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  Discussion on Tail injury?
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Member:
lisabel

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 7:09 am:

This is a bit of a long story, so bear with me. My two year old filly is reluctant to do more than a little trotting out in the pasture though she is not lame, has a tightly clamped tail, and a very very bad attitude (angry, bordering on aggressive). I wish I could say this is a new development, but it is not.

She was born with an overbite, which the vet school felt I should have corrected. In she went for surgery for braces at the age of 5 months, at which time other than the overbite she was a normal, though strong-willed, filly who was trusting, friendly and healthy.

The procedure did not work as planned and resulted in a couple of more attempts and eventually giving up on the braces. However, her three stays in the hospital were not good experiences and she was very difficult for the vet techs who were caring for her. I came one day to find three of them manhandling her to give her medicine. The comment when I took her home was it was good I had a better relationship with her than they did.

But no longer. She was absolutely defensive, and appeared to hate all people from that point on. Pinned ears and pointed hindend were the order of the day. I figured it best to let her be and hope that she would slowly regain trust since I assumed that it was a psychological issue.

On the pasture I noticed that she didn't run around as much as I would have expected a foal to do, but didn't put much weight on it. She was weaned and then put out on pasture with some other horses to grow up a bit and hopefully forget her bad experiences.

Now, however, things seem to be getting worse, and her limitations in movement are unmistakable, as is her tightly clamped tail. She has been radiographed at 18 months for OCD and is clear in all the joints checked. She has not swellings in her legs so I do not believe her problem is with her limbs.

However, it dawned on me a couple of days ago that perhaps at the vet hospital as a foal one of the handlers could have wrenched her tail so hard backwards in trying to restrain her that she could have sustained an injury that has been haunting her ever since. Thus the evil attitude, defensiveness and lack of willingness to move out.

What would the symptoms of an injured tail be? Could this explain what I am seeing? I am making an appointment with a vet/chiropractor to have her examined, but I would like to hear if you think this is a plausible scenario and if she indeed has an injury to her tail/spine, is there anything to do for her now?

Thanks, Lisa
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 8:34 am:

Ah, poor thing, she sounds to be in pain for sure. I wonder if her tail if broken? Is that possible?

Can you try some gentle massage the while waiting for the vet/chiro to come check her over? If you can tie her, and start even at her withers, and see if you can very, very, gently go along beside her spine, back off if she pins her ears, and try again. If you find an ouchy spot, gently work it. I mean fingertips barely touching the hair gentle! Watch her ears and eyes they will tell you if pain or pleasure. It might take a very long time to get near her tail end, but that's o.k., she sounds like she has to gain trust again.

Just wear a helmet, and be extremely careful. I have an older Arab mare who will get ornery if she is in pain any place, so what your filly is acting like is normal for being in pain IMO.

Curious to see what DrO thinks of the tail, and what to do.

Good luck!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 11:10 am:

Hello Lisa,
Hmmm though I do not find this a likely cause it is possible that chronic pain associated with people could cause a horse to behave this way. The only way to diagnose and treat this is going to be to get the little horse up and sedate and examine the tail.
DrO
Member:
lisabel

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 11:22 am:

The good thing is that she loves to be scratched. You can clearly see the conflict she has: come close and be scratched or keep away and feel safe. She usually ends up sidling up with a shoulder and we scratch each other. I make a point of stopping before she is done, moving away a few feet and if she comes up she gets more scratches. I can scratch her all over in that way though she will not lift her tail the way my other horses do when I scratch at the side of the tailroot.

But lately the scratching has not been enough of a temptation for her to overcome whatever else is bothering her so instead of sidling up for a scratch she is pinning her ears, baring her teeth and generally saying "Stay away!".

I have been unable to find any areas on her back that she reacts to. I haven't manipulated her tail though.
Member:
lisabel

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 11:32 am:

I have also given her a month of Gastroguard in case her attitude problem was due to ulcers, but that didn't have any effect, and naturally had no effect on her movements.

Dr. O, I think perhaps it is not so important if it is chronic pain *associated with people* so much as chronic pain itself that is the cause her both the attitude and the restricted movements. And would it be plausible to suspect a tail injury. Do you have any other suggestions about what would cause restricted rear movement, clamped tail and hunched hindquarters?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 12:25 pm:

In my experience, clamped tail and awkwardness in the rear end can indicate lower back or tail injury. We had a young horse that flipped over and landed on his back, and this was the way he moved. Also, if a horse has ever been mal-nourished or underfed, they can become very protective of their food and be very aggressive toward people as well as other horses. This takes some training plus a lot of good food to correct. You may have a couple of different things going on at the same time here. I'd try and resolve possible pain issues, while at the same time review her feed and compare what she's getting to the articles on HA on feeding young horses. And, I'd certainly address the behavior issues. If you feel you need more help with that, there are several good books/DVDs out that would be very helpful, John Lyons did a whole series on training foals through age 2 I think it was. It's a great series. I know Clinton Anderson has some material out there also, and am sure there are others. Most of these are sold through the tack catalogues,like Stateline. There's also a web site that deal just with horse related books, but I can't remember the name of it.
Member:
lisabel

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 12:37 pm:

Hi Sara,

Thanks for the ideas. Normally I would never let a horse, particularly a young horse, "get away with" the kind of behaviour this filly shows. However, I do believe that in her case, coming down on her for her defensiveness will only serve to reinforce her behavior and prove to her that she is right to be defensive. I have chosen to take the ignore approach and simply pretend I don't see the ugly faces she makes. She has never bitten or kicked, only postured.

She has never been malnourished, and the behaviour started abruptly with her experience at the vet hospital. I have no doubt that is the point in time, but I am in doubt if the cause for her behaviour is purely mental or physical as well. Since she lately has been getting worse without any change in her routine makes me lean toward the chronic pain hypothesis. Plus her movement restriction seems more exaggerated at the same time and there has to be a physical cause for that.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 1:18 pm:

Lisa, by using the term "training" I'm in no way suggesting you should "come down on her" for her misbehavior. There are other ways of handling her that I think would help her overcome this regardless of the cause. And, I would, as Dr.O suggested, really check out her tail and lower back.
Member:
lisabel

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 1:38 pm:

Sorry if I misunderstood your Sara. Most people I have talked to about her behaviour inevitably mention things like whiffle bats

I am definitely checking out her lower back and tail. I earnestly hope we find something treatable.
Member:
paul303

Posted on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - 10:33 pm:

Lisa, have you ever tried giving her something for pain just to see if it loosens her up a bit?
Member:
paul303

Posted on Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 - 12:05 am:

I meant to add that it would be just a tool to see if there is any relief on pain medication.

A few years ago my QH mare was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of ulcers. She was at the hospital for 6 or 7 days. She had all the exams, scoping, IV, meds, tests, etc. She came home utterly disenchanted with people, almost dangerous at medication times. We have a large rubber matted area in our barn with ties and spotlights for tacking up and treating our horses. Once home from the hospital, she refused to step on the mats or approach this area - even though it never bothered her before the hospital.

As her ulcers improved, her attitude improved, but gaining her trust back took an easy year and a half. She's fine now.

At least we knew for sure that we were dealing with physical pain and emotional trauma.

You've got your detective work cut out for you....pain, psychological trauma, or both?
Good luck!
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