Sudden behavior change.... need ideas

[CHoff]

Need ideas!
Gradual worsening behavior change over the past week.
5 year old mare started under saddle a few months ago.
…but freaking BROKE. Horse is usually really mellow, can be ridden WTC no bridle or halter, calm in crossties, dead head to lead. Occasional spook in the indoor but nothing extreme. SOLID citizen.

Over the past week the spooking and anxiety has gotten progressively worse, to the point where she is unrideable, crawling out of her skin, spooking in place at nearly everything in the arena, huge amount of tension. Started with spooking at one particular thing in the arena she’s seen a million times, and within 7 days every inch of the rail is terrifying. Feels like sitting on a bomb. On the ground, alert, spooky, unfocused, very anxious around feeding time, and jumpy which is VERY unusual.

Anyone with similar experiences? What are your thoughts? Obviously this is pretty upsetting to see.
(strange note: after our “ride” tonight leading her through the barn aisle with the bridle on, she grabbed the bar of a horse’s stall (with a blanket draped over) and put her whole mouth over it and bit down- almost looked like a windsuck?)

No weather change, no routine change, no change in turnout, well fitted tack. Dentist + chiro within past month. Diet wise, she’s on grass + a little alfalfa, but I have been supplementing with hay cubes (alfalfa+ grass mix) since the barn I’m at feeds 2 flakes at 6 AM and 2 flakes at 4 PM.

What are your thoughts? Can ulcers cause this much of a change?
She isn’t palpating sore on her flank, girth area, etc. Can they not indicate sensitivity here and still have stomach stuff?

TIA

[lenapesadie]

This sounds extreme. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that.

[Weezer]

I have not heard of such a fast, dramatic change. If she were like that just under tack, I would look for problems with the fit of the tack. My gelding once sent me a very clear message when a borrowed saddle didn’t fit properly. Faced with your situation, I think I’d call the vet right away because it seems pretty clear that something is terribly wrong.

[S1969]

@CHoff

No weather change, no routine change, no change in turnout, well fitted tack. Dentist + chiro within past month. Diet wise, she’s on grass + a little alfalfa, but I have been supplementing with hay cubes (alfalfa+ grass mix) since the barn I’m at feeds 2 flakes at 6 AM and 2 flakes at 4 PM.

Where do you live?

It has been the darkest week of the year, so in itself I consider that a change. Are you riding in the dark compared to before?

Are you positive she is being fed what you she is supposed to eat? No new barn staff that may have fed the wrong feed or supplement? Are you sure she’s getting enough to eat? When the grass is gone, sometimes my horse will keep trying to graze and ignore the hay, and she gets hungry and grumpy before she transitions to hay.

My mare also bite things when she’s annoyed or uncomfortable (e.g. standing in the aisle for the farrier). So, I totally understand what that looks like.

I agree that I’d try leading her or even riding without the saddle and see if you get a different response.

A vet call is a good idea, although they may not have any better luck identifying a cause. A blood test for Lyme wouldn’t be out of reason. It would also never hurt to try a week long course of ulcer treatment if nothing else pops up.

[sascha]

Ulcers - some are stoic until they are bad, or some sort of repro issue are the 2 things that come to my mind that I’ve seen make that degree of dramatic behaviour change.

[Aleuronx]

Send out blood to Cornell for Lyme Multiplex panel.

Whether or not Lyme infection I hope you get her figured out soon and feeling better.

[skipollo]

They can cause that much of a change. My horse doesn’t get girthy or funny about being groomed when he’s ulcer-y. I can brush and poke and prod all over him on the ground and he doesn’t care. His symptoms seem to pop up under saddle (I suspect we’re currently dealing with a relapse, actually.) He gets hot, frantic, basic things that were simple and easy a week ago are suddenly a big explosion. Last night we lost our absolute minds walking over a groundpole. He gets progressively more wound up during rides, and after some reading it makes sense because the acid sloshes around in their bellies as they work and gets worse/more painful as the ride goes on.

Lyme is also a good and cheap thing to test for. It can make them do some WEIRD things. My horse also has chronic Lyme, and he was showing similar symptoms–getting hot, frazzled, spooky, lost his mind over basic things. He would also ebb and flow–some days he was perfect, some days he was horrendous. The Cornell test only cost me around $100 and took 3 days to get results (might be a little slower with Covid? Not sure.)

[SolarFlare]

I’d also treat for ulcers. Mine was very similar - he also started fixating and spooking on some object while under saddle (the thing changed every ride, and it was always something he’d seen many times before and never spooked at). He would be lathered and dripping in sweat after a 20 minute ride in the dead of winter (in Ontario, so well below zero). Very anxious under saddle.

He also had that “jumping out of his skin” feeling on the ground. Sometimes he’d seem normal, then the next day he’d be spinning in circles around you when leading him to turnout, or I’d be walking him after a ride to cool down and he’d spook at nothing, break free, and tear around (broke at least one bridle doing this).

This is a horse who is normally quite laid back, very solid on the ground and under saddle, not spooky. I started him on omeprazole and within 2 days he was completely back to his normal self, literally riding on the buckle with no spooking.

[midkniggit]

I had a similar situation this year. My horse started just jumping out of his skin at everything, shuddered when I touched him, and one day literally fell down at my feet when I put his halter on.
I had a full workup done - His neck and back seemed painful & tense, but x-rays didn’t show any damage or arthritis. She thought his symptoms were very consistent with Lyme. His Lyme test came back positive, but extremely low, more like an old infection.

We then checked for EPM just in case, although the vet didn’t feel that he seemed neurologic, and it came back positive & consistent with active infection. The vet speculated that the painful, tense head & neck were due to him compensating for the EPM. She also found cataracts in one eye, though they weren’t bad, but probably made him spookier on that side when combined with everything else. She also considered the possibility of ulcers, but since he was going to get extended time off anyway, and on bute for a bit, we’d just give him Ulcergard and revisit if his symptoms didn’t resolve.

Post-EPM treatment he’s improving. We’re going to do a repeat Lyme test at his next visit just to double check.

[Posting_Trot]

I’d say test for Lyme disease, which can cause major behavioral changes, and treat for ulcers. Maybe also stop riding for now, and just focus on groundwork, hand-walking over poles, etc.

While you’re at it, you might have the vet check the horse’s eyesight as well.

Good luck.

[SuzieQNutter]

It could be ulcers, the anxiety at feed times is that eating grain hurts with ulcers, the looking like to windsuck can be with gut issues. This does sound more than behaviourful.

[joiedevie99]

In the order I’d investigate: Ulcers, Lyme, EPM, sudden eye/vision change, pasture injury/pinched nerve/fractured withers.

[candyappy]

@joiedevie99

In the order I’d investigate: Ulcers, Lyme, EPM, sudden eye/vision change, pasture injury/pinched nerve/fractured withers.

In addition to this it is possible that since she is so willing and quiet she has been pushed in her training . I realize that a 5 year old is more mentally and physically able to handle more than a 2-3 year old just being started, but that can also cause people to maybe, unknowingly, rush through.

Then one day it all falls apart.

[xQHDQ]

I’m thinking more it’s that she’s coming into heat for the first time vs ulcers. Could be quite painful, especially the early ones and something she’s never experienced.

[sascha]

The mare is 5. This is hardly her first heat. And exceptionally painful heats are not normal and should be investigated thoroughly.

Ulcers though? Extremely common.

[Critter]

No suggestions, but I am going through a similar thing with my 4 going on 5 yo. He seemed pretty quiet the other day with lunging, so I rode. We walked down the long side and next thing I know we teleported to the centerline (he’s almost 18h…so we can cover serious ground with a sideways spook!). No warning and nothing to trigger it. No bucking/balking/rearing associated. It was like something shocked him. I had changed his one supplement…he’s definitely better since I stopped the new supplement, but still not himself. Having the vet out to check eyes, mouth (he’s been doing some head flicking at random and rubbing on his leg), Lyme titer, and neck/back. He’s already on a Mg supplement and daily ulcer prevention and I did a few days of a full tube ulcergard with no change. Or maybe it’s just the winter baby brain!! My guy definitely does better with more turnout…and while he is out all day, it’s not the same as summer turnout.

[RhythmNCruise]

I dealt with this with a horse that I raised and broke and trained myself. I knew it wasn’t just a case of the sillies or anything superficial like the weather or being in a new place (we’d moved from my old farm where he was raised to a boarding barn, but his issues started many months after we moved). Without going into the details, it was caused by pain, and I believe for horses like yours and mine (he’s also a very laid back, sweet horse), this type of behavior is almost always tied to pain. I know without a doubt that was the case with my horse. It turned out to be back pain. Even after having a pro saddle fitter come out to adjust my saddle, my horse was still tense and sore through his back when ridden regularly. Started him on Smart Calm Ultra mainly for the magnesium, and his brain slowly returned, but he could still be reactive at times. Got a new barefoot trimmer to start doing his feet, and she discovered plenty of issues with angles and how he’d been trimmed his entire life that were partly responsible for his back problems. Finally, got him a new lighter weight saddle that fits him better than the old one (even with adjustments that were made), and he’s now a happy boy. Totally chill again. Oh, and the barn also switched from feeding a very high NSC grain to a much lower NSC feed, which has helped some digestive upset he was also experiencing during this time.

My horse was so reactive and unmanageable he was practically unrecognizable to me. It stressed me out a great deal to see him like that, so I understand how hard it can be. For him, he was caught in a vicious cycle of spooking causing his back to go into spasms which made him spook worse, which made the spasms worse, and so on. Poor guy. He’s such a good soul that he wants to behave, but when the pain was bad enough, he couldn’t help it.

Look at every physical possibility there is. In the meantime, don’t shy away from a calming supplement to help take the edge off of her while you investigate the root cause of her issue. It has to be horrible to be so tense and anxious all of the time.

[McGurk]

I had a similar issue once with a very sweet, well broke pony mare. Turned out to be an ovarian cyst that interfered with her hormones. The change in personality was very dramatic. Good news is this can be diagnosed by rectal palpation. So maybe put that on your list after ulcers, Lyme, EPM, etc.

[Critter]

@CHoff Have you found a cause yet?

Since I had mentioned going through the same thing with my gelding I thought I would add an update. Mine has been at the vet clinic for a detailed workup because of some additional symptoms. He’s now ataxic in addition to the behavior changes. We’ve been doing a ton of testing but so far nothing. The diagnosis is looking like EDM…which often starts with drastic behavior changes. We are waiting for the CSF testing to come back for EPM and Lyme (I never thought I would so badly wish for a EPM diagnosis)…but the vets think they will be negative.The myelogram was normal, so no Wobblers. I am having a really hard time knowing I will have to face saying goodbye to my boy next week…he is just turning 5. EDM has no cure and will only get worse, and we know he is showing signs of pain, so I won’t put him through being a pasture pet when he is in pain and neurologic.

[lenapesadie]

I’m sad to hear that