I have a 9 year old mare I have owned for the last 4 years. She came off the track with 3 sporadic starts and was a dud on the track. The guy I bought her from was of the mindset you never discipline a race horse because it takes the run out of them. She kicked me day one and I started from square one with her learning that's not gonna fly.

since then I hadn't any type of issues with her. She has a dog like personality friendly in your pocket type really sweet. She maybe humped up once or twice when she was green but I just pushed her forward and she never once bucked. I actually didn't  really think she even knew how. Fast forward to last December I gave her a month off.  No other reason than we had been going and competing and training hard and thought it would be a nice thing to do to keep her loving her job. 

when I go to leg her back up in January she's a broncy idiot on the lounge line day one and a western pleasure pony by ride two. I spend about a month legging her up  she did buck one time under saddle when I put ball spurs on when she was being a little laggy going forward I don't normally wear spurs at all. She took a few leaps and I yelled her name and she stopped and I put her feet to work and that's the end of that. I take her to a race mid February. She's hot to trot and a handful in the warm up pen. Then she just breaks in two and puts on a show that was NFR worthy. Bucking, raring almost flipping over a few times and would not stop. I didn't come off but a crowd gathered, traffic in the parking lot stopped and people cheered when she finally quit. Totally unexpected but thinking just being excited getting back into it. I noticed she gets hot as horses come up behind her in the warm up pen so after this I warm up off away from other horses and she's going just fine. About a month ago I start going back to lessons and she's wanting to buck warming up but it's just a humpy step now and then and the trainer has me do a drill an we work it out. The trainer thinks she might be in pain so off to the lameness vet we go. Coffins and hocks injected and full ulcer treatment prescribed. Take her to one race after this and she's a new horse. Doesn't care what other horses are doing in the warm up pen. More relaxed more focused every is great. I have a chirp/ massage come out to make sure everything is good. Just been riding at home and able to get into one more lesson all is well. Then this past Saturday I decided to ride out in the pasture. I get on and barely have my other foot in the stirrup and she tosses her head side to side and breaks in two and goes for it. I try to pull her into a small circle but as soon as I make contact on her face she rares and nearly flips over on me. She goes for what seems like 10 mins alternating between bucking and raring before I feel her lock eye on the fence between our property and the neighbor and hit a dead sprint straight at it. I didn't know if we were going over it through it or what but she peeled away at the last second flinging me into it. 

I honestly don't know what to think. In 4 years never once bucked and in the last 6 months it started and it seems I have addressed the root already and there was no pressure I hadn't asked her to do anything at all. I don't know if she was just mad I would ask her to work in the pasture or if maybe she could still be in pain some where. I don't know if I should head back to the vet or send her down the road. I have zero desire to take a third ride on that level of rank. I already have high anxiety and it's too much. But it's so hard to give up on a horse I have put 4 years of work into. ??????

Sell her.

I dont know what to tell you to do except what does your gut tell you? Like do you feel like something is wrong with her?  It is very unusual that horses change that drastic if not hurting somewhere.  What you described as far as injecting and ulcers does cause behavior but Im not sure that extreme. 

Epm can really effect the mind  Or issues with the back   Something could have happened in the pasture during her turnout time.  You may never know or figure out what is wrong.  But your safety has to come first!  Go with your Gut! 

If you do find something wrong and can fix just go slow and make sure you and her ok riding!

Good Luck! and be careful!

Have your saddle tree checked by an expert!

First thing that comes to my mind is kissing spine. It can come out of

nownere when the pressure in a certain area is just right. Fine one day , lose their minds the next. Having said that , she does sound dangerous to me at rhis point. No need getting yourself hurt  she might be a hard sell with her history but that's the route I would personally take   

I would be inclined  to sell her...........and if only you kept her.....I would her vet look at her......and then move on from there.......and next a trainer that can ride the bronc out of  her if necessary........before I would get back on her........if I did ........and then I possible would still sell her if I did not feel safe on her...

Kissing spine or maybe EPM. 

This.... I sold one back to the trainer I bought him from because he turned into a bronc...  turns out he had KS , he had the surgery done on him because he was actually a really nice horse... and hes been totally fine since .. I hate that I didnt look into his issues deeper and try to solve them because hes a jam up rope and barrel horse... I messed up on that one. Major regrets! 

Sounds like kissing spines to me BUT you are already Leary of her and do you want to invest money in her for surgery not knowing the outcome. If you decide on the surgery, I would not have anyone do the surgery but Dr Honnas. 

That's why I am so torn. I think something must be causing it and it's been at sporadic. She is also a huge baby when it comes to pain. There was a time her and my cowhorse got into it and I came home in the dark to find her acting as if her leg was broken and refusing to bear weight on it and the cowhorse acting totally normal walk up like nothing was wrong. We didn't have lights in the barn yet as we were still building it so I haul them both off to the vet. This mare has a cut that needs stitches but is otherwise fine. The cow horse was extensively injured. 

Her back was out when she was bucking at the lesson when we decided to schedule the vet visit. My trainers husband is a chiro and adjusted her quickly but said it was likely to not hold till after vet work. By two days later when I took her to the vet the first thing he commented on was her low back being out. We thought due to hock pain so we injected and waited a week and I had the chrio come adjust again. Is kissing spine pretty obvious to where one or both of them should have noticed or do you need xrays to see it? Are there other signs of EPM I can look for?

I don't want to give up if it is something simple and she is in pain but I also can't keep dealing with that level of rank. The two times she's been really brocing I just tried to stay on and alive I wouldn't be able to correct her during. I have thought about sending her to someone that could but she's really really broke otherwise and it's been so sporadic she might not ever do it for them. I also think that's a pretty extreme reaction. My retired horse has sever arthritis and has some level of pain always and even on her worst day she wouldn't ever do anything unsafe. I am a mom and don't need that in my life. 

my instinct the second I realized I wasn't going to be able to stop her this last time, before I even came off was I am done. But I will of course be 100% honest and it will be a hard sell and as she's sat here the last week I have had so much time to think and I just wonder if we didn't solve the pain piece completely. My trainer wants to make some diet changes and see if that makes a difference. She's not a mean mare and this was the first time she had gotten me off so I don't think that would be a motivation. The first time she did it was about 15 riders before our draw and after I had a panic attack I went and ran her and she ran completely fine. She's never done anything at all in a run. 

I have a message into the lameness vet that just saw her to ask for an eval to see about kissing spine. I will ask about EPM too. Thank you guys for your help I will update when I have answers. 

EPM can sometimes be a hard one! It wont hurt to treat but I bet you got more going on.

From what you are saying I would lean more to something pinching her or causing pain.  Try to keep as simple as possible  Write it all done like when did it start  what saddle did you use, bridle, if you done any changes and when did you ride? when does she get ready to blow like as soon as your butt hits saddle? or few steps. or in middle of warm up  Every detail that you can think of  When she was good what did you do then and then you can compare.  How is she acting in the pasture? Watch how she moves in walk trot lope and fast run in roundpen or leadline.  ask her to turn at these different speeds.  Since you say she does the sporadic by writing it done might be able to help to where to start. 

Kissing Spine Dr. Hornas would be my go to! You can look up his history and you will see why!  Also, if he is too far away, get with a vet with a really good xray that can xray the back! Not all vets can do this with their machine!  Kissing spine can be anywhere on the back.  If she has a low back towards the front like sway back but not swayed back, I would start at the witers if money an issue.  You can send the xray to Dr. Hornas and he will tell you without you have to go there if you have kissing spine. 

I lost a horse a couple years ago,  He could move in the pasture and in the roundpen at different speeds but when their was weight on his back he wouldnt hardly move forward.  He came out of a trailer with a ramp and slipped on it to his butt and then to the side  very slowly and easy.  That is when He wouldn't move forward if you rode him.  We never could figure out what was wrong! He coliced on me but in a really weird way!  He bled out of his nose and his blood never clotted!  There more to this story and bout a year apart on the time he slipped to colicing.  We will never know what was really wrong with him.  Sometimes we just cant figure out! 

I'm praying for you and your horse!  praying its an easy fix! 

Take it one step at a time! please keep us posted! 

Of course it's kissing spine - it's the diagnosis du jour these days!  Just like EPM was a few years ago.  Sure, it could be either of them, Lymes, and it could be PSSM - more than likely PSSM2 since it's later onset of symptoms & she's race bred.  I think she's telling you something is very painful.  Now - if you don't "believe" in Equiseq's testing for PSSM2, you COULD put her in the research study that the Univ of Minnesota is doing now for PSSM2 variants.  Won't cost you anything, and will take awhile for results, but then you know for sure & no one can give the BS that they aren't "proven" or other excuses about Equiseq.

Misoprostal instead of gastroguard. Sent you a message off another thread I think :) can talk more there if you want :)