Unfortunately I did try as much trazadone as I was comfortable with, to no effect. New Bolton confirmed that it was a pretty good dose for his size and if it was going to work, it should have.
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Just finding this thread and I just wanted to say I’m so sorry you are going through all this with your special guy. It really makes my heart sink but I hope that treating ulcers might help you get to the bottom of this.
As you know I’ve also been going through a really hard time in life so I definitely can understand how these things can just throw us over the edge. Sometimes you just want a little peace in life right? Horses aren’t for the faint of heart. I feel like I’m always ready to have my heart broken anymore.
But then I’ll watch everyone else and everybody else is having a blast just riding their horses. I KNOW it can happen. And I really hope that things get better so you can keep enjoying your boys.
Best of luck and always hear to talk!
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Thank you, @Lunabear1988! I know you have a lot going on as well–definitely more than I do. I’m glad to see on your thread that things are trending up a little. But yeah some days the pile-on just seems ridiculous.
I know exactly what you mean! After I had to put my DSLD baby down, I think my heart really hardened. I pretty much assume they’re all going to break down at some point so it’s never a surprise anymore when things go wrong. That sounds awful, I know.
I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good times with the subject of this thread in the 4 years I’ve owned him. Truthfully, he’s kept going super well under saddle throughout this entire sleep odyssey. Sometimes I feel like maybe it’s harder on me to watch it happen than it is for him to experience it! I also think, if he feels this good on zero sleep, imagine what a rockstar he’d be if he’d lie down…
Re: watching everyone else, try to keep in mind that social media tends to skew really positive, and also that not everyone has as good an eye for discomfort or as much diligence about addressing it as you do. It’s a blessing and a curse!
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No real update but the synchronized rolling in this video cracked me up:
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Also laughing at the TB (bay, in case it’s not obvious) letting the baby WB win the race to the gate!
(I’ve been videoing his rolling lately in case that offers some biomechanical clue as to why he won’t sleep. If anyone sees anything interesting, I’m all ears. Vets haven’t had any comments.)
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I totally know what you mean. I’m definitely a bit more detached than I used to be. But I’m still here keeping on.
You’ve had such a great time with this horse. And you might be right that it is harder on you than him.
I try to remember that not everyone is really paying attention to their horse’s like us or many here on COTH. Sometimes I wish I was a little bit more oblivious lol.
I once rode a horse for a lady who I was told could be an asshole. I was told to ride him in a Pelham and with spurs and whip. He was nearing retirement and was always having injections and like all of his joints. She was of the opinion that he should keep in some type of work and I wouldn’t say I disagreed necessarily. But I did feel like the horse was dealing with a lot and then he didn’t necessarily have a bad attitude. He was just giving all he could. So when I rode him I didn’t really expect much. I just let him go around on a loose rein and focused on myself honestly.
Then suddenly he rolled and went obviously neurologic, like struggling to get up. When they x-rayed his neck, which apparently had never been done before, they found pretty severe arthritis in every vertebrae. And an old fracture. The horse had been struggling for a long time and the neck was totally missed… Instead everyone thought he was a lazy a*s&ole. I won’t lie and say that I knew it was his neck but I just knew that he was giving what he could!
And because of that it’s hard for me to reconcile with being blissfully unaware. Even though I think the people around him were truly trying to do their best for him. But still. Something big was missed…
Anyways sorry for my long winded story. But you are such a good horse owner and I know sometimes it feels like a curse. And I totally understand completely. I have some faith that you guys will be okay through this. You are due for some luck. Crossing my fingers and toes.
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Guys! We’re 10 days into ulcer treatment and my husband caught him sleeping!!! He went out to take their fly masks off for me at 9 pm last night and Z was sternally recumbent with his nose resting on the ground and eyes closed, clearly asleep! Hubby thought he was looking at the wrong bay horse at first! I’m trying not to get excited prematurely but…
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OMG that’s wonderful!!! Hope this turns into a trend. Anything else you are noticing on the ulcer meds? This is just about the timeline where my boy showed positive results.
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Yay for laying down and snoozing!
I believe ulcers are often the culprit more than we realize with the myriad of behaviors our horses present. I’m so glad treatment seems to be helping him!
I love the rolling video! Two lovely horses!
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Yay! Fingers crossed this is the turning point for him!
Yay! I hope it continues.
I’m catching up on this thread and glad to see he is sleeping!
As for the meds, at one point I was doing Sucralfate 2x a day plus Gastrogard. I was doing self care and had flexibility, but my vet said to just give the Sucralfate with AM and PM meals (which were small for this horse) and then Gastrogard around lunchtime (worked out to about 5-6 hours between doses). And yes I’ve also heard of having some of these on an empty stomach, but I never fasted that horse as I felt that would have made things much harder and even worse on him. I prioritized turnout over no food. I was then to keep the horse on Sucralfate 2x a day for at least another month after I finished tapering off GG, then went down to 1x day before discontinuing. Did seem to be the right thing for that horse.
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Some excitement here this weekend so I thought I would update. In September Z scoped beautifully clean after 28 days! He was still nodding off in his stall though (and actually he didn’t change at all on the ground or under saddle—which I guess means I won’t know if the ulcers recur unless I scope him again). They’re out full time now that it’s not so hot, which makes his sleep harder to monitor, but the others lie down to nap and he still doesn’t stay down for more than a few minutes as far as I can tell.
So, I finally decided to try another environmental tweak and introduce a bossy mare. Meet Frankie!
She came home last night and even though two of my three horses have lived with (male) donkeys before, all three of them completely lost their marbles at first. Z was terrified. Petey was obsessed and tried to inhale my clothes that had her scent. The 27-year-old, F, got over it the quickest so he and Frankie have been turned out together today.
Of course because that’s how it goes with horses, F has now decided that Frankie is HIS sister/wife/emotional support donkey. I tried switching him and Z, and F jumped over/through a tape fence to get back to her. I should be annoyed but it’s the most he’s cared about anything in ages and it’s like he’s suddenly 10 years younger. He was even standing up to Petey, who gives him none of the respect he’s due in his golden years! F has lived with mares before and never gotten attached, but maybe she’s just that sexy.
Petey was also showing off for the lovely lady today:
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Hopefully they’ll all chill out a bit and can eventually go out together. For now, here they are in their separate pods:
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OMG She. Is. Gorgeous. Cannot wait to see more pix!!!
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For you!!!
They’re separated again for the night because the old man’s possessiveness is totally over the top and everyone needs to rest! The dynamics were really interesting but I was exhausted just watching them all day.
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You know we need more frequent updates, now, right? Especially with pictures???
Those BROWS. 
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Frankie is adorable. I hope she helps:) either way, at least she’s adorable.
She looks so feminine with super mascara, no wonder the boys are worked up.
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OMG so sorry, I’m the worst for not updating sooner! Well, the week got off to an interesting start on Monday because the farrier came. The old man LOST HIS MIND when I brought them all in from the field and put him in his stall with the donkey in the little dry lot directly behind it, where the farthest she could possibly be from him was 43 feet. How dare I separate them like that?? He tried to climb out the Dutch door to get to her, so I let him out into the corral with her rather than watch him tear the barn down.
Then when it was time for him to get his shoes done I had to tie the donkey in the aisle so they could stand nose to nose during shoeing. Thank goodness she’s not as feral as I worried she might be and she stood very well. It was actually pretty darn cute:
He has needed Horselyx for shoeing lately because it is uncomfortable (he’s not nasty about anything but will just slowly start to sink down) – and interestingly, the donkey served as a perfect Horselyx substitute! As my farrier said, he might have a heart attack running around behind her after living a sedentary life for 5 years, but at least he will die the happiest horse on earth.
When it was time for Petey to get his feet done and the donkey was still tied right outside the old man’s stall, the old man freaked out and tried to break the door down rather than let Petey be in the aisle with HIS donkey. We had to trim Petey in his stall. 
Also, my farrier brought her cat to work (yes, she is a crazy cat lady) so it was a weird day all around:
I’ve turned out three of them together for short stints while I’m riding one horse, and there was a lot less running. However, twice I could not catch the third horse when I needed to because the old man was riling them all up into a chase. This weekend I plan to put all four out together and see if things have settled down a little…
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It’s an hysterical rom com, but I can see where you lose a lot of time keeping everyone in the right sight line for Frankie! Horses gonna horse though, and these guys sound like their hold world has shifted for love. Awwwwwww!
Might need another emotional support/wife/girlfriend donkey for Petey and Z now. 
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