New Pony, New Problems

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New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:54 am

I recently bought a 6 year old welsh gelding as a 'project pony'. He's been shuffled around to many different owners and is greener than the average 6 year old.

The folks I bought him from had hoped to turn him into a hunter pony and thought with time that would still happen. But he is the nervous sort and jumping stressed him out, particularly jumps that were new/different. He's a nice little mover and I thought both his sensitivity, his natural inclination to carry himself in a more uphill frame, and his desire for routine would make him a nice dressage prospect. When I tried him, he was worried, but listened and took in a not of new things in stride. It was clear that he had not just an uneducated mouth, but a badly educated one and was both tough in the mouth and reactive in a way that made me think that someone at some point had put a pretty harsh bit on him. But I figured with time we could improve that, so I wasn't too worried.

He came to me skinny and anxious, so my goal has been to take it slow and easy. He seemed worried by everything, but his reaction to things which made him uneasy was to hesitate and turn to his handlers for reassurance. This was something I liked about him. I put him in a routine of light, but consistent work (I want him to put on weight and to ease him into things). We did a lot of lunging in side reins and some quiet, easy rides focusing on consistent, steady tempo and a soft, even mouth feel. And although building strength and putting on weight takes time, he was showing steady improvement under saddle--starting to understand and accept half halts, softening in the jaw, starting to understand bend, and staying much more consistent in contact and in tempo without much effort.

He'd also had some anxiety around mounting up when I got him, so we spent time on that. And we'd gotten into a good routine of easy, calm mounting and then standing calmly at the halt for a bit until walking forward.

All and all good stuff.

Until last weekend. He was his normal self when i tacked him up and took him down to the arena. I went to get on him as usual, we stood quietly after mounting as usual. We went to walk off and he suddenly went straight up in the air, landed and started broncing around. I came off (I'm ok, just sore and bruised) and he continued to buck like crazy for awhile. I finally got him calmed down and caught. And put him on the lunge. He went up several times on the lunge (high enough that I thought he was going to flip over). I finally got him to a somewhat relaxed place in his work and with the help of a friend got back on, walked around some. Got off, got back on, walked around, rinse and repeat.

The next 3x I worked with him (twice lunging before, once without) he was far more anxious than he had been during our rides, but thankfully they were uneventful. And I was starting to think that whatever happened might have been a one time fluke, a pinched nerve or something, and now we both just needed to get our confidence back. Well...not so fast. Friday as I as adjusting stirrups from the ground before mounting he went straight up again and flipped himself over. I aborted the plan to ride him and put him on the lunge. He started out tense and anxious, but then calmed down into lunging normally and well with no other antics.

But now I'm stumped. Both times his episodes have come with no warning and no clear trigger point. I've had the vet look at him and while there are obviously a lot more involved diagnostics she and I can do, she did not find any pain points or symptoms that that steered towards a physical diagnosis.

I have a good bit of experience with green horses and problem horses, but normally I know or understand the trigger and therefore how to address it. In this case, I'm stumped and it seems to have suddenly started happening out of nowhere when things were going well. He's still relatively new to me, though, so i can't say that much about his norm. So, I was hoping someone here might have some thoughts on either further diagnostics to do or things to try.

I'm open to all thoughts.

Some factors that might be playing a role, though I'm not convinced any of them are the root cause:

*He's in dynamic frenchlink eggbutt with a flat middle piece. Could this be a bit issue?
*I put on alfalfa about a month ago to help him gain weight. i would imagine if he was going ot have a weird reaction to it, it would happen sooner, but maybe it's playing a role
*He's getting fitter and stronger and gaining more confidence in the pasture (he's rising ranks). This does not seem to me like "naughty" behavior, it seems like a pain or fear reaction. But it could be could be something else

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby khall » Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:12 am

I would be concerned about ulcers.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Josette » Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:57 am

khall made an excellent observation and I would pursue it. I went through a tough time when I purchased my "project pony" too. It sounds like you have more experience than me when I initially thought I got in a bit over my head. We did not have the rearing but he was extremely tense and nervous upon entering the ring - border-line bolter who tried it once while mounting. I did initially treat for ulcers just in case it was a factor and believe it helped. It has been a long journey to gain his trust but it has been rewarding for me. I hope you can salvage this guy and he can be rehabbed for riding again. My guy is finally my riding partner.
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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Chisamba » Sun Nov 11, 2018 3:29 am

Maybe the mouth sensitivity has nothing to do with harsh bits but is related to tooth or jaw pain

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Sun Nov 11, 2018 3:44 am

Chisamba wrote:Maybe the mouth sensitivity has nothing to do with harsh bits but is related to tooth or jaw pain


I'm certain something is going on with his mouth in one way or another--pain, discomfort, or past trauma. But I've had 3 vets check his teeth and all 3 have said teeth look good and normal.

I should have mentioned in the original post, but he's being treated for ulcers. It hasn't been long enough to fully heal anything, but the issues started after he'd already been on omeprazole.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Chisamba » Sun Nov 11, 2018 3:47 am

blob wrote:
Chisamba wrote:Maybe the mouth sensitivity has nothing to do with harsh bits but is related to tooth or jaw pain


I'm certain something is going on with his mouth in one way or another--pain, discomfort, or past trauma. But I've had 3 vets check his teeth and all 3 have said teeth look good and normal.

I should have mentioned in the original post, but he's being treated for ulcers. It hasn't been long enough to fully heal anything, but the issues started after he'd already been on omeprazole.


teeth can look normal from the outside and have root problems, I have discovered. You might need an Xray. It could also be in the jaw hing TMJ

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Sun Nov 11, 2018 3:59 am

Chisamba wrote:
teeth can look normal from the outside and have root problems, I have discovered. You might need an Xray. It could also be in the jaw hing TMJ


Oh! Hmm....I didn't think of TMJ issues but that would make a lot of sense since it would likely show up both in the lower jaw and in the poll...

I'm not sure what one can do for tmj in horses, but seems like a smart thing to look into diagnosing

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Chisamba » Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:23 pm

If it is TMJ you can have the joint injected fairly easily, ( like hock or other joint injections) does your pony seem to have a difficult time chewing something hard, like a carrot? that's one of the signs of TMJ. rearing or head tossing and mouth sensitivity is another

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby exvet » Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:28 pm

1. ULCERS - with his issues this can be a continuous problem requiring maintenance and management change (not sure how much turn out you're able to give, etc). I do not think this is his only issue but are likely not only secondary, persistent.
2. Dental X-rays and skull/cervical x-rays are highly recommended.
3. DID YOU BUY MY STINKER PONY? .......Seriously, he sounds very, very, very similar. In the end my guy had something similar to kissing spines. He still managed to compete up through PSG; but, I did retire him last year at the age of 16 due to it.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Fatcat » Sun Nov 11, 2018 5:29 pm

Sure sounds like pain to me. Have you had a good vet chiro out? I'd go down that route, could have ribs or withers out. Kissing spines is another thing that comes to mind.

On a different note, I have a nervous welsh also, and magnesium (MagRestore specifically), has turned her into a steady girl. She was very high strung and body sore, but since getting two scoops of MagRestore the change is dramatic. One scoop wasn't enough, she was very mag deficient.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:52 pm

Thanks all.

He'll continue his ulcer treatment for 28 days and then I'll taper off and he'll stay on a digestive supplement. I'll also look into magnesium.

The timing of all this isn't great since im about to be out of the country for a few weeks. But thankfully he seems quite comfortable in pasture and his stall and even when I tack him up, so it doesn't seem like the pain is constant. So he'll get a few weeks off.

When I'm back I'm going to call out the vet I use for dental (different than the one who has already been out). This vet is also a chiro and believes in always starting with the teeth/mouth before making any chiro adjustments. So she might be a very good person to come check him out.

Before I go, I'll probably keep doing ground work even if it's just in the cavesson to build back some trust.

Really hoping we can find what's going on and hopefully it's something treatable.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby silk » Sun Nov 11, 2018 9:37 pm

Teeth would be my first bet, sounds like you have that base covered, ditto ulcers.

Sounds weird but check for floating rib/s or other strange things going on with the ribs. Those odd floating ones aren't always connected where or how they should be and can be sharp and pokey. Combined with him flipping over, he may have damaged the ribs further.

Another thing to investigate would be pectoral muscles, pain there can be extreme, may be affected by the girth and thus you putting weight into the saddle could hurt.

I'd get a decent cranio sacral therapist to assess him also. They will be able to address TMJ, if it is affecting him.

Part of me says perhaps this is a "bigger" issue which is why he had a bit of rough treatment prior to you. Ie crank and spank to try to get him over it. Or something....

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:31 pm

silk wrote:
Part of me says perhaps this is a "bigger" issue which is why he had a bit of rough treatment prior to you. Ie crank and spank to try to get him over it. Or something....


It's so hard to tell when he's had so many owners in a relatively short span. I definitely think someone at some point did things that were not necessarily abusive, but not right for a horse like him. Maybe someone treating fear as naughtiness...and it seems he was corrected sharply at some point and some horses really don't do well with that. He was very flinchy with me when I first got him as if he was afraid I would hit him/handle him roughly. Now that he knows me, he's not flinchy with me anymore, but he still is with some of the barn staff that he does not know as well.

I tend to do well with nervous, worriers so, this was a project I was happy to take on. Of course, now we have a whole new dimension to the project that I hadn't anticipated. Hopefully we can figure it out quickly.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby StraightForward » Mon Nov 12, 2018 1:43 am

Do get him re-scoped before you taper off the ulcer meds. The mare I just got rid of had pretty severe ulcers that were resulting in similar behavior (nearly planted the trainer when they were just walking on a loose rein with nothing spooky happening). She was not healed after 28 days, we had to do 3 more weeks plus ranitidine and sucralfate to clear them up.

I really hope you can get to the bottom of it and get a positive resolution!
Keep calm and canter on.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Kyra's Mom » Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:10 am

You may have multiple things going on. I would definitely check for ulcers.

As to the mouth issue...it may not be "teeth" at all. I went through something similar with my mare in her younger days. She was very slow to mature and most of her 4 y.o. year I just putzed around with her in a rope halter. She was great....calm and cooperative. Come her 5 y.o. year and wanting to start real work, I got her used to the bridle. As I started taking lessons and asking for connection, she got very mouthy and ground on the bit a lot. As time went on, she got extremely spooky and very distracted. No amount of tactics seemed to get her back to me. She never went up...although I was somewhat surprised. She also was at times, like riding a runaway freight train she would bear down on the bridle so hard. I asked my instructor if she felt I could be the cause and she felt that no, I was not. She went similarly with her although by sheer body strength of riding multiple horses a day, she could get a little better result than me. One day after a particularly challenging lesson, I brought her out and dropped the bridle and really looked in her mouth and was horrified. She has very redundant cheek tissue in her mouth. Unfortunately, she also has what I would call a "dry" head which means she really doesn't have room in her mouth for all that flabby cheek tissue. I think what started it all was her distaste of tongue pressure so she would try to lift the bit off her tongue and pull it back in her teeth. When she does that, she pinches the crap out of her cheeks. She had bruising and blisters on both sides. I think the heaviness was an attempt to stabilize the bit but that I am sure just pinched her more. It was quite the saga and it took me over a year to find a bit that didn't pinch her like that. I ended up with a couple different mullen mouth bits that she was much better in. The more joints, the more motion and the more grinding on the bit and the more pinching. It was like someone flipped a switch and her demeanor under saddle was much better when I found the 'magic' bit. Recently I tried her in a Neue Shule turtle tactio and so far so good. She can get a little rubbing in those flabby spots but not the blisters and frank bruising. It has a little play in the mouthpiece and she can be lighter in it than the MM bits. I can feel her better in a bit that has a bit more play. I am also using a PS of Sweden bridle that has the different "anatomical" cavesson. There are now no straps pushing her cheeks into her teeth. The way the bit and noseband are constructed I think helps keep the bit off her tongue somewhat.

Anyway, for my horses's saga...it wasn't teeth (directly) causing the mouth issue but it greatly affected her demeanor and when her cheeks were getting pinched, she wasn't in much mood to listen to anything I suggested.

As I said above, I would guess you have multiple issues going on. It sounds like whoever had him before did nothing to get to the bottom of the issue and just roughed him up to 'show him who's boss' which just heightens the fear/flight response. Poor guy. I hope you can get to the bottom. He deserves a soft landing.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Mon Nov 12, 2018 2:06 pm

I also suspect there might be multiple things at hand here.

But I also keep coming back to the fact that he was doing so well and this seems to have suddenly happened. Yes, green and yes, with issues to work through, but nothing extreme or scary or dangerous or reactive. And at the time that this happened, there was no change in our schedule or in the type of work we were doing.

And while I wish ulcers was the issue (only because they are treatable), I honestly don't suspect that's what at hand here. He's not girthy at all and did not test sensitive to any of the pressure point tests the vet did. She suggested we treat him anyway because given all his changes and his general nervousness that even if he doesn't have uclers, he is a prime candidate for them.

The other thing I keep coming back to is that both times he had freak outs was at the very beginning--essentially before really moving (once with me in the saddle and once on the ground).

Though, the last few times he has been lunged even without incident, i haven't liked the look in his eye. It was not his normal soft expression or even his worried look. It was a harder, glassy look. Something is definitely not right and I want to believe that something has recently changed, but it's just so hard to tell.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Fatcat » Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:38 pm

One more thing I'd look into especially if this is the more heavily muscled welsh cob type -- PSSM. Do at least the mane hair testing for type 1 it's only ~$50, and if that is negative I'd highly recommend the muscle biopsy testing for type 2 that was ~$200.

I had a PSSM type 2 horse who was great during the warm weather months, but as soon as the weather turned colder in fall and winter he turned into a rearing, bucking maniac. He would launch me from a halt when I just asked him to walk off, he was very strong and powerful. It took me several years and many launchings to finally get a diagnosis, and I had to push my vet to do the muscle biopsy for the type2. He was amazed when he called me with the positive results---I wasn't. ;)

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:47 pm

Fatcat wrote:One more thing I'd look into especially if this is the more heavily muscled welsh cob type -- PSSM. Do at least the mane hair testing for type 1 it's only ~$50, and if that is negative I'd highly recommend the muscle biopsy testing for type 2 that was ~$200.

I had a PSSM type 2 horse who was great during the warm weather months, but as soon as the weather turned colder in fall and winter he turned into a rearing, bucking maniac. He would launch me from a halt when I just asked him to walk off, he was very strong and powerful. It took me several years and many launchings to finally get a diagnosis, and I had to push my vet to do the muscle biopsy for the type2. He was amazed when he called me with the positive results---I wasn't. ;)


He's the opposite kind of welsh! A skinny-mini and doesn't have particularly thick bone. Not a cob. Even when he puts on his weight and gets in shape he'll be fairly fine.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Beorn » Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:15 pm

Has he done it only when tacked up?

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Ryeissa » Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:39 pm

Take him off alfalfa.
I agree this sounds complex. I would hand walk him with a rope halter to see if you can start to separate mental and physical triggers.
Check for kissing spines or some other back issue.- wither pain, neck pain, etc. Sometimes that ebbs and flows based on weather and workload. No having much context this reads to me like the horses that I know that have kissing spines.
Sorry you are dealing with this!

If this was my horse I would X-ray his back, neck and jaw.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Fatcat » Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:55 pm

blob wrote:
Fatcat wrote:One more thing I'd look into especially if this is the more heavily muscled welsh cob type -- PSSM. Do at least the mane hair testing for type 1 it's only ~$50, and if that is negative I'd highly recommend the muscle biopsy testing for type 2 that was ~$200.

I had a PSSM type 2 horse who was great during the warm weather months, but as soon as the weather turned colder in fall and winter he turned into a rearing, bucking maniac. He would launch me from a halt when I just asked him to walk off, he was very strong and powerful. It took me several years and many launchings to finally get a diagnosis, and I had to push my vet to do the muscle biopsy for the type2. He was amazed when he called me with the positive results---I wasn't. ;)


He's the opposite kind of welsh! A skinny-mini and doesn't have particularly thick bone. Not a cob. Even when he puts on his weight and gets in shape he'll be fairly fine.


I'd still do at least the mane hair test. PSSM is way more common than you'd think.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:44 pm

Ryeissa wrote:Take him off alfalfa.
I agree this sounds complex. I would hand walk him with a rope halter to see if you can start to separate mental and physical triggers.
Check for kissing spines or some other back issue.- wither pain, neck pain, etc. Sometimes that ebbs and flows based on weather and workload. No having much context this reads to me like the horses that I know that have kissing spines.
Sorry you are dealing with this!


We do lots of ground work with both the halter and the tack. He's been fine and normal with both majority of the time. Even after both episodes he walked around calmly in tack later and was good and quiet without. Prior to the recent episodes I hadn't noticed any difference in his attitude or the way he moved with full tack, with no tack, with surcingle.

We have not done the x-rays yet but the vet did not think the cause was in the wither or back. But could be in the neck.

I thought about the alfalfa, but all my experience with horses who don't do well on it, the difference is pretty immediate--within 24 hours of being on it often. He's been on alfalfa at my barn for 2 months now (he wasn't on it his first month with me) and at his previous home he was on alfalfa pellets. Does it sometimes take this long for alfalfa to create problems?

Beorn wrote:Has he done it only when tacked up?


Yes, we've only had two incidents and one was just after mounting or when I was about to get on. But of course I've had plenty of perfectly good and normal rides and lunging sessions in tack before last week and inbetween.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Ryeissa » Mon Nov 12, 2018 8:28 pm

I'd still X-ray the back, change saddles, and take him off alfalfa. At this point the behavior is so dangerous I'd look at everything, but that's just me.
https://thehorsesback.com/c6-c7-malformation/
Check for pain behind the withers.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:47 pm

Ryeissa wrote:I'd still X-ray the back, change saddles, and take him off alfalfa. At this point the behavior is so dangerous I'd look at everything, but that's just me.
https://thehorsesback.com/c6-c7-malformation/
Check for pain behind the withers.


Oh yes, I'm not trying to argue against the x-ray. But I will start with jaw/poll and neck before moving since the vet checked for pain throughout the body pretty thoroughly and does not think it's wither or back. But of course if the first set don't show anything, then i will move to back.


The saddle has already been changed--the two incidents took place with different saddles.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby Ryeissa » Mon Nov 12, 2018 11:03 pm

Yeah. I have seen back problems not show overt symptoms but have secondary referred pain to jaw or hocks !

good luck! Its scary when that happens.

Let us know what you find out.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby exvet » Tue Nov 13, 2018 3:24 am

FWIW, my stinker pony wasn't receiving any alfalfa and still isn't. He still had episodes much like those you describe. He also doesn't have PSSM type 1 or 2 and he IS A WELSH .....COB. One of the confounding issues which you may be dealing with and I know I did was that his 'issues' were handled with a heavy and UNFAIR hand before I got him. This made his issues a combination of physical and behavioral, much like the layers of that proverbial onion. I never really identified his 'trigger' per se other than narrowed it down to something that he perceived to be affecting/hitting or coming from his right side. His episodes were out of the blue, intermittent with long periods of awesome, cooperative pony in between his meltdowns. You may never get to the bottom of them but like me simply figure out how to minimize their incident rate. What is very interesting to a couple of us breeders of welsh is/was that we had similar welsh individuals in that they demonstrated this 'violent' behavior and all 3 had a period of time on the same welsh farm. Not sure what may have occurred there but the notes we compared were far too similar to be just mere coincidence. I will say that they all 3 also shared a relative but that relative occurred anywhere from the 2nd to 4th generation and BTW not a welsh cob. Remember that the section A is the beginning and end of the breed, all 4 sections.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby khall » Tue Nov 13, 2018 3:32 am

I just want to point out unless you scope the horse you do not know if or how bad the gastric ulcers are. My mare Gaila did not have classic ulcers signs until she did (she "coliced" and was grinding her teeth) and the ulcers were bad. It took 3 months (2016) on gastroguard (thank goodness she is insured!) to clear them. Even so last time I had her scoped (earlier this year) she still shows small signs of ulcers and that was on gastrotech by Triple Crown. I have not had her scoped lately, though I probably should. She has been on Alfa Lox by Triple Crown since the last scope and I hope that is taking care of the issue.

Only one of my horses are on any grain, my old mare Gallie. The rest are on plenty of hay and lots of TO (usually). Gaila in particular has led a fairly sheltered life yet she still has issues with gastric ulcers. This just shows to me any horse can have them no matter how great the care of the horses are. I feed multiple times a day, small hay feedings throughout the day/night even while out of fields during the winter time.

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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Tue Nov 13, 2018 2:50 pm

khall wrote:I just want to point out unless you scope the horse you do not know if or how bad the gastric ulcers are. My mare Gaila did not have classic ulcers signs until she did (she "coliced" and was grinding her teeth) and the ulcers were bad. It took 3 months (2016) on gastroguard (thank goodness she is insured!) to clear them. Even so last time I had her scoped (earlier this year) she still shows small signs of ulcers and that was on gastrotech by Triple Crown. I have not had her scoped lately, though I probably should. She has been on Alfa Lox by Triple Crown since the last scope and I hope that is taking care of the issue.


Yes, for sure, he will continue on the ulcer treatment for at least 28 days (it's still early in the treatment) and then we will scope to see whether to continue or not. He will go on and stay on a GI support supplement whenever the ulcer treatment is complete (i'm using the pop rocks, which are a lot more affordable than gastrogaurd, but still not cheap).

I unfortunately don't have a ton of feed flexibility at the barn I board at. But any supplement can be given and horses are on 12+ hours of turnout a day.

exvet wrote:FWIW, my stinker pony wasn't receiving any alfalfa and still isn't. He still had episodes much like those you describe. He also doesn't have PSSM type 1 or 2 and he IS A WELSH .....COB. One of the confounding issues which you may be dealing with and I know I did was that his 'issues' were handled with a heavy and UNFAIR hand before I got him. This made his issues a combination of physical and behavioral, much like the layers of that proverbial onion. I never really identified his 'trigger' per se other than narrowed it down to something that he perceived to be affecting/hitting or coming from his right side. His episodes were out of the blue, intermittent with long periods of awesome, cooperative pony in between his meltdowns. You may never get to the bottom of them but like me simply figure out how to minimize their incident rate. What is very interesting to a couple of us breeders of welsh is/was that we had similar welsh individuals in that they demonstrated this 'violent' behavior and all 3 had a period of time on the same welsh farm. Not sure what may have occurred there but the notes we compared were far too similar to be just mere coincidence. I will say that they all 3 also shared a relative but that relative occurred anywhere from the 2nd to 4th generation and BTW not a welsh cob. Remember that the section A is the beginning and end of the breed, all 4 sections.


This is very interesting to hear, Exvet. I don't know this guy's breeding since he's unregistered. So, I can't even say for sure he's full welsh (or heck, that he's welsh at all!). But he does have a very type face, so I'm inclined to think he is either all welsh or at least half. Like your stinker pony, I am sure what ever is going on is both physical and behavioral because of past experiences. Though, I am hopeful that if I can identify the physical I can deal with the behavioral. Of course, if i cannot get the satisfaction of a clear diagnosis, I suspect I'll also be in the category of unpeeling layers of the onion.

It is a hard thing also because if I cannot get to the bottom of this, I don't know that I can keep a horse that is unpredictable and dangerous, but I also hate to give up on a horse who has clearly had a rough start and wants to please. This decision is not one that I need to make right now, there are still plenty of diagnostics that I am willing to do before having to make the decisions. But it is looming in the back of my mind.

exvet
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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby exvet » Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:20 am

Blob, I think I can relate to your dilemma. When I was first offered the stinker pony, I said, "ahem, thank you but NO WAY." Then a month later the breeder called me (not the owner who had contacted me first) and begged me to take him. I went to see him and caved. Fortunately despite being thrown 6 times over a 8 year period, I had a connection. He was still unpredictable; but, the episodes became so few and far between and he tried so hard to please. I decided after the first year he had a home with me for life. There was no way I was ever going to sell him and I already had a pretty good idea of that when I signed up to take him. I had taken on two others very much like stinker. One I found a home for in a very unique situation and it worked. The other was a mare who I NEVER EVER had an issue with despite all the history. She became a proven broodmare and none of her offspring have been difficult. The point is I think having a back up plan for these guys is key. I took them all on because I was so heavily involved with the breed and felt it was the right thing to do. I didn't take any of the three on for the purpose of resale. I just got lucky so-to-speak and stinker, well, he's my buddy so a stinker he shall stay until his time comes to join that huge welsh cob herd on the other side. Good luck with yours. It sounds like he's a pony worth saving though you might have to be flexible in what that pony's job eventually ends up being.

scruffy the cat
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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby scruffy the cat » Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:26 am

FWIW, my horse had multiple vets assess his back and say he was fine and only after 2 years of reactive behavior on the lunge- not even under saddle- did anyone x-ray his back and it turns out he had some of the worst kissing spines one vet had ever seen. Palpation doesn't always reveal everything.

Good luck. Sounds like a tough situation.

heddylamar
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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby heddylamar » Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:07 am

If you’re within driving distance of Middleburg, VA there’s a really great lamesness diagnostic practice. They do a lot of travel work for the US equestrian teams. I hauled my now mostly retired mare out there a few times to diagnose/treat her hocks and spine.

blob
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Re: New Pony, New Problems

Postby blob » Wed Nov 14, 2018 9:15 pm

heddylamar wrote:If you’re within driving distance of Middleburg, VA there’s a really great lamesness diagnostic practice. They do a lot of travel work for the US equestrian teams. I hauled my now mostly retired mare out there a few times to diagnose/treat her hocks and spine.


I am about 10 hours away....so not impossible, but not ideal. I am within a few hours of two good vet schools, which give you a lot of options of specialists/treatments in one place. But not sure I need all that just yet. This might be an easy find with some xrays or a more thorough look through the mouth.

scruffy the cat wrote:FWIW, my horse had multiple vets assess his back and say he was fine and only after 2 years of reactive behavior on the lunge- not even under saddle- did anyone x-ray his back and it turns out he had some of the worst kissing spines one vet had ever seen. Palpation doesn't always reveal everything.

Good luck. Sounds like a tough situation.


Thanks for sharing this, this is good to know. The plan right now is to start with mouth/jaw/poll and work the way back along topline with xrays. It's only being divided out like this because the best person to do really good dental work does not have x-ray capabilities, so looking at two appointments with 2 different vets at least.


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