Any ideas what might be going on with dd’s horse?

[Pleasedontdothat]

DD’s had her mare for two years - dressage is not her favourite thing but she’s a jumping machine, especially XC - she lights up
when she sees the XC course and has never had a XC fault. They did mostly 100s in their first season together then last year went up to novice - she had no problems and has been schooling over intermediate fences and doing 1.15s and 1.20s BSJA over the winter. In two years she’s never had a lame step.

Dd gave her a few weeks off over Christmas but when she started bringing her back into work she was bucking in canter - very unusual for her. We got the vet out who couldn’t find anything in particular apart from tight hamstrings - she sailed through flexions etc - she said give her some intensive physio and if she was still bucking to call her out again. The physio thought she was a bit tender on her back so we got the vet to do back X-rays - these were inconclusive as although three of the processes were close none were touching and the vet said she was pretty sure they weren’t dealing with kissing spines. They nerve blocked the back and she’d stopped bucking on the lunge, dd lunged her again the next morning and she was still fine but when she got on her yesterday she was bucking again. Saddle has been checked and is a good fit - and saddle fit problems wouldn’t explain bucking on the lunge.

Any ideas where we go from here? The vet (very experienced competition horse vet) is a bit stumped. She’s said we could inject her back and SI and see if that makes a difference but I’m a bit reluctant to medicate symptoms without knowing the cause 🤷‍♀️

Thank you @Ryebreadandpickles654
@elastamum that’s reassuring to hear and yes @CaptainClover we will take it very slowly and follow the rehab instructions to the letter.

My horse has recently had the surgery. She is getting rescanned in two weeks then hopefully start the rehab exercises!

I hope your horse makes a full recovery @Newuser82

Sorry to hear this @Pleasedontdothat , your poor daughter doesn’t have much luck with her horses does she . Hope the horse recovers well .

Thank you @Floralnomad - dd is not in a good place at the moment 😢. She’s feeling very guilty that she didn’t notice there was something wrong until her horse started bucking. I’ve told her she couldn’t have known - she flew through a 5 stage vetting and has been seen by multiple highly experienced people who hadn’t noticed anything either. We’re just keeping everything crossed that the surgery goes well - she wouldn’t be an easy horse to retire at this age so I really hope it doesn’t come to that

Have a look into Indiba treatment during rehab. Fantastic results with suspensory issues.

Oh bless her , it’s hardly her fault . Is it something that should have been picked up in the vetting ? I assume you have her well insured ?

@Floralnomad she was vetted by one of the top performance horse vets in the country who said she was absolutely suitable for eventing. As I say she’s never had a lame step with dd (until now) and I think it would only have been apparent if we’d scanned her legs - X-rays didn’t pick it up. We are insured but the experiences of quite a few friends recently means I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t all get covered 😬

Indeed insurance can be a minefield , many years ago we made a claim for lung problems for one of ours and they’d already written to tell me it wouldn’t be covered in future before they had paid out 😀. Hope it all goes well 🤞🏻🐎

Mares can start to buck when they develop ovary issues. Something to get checked perhaps.

Ignore my precious message I didn't read your whole thread. Sorry to hear about the suspensory issue

It could still be her back or neck. Tight hamstrings will effect her back muscles. Although the saddle is a good fit, have you got supportive saddle pads? Perhaps a specialist one would be a good investment, just to cross the t's.
Does she buck on both sides on the lunge?
How is she getting up from a roll in the field? Stiff looking? Or not a bother?

Sorry wrong thread!

Funnily enough I was thinking about this thread because DD’s mare is in the last straight of her rehab - it’s been a bit up and down and she developed ulcers (not surprising really). She’s been on the ulcer meds for a couple of weeks now and for the last couple of days has been really cheerful and rideable so dd is feeling cautiously optimistic 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Hope it works out well for her 🤞🏻

Hope all goes well, and she's back on track xx

Thank you - she’s had her first dressage lesson and was lovely and relaxed and her first little jump which was exciting but completely under control so 🤞🏻she’s heading back to full work.

Fantastic news - rehab can be tricky, and sometimes when you're meant to be taking things steady, they have different ideas.....

Glad you got to the bottom of it - my pony had both hinds diagnosed with suspensories a few years ago - absolute nightmare. Extended box rest resulted in ulcers (now treated and permanently on specialist feed and medication to prevent recurrence), hocks and SI all suffering (all treated) - basically he's been in and out of rehab for years! But vet was brilliant, he's on a specialist rehab yard anyway, and he's now right as rain and out competing again. He gets regular physio and is reported as now being the best he's ever been, so it's all good. But at the time I honestly wondered if I shouldn't just retire him. Glad I didn't - he's loving life again!!

Just a quick update for anyone who might be interested or in the same position we were at the beginning of the year. Dmare is looking absolutely fantastic now - dd changed job in the summer which meant the horses were moving too - it looked like dmare had taken the move in her stride but she developed ulcers (I suspect it was the cumulative stress of the injury, surgery, rehab and then the move on top of all that). The ulcers cleared up very quickly with treatment but then she came down with a respiratory virus which she didn’t manage to shift for about five weeks so she had some more time off. So she’s been brought back into work again slowly over the last couple of months and she’s like a different horse - she’s (mostly) very calm, beautifully rideable, she no longer has a strop all through a dressage session, she’s finally clicked with simple changes and she’s back jumping fabulously. DD’s very cautiously and with everything firmly crossed starting to plan next season’s events.

Good to hear things are going well,

Good update - glad its working ou!

Great news.

Rising 10? Would he expect a 9 year old eventer to have problems?

I wouldn't think so. Age is no guarantee of condition. The horse I ride for lessons is an ex showjumper, he's 18 and in spectacular shape. He too, lights up at the sight of jumps, its like the years fall away. He's a machine and will jump anything. Loves showing all the flashy youngsters he's still got it!