Disclaimer that this is more of a rant. I know everyone has the right to do what they want with their horse. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating though. Hoping everything works out in this current case.
I’ve been riding others horses for the last 4-5 years and getting paid the last few years. I do it on the side and it certainly isn’t my priority, but I’ve always enjoyed working with horses and adapting to how each learns. It is also the only way I can ride right now due to finances being tied up with post-grad. During the last 5 years, I’ve encountered a number of situations where the horse comes up lame, but not 3-legged lame. It becomes very noticeable under saddle, when I get to the point of asking them to engage and has caused issues under saddle. Perhaps I am more sensitive to it because once upon a time, I wanted to be a vet and travelled with an equine vet for 4 months to help and learn. So I learned a lot about what to look for and also saw how bad it can get if the horse is pushed. Despite that, I usually only bring up the vet when I feel it has become a persisting issue that is causing issues under saddle.
More recently, I’m working with a 3 year old. Things were going really well, until the horse got kicked in the hock. No vet was called, which is fine because it seemed to have healed alright. But now, it seems the horse is off in the hind end (not sure if hock is related or not). I have been keeping an eye on it and let the owner know/ update them. It seems to be persisting and now the horse does not want to circle right without a bit of a fight and looks stiffer on the lunge line. Another boarder noticed and I had them hop on so that I could see and yes, the horse is absolutely dipping at the point of hip, when asked to engage the haunches more.
I let the owner know that the issue was getting worse, more visible under saddle, and they aren’t worried and said to keep working the horse full. When the vet comes for someone else, they will have them do a “quick” check, which I am really happy about, but unsure if a quick check will really find anything (I sure hope so). I told them that I could do other things in the meantime, to give the horse a break on their hind end until we can figure out what is going on. The owner wants me to keep working the horse full tilt under saddle and they are “okay” if the horse comes up lamer. They lunged the next day and said the horse looked sound (the horse was still off and tilting it’s SI, but it is a lot more subtle on the lunge line) and again, told me to ride if the horse wasn’t visibly limping. The thing is, the owner does not ride near what I have been asking of the horse and barely trots, so it wouldn’t be super visible I guess without that.
I realize vets are expensive these days (I have my own retired horse) and some lameness’ pass with time, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I would not be out here advocating kindly for a vet if it weren’t something met with a road block. What’s more is that these owners seem to spare none for fancy tack and show expenses, but when it comes to the vet…nada. I have backed out (nicely) out of situations before and it was found a year down the road that the horse had an issue, which resulted in another rider being catapulted off after trying to push the horse past the behavior induced by pain. All these situations just have me excited for when I can eventually by another horse and not have to worry about the horse’s or my safety due to undiagnosed issues. I miss the solace that comes with working on my own horse, though I do very much appreciate the riding opportunities that have been offered to me.
I guess I feel somewhat uncomfortable doing so because my mind goes to if it is a ligament issue or something of the sort that will get worse, then that could mean extended treatment or even permanent lameness. I also feel uncomfortable because of how young the horse is. I don’t want to be making bad experiences. I always have half a mind that if the horse DOES go 3-legged lame and it’s a serious issue, it will come back on ME because I was the one to ride the horse.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to chase it to those heights. My own horse had a genetic disorder and was ultimately retired, but I only spent around 3K with a specialist. I do have caps in what procedures I will and won’t do.