horse. But he is so lovely…He is exactly the type of horse I need and he is so loving.
I feel your pain. Balance films of the hooves and bloodwork for Lyme/EPM etc. are relatively inexpensive ways to rule out some things that can be remedied before you decide to cut your losses.
Also, a gastroscopy to determine if there are ulcers present and where, could be helpful as well.
The old owners were kinda sketchy…Listed him very low. He had been passed around for awhile…So I think something has been in him for awhile. But I don’t know, they wouldn’t release medical records. His farrier hasn’t changed, but his shoeing has to fix bad angles. He is on a shorter shoeing cycle because how much toe he grows. My vet says he may have negative angles in the back and suggested no shoes in the back. Which is impossible since he lives on lots of rocks. I love the farrier, he is a perfectionist which is awesome. He spends about two hours on my horse. I re-injected everything after six months to build up pain relief.
BlockquoteI would suspect that the ulcers and back pain are secondary to something else and the GastroGuard provided temporary relief but not enough to overcome the stress of showing. How are his feet, especially the hinds? Any chance of negative angles or something else off? I wouldn’t rely on a generalized lameness exam to rule that out bc sadly a lot of vets aren’t that educated on hoof balance.
^^^this. My horse was NPA which contributed greatly to his overall body soreness. We were injecting everything, joint supplements, chiro, etc. but he still just wasn’t right. Changing his shoeing (wedge rim pads) helped a lot, then months later he tested positive for Lyme as well which did not help the situation. We treated for Lyme and he was a different horse.
We spent a lot of time symptom chasing with him without really getting to the root of the issue. We also very recently put him in full pads behind with a clear soft packing material to provide frog/sole support. It alleviates pressure on his heels and lets his heels really grow down instead of forward/under/crushed. He hasn’t been limping lame, but we’ve suspecting he may be experiencing some level of caudal failure, which not only makes his feet hurt but makes his entire hind end sore.
When I say he has done a total 180 in his comfort level since that shoeing change, I am not kidding. He’s balanced, comfortable, relaxed, rideable, adjustable, almost symmetrical in each direction (will take time to correct this, muscling etc.) and happy. I jumped him the other day and he jumped better that day than he has in months. He just became so EASY to ride whereas before he was good but took a lot of tactful and thoughtful riding.
So long story short I would look at his hinds. This is information I wish someone had told me a long time ago, so I wanted to pass it along now. As far as bills/costs go, fixing the shoeing/dealing with the feet is (relatively) affordable compared to ongoing maintenance (injections etc.)
Lyme disease is definitely something you’d want to test for; the test is a straightforward, relatively inexpensive blood test, but make sure they do the Cornell test and not a snap test.
Maybe post some pictures of his hooves and how he’s trimmed and shod? I know you say you love your farrier, but sometimes fresh eyes can be helpful.
Have you tried just turning him out for a month or two? Sometimes Dr. Green works wonders, and it’s worth trying if you are feeling exhausted by the search for a diagnosis.
Yes I am in the same predicament with my mare. She’s 11, my heart horse, and I will have her til the end of her days regardless. So instead of spending money on a 2nd horse I am trying to “fix” her. I think I have a few more stabs in the dark I’d like to do but can only do so much
How long have you had this horse and over what span of time do all of these symptoms/treatments occur? (Just trying to understand if this is all within the last 6 months or over the last 3 years…)
What is his turnout schedule like?
I’ll second this - negative palmer angles in the hinds can ABSOLUTELY cause pain throughout the hips and back, and result in unwillingness to go forward, sucking back, little rearing, etc. I was shocked at the change in my mare when we started trimming/shoeing differently to address the NPA (which I wish I had taken xrays for earlier).
Also definitely check for Lyme. A simple blood test and it can cause such a wide variety of symptoms.
I might just go x-ray them. Going shoeless in the hind is not an option, but since he has custom shoes on the front (Rocker toe, equi-pak, frog pads), the farrier is perfectly capable of doing whatever my horse needs. He used to have shims on the hinds for “stifle issues”, which he didn’t have. Removing those helped his balance significantly (He was crossing his hind legs excessively). He grows a lot of toe which makes his heels go wayyyy down at the end of a six week cycle, thats why we shortened the shoeing cycle.
Exactly…I’m tired of not knowing…But the good thing about a mare is that you could breed her as long as she doesn’t have anything genetic. Unfortunately my gelding’s lovely personality can’t be passed down. But Sully is definitely my heart horse. My mom loves him too, which makes her willing to have put this much money into him.
A year. And about a month after consistent riding the issues started appearing. At first I thought it was rider error (Coming from ponies this horse was a Ferrari compared to them). But I’ve become a better rider and the horse was obviously reacting to pain. The owner I bought him from sold him to me as a third level schoolmaster (That was a lie lol), and he didn’t like to jump. He lives outside, has forge (Great quality coastal round-bale) 24/7, is on a scoop of senior feed a day and supplements. He also gets a flake of Alfalfa in the evenings.
Omeprazole on its own can cause or exacerbate hind gut issues. So, if your vet will do it, you can try a compound of omeprazole and sucralfate, OR, go right to www.abler.com and get their separately omeprazole and sucralfate products, and see what happens
PSSM is also something that can cause things like this, along with Lyme. DNA/hair testing for Type 1 PSSM is easy. PSSM2 testing is trickier. Since he’s symptomatic (for something), muscle biopsy would be the most telling. Hair analysis through EquiSeq is tricky, as none of their test results so far even correlate to results from horses proven through biopsy to have type 2.
What is “a scoop of senior feed a day”? What feed, how big a scoop?
This can definitely contribute to NPA, and the easiest fix is to try shortening the toe and letting the heel grow (which it sounds like you are trying). A lot of the time you don’t even need to go to wedges and just changing the shoeing can help. Sounds like you’re on the right track, but pictures of the internal structures can only help (and might help dramatically). For my horse, I could tell a major difference within 2 weeks of changing her shoeing, so I highly recommend taking pictures next time yours is due for shoes.
So definitely consider all the physical issues, but also consider that his lack of work ethic and resistant behaviors may have been what’s gotten this horse passed around and listed for sale at a low price.
After you rule out common physical issues, consider this may be a training issue.
Does he do any of the same behaviors lunging or doing groundwork? Does he like hacking on a long rein? Is he forward and in front of your leg? What does your trainer say and can he/she work him through the resistance?
Are you near anyone that could do a nuclear scan? I’ve read through forums on here where people got the scans done and what they thought was wrong turned out to be something else. Just a thought.
He gets half a scoop (2 quart scoop) in the morning and evening. The feed (Bluebonnet Feeds) is a Texan based company that only produces horse feed (Unlike some companies that produce cow and chicken feed). He was on a half a two quart scoop of Purina before I got him and his condition was overall lacking. Pretty much everyone feeds Bluebonnet out here, and all our horses look great. I think it could be muscular, so I have some Robaxin (Muscle Relaxer) I might be interested in trying. He always seems happier after getting his massage…
