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  Discussion on Neck, withers or back problem?
Author Message
Member:
Svroblin

Posted on Monday, Jan 27, 2003 - 7:16 pm:

I have a nearly 14 yr old t'bred who is in great shape and acts like a two year old when turned out, lunges sound the majority of the time. He does not enjoy being groomed and knashes his teeth at the thought of his saddle being put on. He is unsound with a rider on his back a good deal of the time mostly to the left but not always.He is shod every 4-5 weeks. His teeth are seen to by an equine dentist every 6 months. He is on legend shots every 2 months and has joint combo and buteless in his feed daily. I do chiropractic excersises with him and he is pampered beyond belief. This has been going on for almost 4 years and he is the love of my life and I don't know what to do. I am toying with buying a tad coffin saddle as I have read these are wonderful for horses with sore backs even tho' my saddle fits him corrrectly. What can I do to make some sort of a definate diagnosis, I have already spent a small fortune on vet fees and we are all stumped.Also, is there an arthritis medicine like vioxx for horses? I would be most grateful for any help.
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Monday, Jan 27, 2003 - 10:44 pm:

14 is not old. Have you ever tried him on bute? What does the vet say? How long have you owned him and what did he do before you owned him? What kind of work does he do now? You should probably start by going through Dr.O's lameness articles.....that should keep you busy for at least a week...( if you don't sleep )
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003 - 7:00 am:

Susan, if we assume that all has been done that can be done and this horse is still not meeting your goals, then is it not time to consider a horse that does. 4 years is a long time to be trying to work through a problem, whether lameness, back, or training issue.

If you would lke to see what else might be done diagnostically start with » Equine Diseases » Lameness » The Diagnosis of Lameness in the Horse. If you are intested in pain relief drugs see, Equine Medications and Nutriceuticals » Anti-inflammatories, Steroids, and Arthritis Treatment.
DrO
Member:
Svroblin

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003 - 7:30 pm:

Thank you both for responding. Elizabeth, I am reluctant to put him on bute as a permanent solution because of the fear that it would lead to internal problems. I have, indeed, been reading thru' the articles and am finding them very helpful. Dr. O, I have owned R.C. for 10 years and he is as much a part of my life as my children so there is no thought of replacing him. In fact I also own a very talented, good looking, Dutch Warmblood/t'bred cross and couldn't ask for anything more in a horse as far as she is concerned. She is my daughter's horse ..for the moment! The frustrating thing with R.C. is that all last season he was pretty much sound and showed very successfully, so altho' this has been an on going problem is has been intermittant. My next plan of action is to lunge him for the next week with only my training surcingle and side reins on (yesterday and today he was absolutely sound in both directions). After a few days of this I will put his saddle on and lunge him this way to see if the saddle makes a difference. Then I will put my trainer on his back and see what happens. I plan to use a magnetic blanket. I have been thinking all this time that it is something in his neck or possibly withers but after reading a few articles am leaning more to his back. I am determined to get him comfortable and back into action. It has become more noticeable that he is happy on the lunge but uncomfortable with a rider. If it turns out that this is a back problem.. then what? I schooled R.C. on the flat with very little jumping until he was about 9 then started to jump him but he has not been overworked in any way and for the last 4 years has had very regular and long hours of turn out before that he had only 1-2 hours a day. This is not a training or behavioral problem and I know it probably sounds as tho' I should just give up but if you saw him you would not think so. I thank you in advance for your time.
Susan
Member:
Mwebster

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003 - 8:05 pm:

Susan,
Did your vet give you a diagnosis? What tests have been done? I know firsthand just how easy it is to "spend a fortune" on therapies, supplements, etc. in the attempt to "cure" what ails a beloved equine. The experience surely convinced me all this stuff is futile if you don't have a diagnosis. Once you do, you can make informed therapy/work decisions. (BTW, if it is arthritis, there are many horses on long-term low-dose NSAIDs who aren't suffering side effects -- mine included.)
Best,
Melissa
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2003 - 6:41 am:

If it turns out to be his back, chiefly a diagnosis made by ruling out other problems, it depends on what exactly is wrong with his back, for more on this see Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Spine, Back & Pelvis » Lower Back Pain in Horses. Note: their is no evidence that magnetic therapy is beneficial for problems like this. On the other hand NSAIDs are very rational therapy, same reference as above.

Melissa's question is right on: what does the vet find when looking at the horse when he is lame?
DrO
Member:
Cara2

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2003 - 8:17 am:

Hi Susan,

Well done for checking out all the possible causes of your horse's problem so thoroughly. May I just add one thing though, and please don't take it as a critisism - have you had YOURSELF checked out? Horses are incredibly good at adjusting themselves to compensate for us on board, but sometimes it can have a bad effect on their body over time. The fact that your horse seems ok when no-one is on him could be a big clue. How many of us can honestly say we sit completely straight? We may think we do, but that's just because our brains have got used to our idiosynchrasies and our position in the saddle or whatever becomes "normal". Being right or left handed ourselves makes a difference to our riding - our dominant hand is stronger so the horse tends to be more bent in that direction. Why not have someone watch you really carefully, ideally an Alexander Technique trainer rather than a riding trainer. Your horse would find even a very straight, balanced rider uncomfortable still, simply because he has spent so long compensating for you so a change of rider wouldn't effect an instant cure. I spent 38 years completely failing to notice that my right shoulder sags - its really noticeable when I walk, but I never knew about it until a physiotherapist pointed it out to me. Goodness knows what effect that has had on my poor horse!
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2003 - 11:09 pm:

Susan, Is your horse off when you're riding him in a straight line, with a soft hand, at a steady moderate pace? Have the vets done x-rays and nerve blocks? Also, I'm another one with a horse on long term bute with vacations from it when she's not being used.
Member:
Svroblin

Posted on Thursday, Jan 30, 2003 - 7:14 pm:

Thank you all once again for your time. R.C. was nerve blocked 3 years ago when the vet thought he had soft tissue injury around his left front fetlock. There was never any swelling or heat in the leg at all but I did all the icing, cold hosing bute etc. He would be fine for awhile and then we'd be back to square one. This lead me to believe that it was not his fetlock but something further up. After he was adjusted by a chiroprator he was sound and appeared to be comfortable. Unfortunately we do not have access to a chiropractor or a regular basis. The most confusing part of this whole thing is that it is not consistent. There are days when I can go out there and he will be sound both ways...the next day he's not. Two days later he is!! He does have a hard time scratching himself on his back bending to the left (if you understand me) and finds scratching his right side much easier. His work load has been very sporadic since June of last year as I have had serious back problems myself ending in a back operation last December 2001. Yes, Helen, I have considered that any of R.C.'s problems may well be caused by me!! I have a tendancy to DrOp my right hip. Anyway I will be putting the saddle on R.C. tomorrow and lunging him to see what happens and then the next step is to put his trainer back on his back so that I can see what he's like. I will plow on like this and it may be that his work load has been too sporadic and with some consistency on my part we will come through this. I have found this forum very informative and most helpful. I will keep you all posted.
My thanks again...Susan
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jan 31, 2003 - 4:09 am:

Let us know how it plays out and be sure to carefully study the Diagnosis of Lameness. I get the feeling that one of the things standing in the way of getting any further along is the continuing vagueness of the list of objective problems seen. Someone needs to get in there with the experience to make good observations that can further localize the problem so a diagnosis might be a bit closer.
DrO
Member:
Svroblin

Posted on Friday, Jan 31, 2003 - 5:11 pm:

Thank you Dr. O. Today, R.C. lunged sound again. I put his saddle on and altho' he was sound he looked uncomforatble and did not move forward as well. My trainer got on him and he was head bobbing off again. I called my vet and we are having a chiropactor on the Island next week. He suggested I get her to look at R.C. Then we would go from there and look into perhaps robaxin and he also said not to worry about long term bute if it comes to that as we can use a low dose to maintain himbut lets try to find out why his back is sore. He says he can do some acupuncture but wanted to see what the chiropractor had to say first. I will continue to lunge R.C. and hand walk out on the trails. I want to thank you for your time. I do have every faith in my vet but I guess I felt I'd exhausted his efforts for R.C. ...my fault, I have been so discouraged by the on again/off again problem that I lost track of where I was going. I am very optimistic (as you may have guessed!) that my boy will come thru' this and be back doing all the things he loves. As we speak he is out in the field covered from his head to his toes(hoofs) in mud..now that's what he really loves.
My thanks to you all. This is a great web site.
Susan
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 1, 2003 - 7:43 am:

I am not a fan of chiropractic for both logical and practical reasons. But if you feel it may be of benefit, I noted your earlier experience with it, sometimes that is the most important thing when symptoms are vague. Run a search on chiropractic for more.
DrO
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