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Jasmine started acting very girthy, back sore and grouchy. Not her usual happy self. Treated her for gastric ulcers, hind gut ulcers. She seemed a little better with the ulcer medicine but not a drastic improvement. She seemed sensitive on her side where her dorsal colon would be so treated her for hind gut ulcers just in case. No improvement at all. Called the chiropractor and she found her back out slightly but no ribs or anything major. Took her to my vet and they did ultrasound with her portable ultrasound machine on that side and didn't find anything but she was definitely sore localized to her right side in front of her flank. Took her to another vet with a little better equipment and lo and behold she has about a three inch tear in her external abdominal oblique muscle on that side. I was just about to chalk it up to a "don't touch me there" spot but I'm so glad I listened to my gut and kept looking for an answer. She has been out of work since. My chiro started cold laser on her last week and she got her second treatment with the cold laser and kinesiotherapy tape today. She is a much happier camper!! She is dirty and if you look closely, you can see the area where the tear is is circled (so the chiropractor could find it if I wasn't home to show her where it was) but her happy face says it all.

WOW! You are a good owner to go the distance. Jingles for rapid healing!

I wonder how on earth she did that! I'm glad you got to the bottom of her problem!

Thanks goldhorse! Moutaineer, her nickname is Jasmanian Devil. She has some moves lol.

Glad you did a deep dive into her issues. She is really pretty.

Thank you so much for posting this. I swear, when I hear 'we looked, its not pain' I have to bite my tongue and not say 'well. you didn't look hard enough then!'. I get that further testing is expensive and there are lots of layers but for petes sake, give the poor horse the benefit of the doubt. Good on you for trusting her to tell you and to keep looking. Heres hoping for a full recovery.

PaulaO wrote:Glad you did a deep dive into her issues. She is really pretty.

Thanks PaulaO, I'm so happy to see her cute mischievous face instead of her crabby one.

Abby Kogler wrote:Thank you so much for posting this. I swear, when I hear 'we looked, its not pain' I have to bite my tongue and not say 'well. you didn't look hard enough then!'. I get that further testing is expensive and there are lots of layers but for petes sake, give the poor horse the benefit of the doubt. Good on you for trusting her to tell you and to keep looking. Heres hoping for a full recovery.

Yes, I was just about to that point myself but really felt deep down that she was hurting. Thought it might help encourage others to keep looking if they had similar issues.

That's really interesting that you did find a problem, but had to go the extra effort of finding it. Thanks for sharing.

Jan & PJ wrote: Yes, I was just about to that point myself but really felt deep down that she was hurting. Thought it might help encourage others to keep looking if they had similar issues.

Yes! So glad you dug deep and could help Jasmine.

I am going through the same thing. My usually cheerful, forward pony is grouchy and defensive. I am working through body work, saddle fitting, checking for ulcers. Have to do one at a time so I know what works, it's a slow process.

How on earth did you discover this muscle tear?

goneriding wrote:I am going through the same thing. My usually cheerful, forward pony is grouchy and defensive. I am working through body work, saddle fitting, checking for ulcers. Have to do one at a time so I know what works, it's a slow process.

How on earth did you discover this muscle tear?

We have a veterinarian in the area who is known for finding mystery issues. She also has a very good ultrasound machine. My usual vet had done an ultrasound with a portable ultrasound but just couldn't find it but she could palpate and localize where the pain was. The second vet did. We did do a 4 day bute test to see if that got rid of the pain which it did. Since that muscle inserts on the sternum and goes down the side and up to the lumbar area it explains all the behaviors we were seeing in her and why it was so difficult to narrow down.

Glad you got to the bottom of it, and hope your lovely mare is feeling better. How long will this take to heal?

StraightForward wrote:Glad you got to the bottom of it, and hope your lovely mare is feeling better. How long will this take to heal?

Vet said up to 12-18 months. We are about 7 months out from when I first started trying to figure out what it was. I take her back for a recheck on Monday. I'll give you an update. Hoping the cold laser is speeding the healing. She certainly isn't as tender on that side.

Update: 30 days from our previous vet visit. The tear is healing but still has a seroma or hematoma or just fluid traveling along the muscle fibers. Vet says I can safely put her back into work in 60 days. She no longer kicks or pins her ears when you touch her side but if you push hard she will still pin her ears. Vast improvement. The cold laser has really helped with the pain and healing.