Lilpad05 - 2015-02-19 9:25 AM I know he's had a LOT done for his age but I'm trying to fix his issue. Make him comfortable. I don't wanna just turn him out if something is bothering him.

roxieannie - 2015-02-19 8:29 AM

 What is his diet?  
Try him on a PSSM diet. If you see improvement, you know you are on the right track.
There are two types of PSSM. The hair test is for
PSSM 1.

jetgetset - 2015-02-20 9:59 AM

Take this for what its worth.. Sometimes we "forget" that whatever disaplin we want to do and love to do our horse should feel the sameway about. There has to be a "reward" for most horses to look forward or really want to do something and most horses that is the quit. The gelding I am currently riding is both a little sour and little spoiled when it came to the arena. He had some alley issues with getting frantic at the alley, avoidence and then wanting to charge in and then avoid the pattern at all cost, dodging hard right at the mouth of the alley. I ride alone, travel alone and I HAVE to have a horse that will walk calmly into the arena. What I have been doing with him is a lot of in and out of the alley. Ride up to the mouth give him a treat, turn around back out and repeat.  We progressed from that to riding up to the rate point on the first stopping and getting a treat. I ride mostly in the pasture but I end every ride at the rate point at the first barrel (magic happy spot) I step off lossen the girth, give him a treat and let him relax. It has worked so well that now when hes tired and he wants to quit he finds the closest barrel and rate point and stops.. LOL  But he associating the arena, barrel with a good place to be and where he wants to be. It has not interfered with his pattern and he is now walking in and out cool, calm, collected, not dogging or diving and is looking forward to his "spot" in the arena rather then looking for a way out.. Its working for me and him, may be worth a shot.  I do not work the pattern, unless its at a walk to let him cool off but always end at the rate point reguardless of what activety we did that day..

magic gunsmoke - 2015-02-20 10:46 AM

I can relate in a sense to what you are going through.

My horse last year ended up getting really, really sensitive. He had always had a sensitive back, but I consulted with my trainer about it and he said not to worry about it, my horse was fine.

So I let it be, well it got worse. It got to the point where I would tighten up the breast collar and my horse would swish his tail and would pin his ears back. The entire time I would ride him he would do everything I asked, but his tail would swish the entire time. 

The straw that broke the camels back was when I started to have to chase him around the stall just to brush him, and when I would brush him on his legs he would almost fall over.

I consulted with my main vet thinking it was ulcers. My vet recommened I go to a local holistic vet for a saddle fit evaluation. So I did.

Well....this vet diagnosed my horse with two things:

EPM and something called Myofascial syndrome (this is not tieing up to my knowledge).

Myofascial syndrome is where the deep tissue tightens up and "sticks" together so that the horse experiences extreme pain from the tightness all over their body.

I started a treatment that he recommened. I had to give a shot every other day in the hip for the myofascial syndrome. I was also told that my horse needed to be on Lysine for the rest of his life otherwise he would relapse.

Naturally, I had no idea what myofascial syndrome was so this was what I was told:
It is a herpes virus that horses can pick up at a young age
Stressful situations bring it out

The holistic vet could not touch him anywhere without my horse becoming irritated. At this appointment he said my horse COULD also have EPM, so I set up a follow up appointment a month later.

I went back, and there were some improvements, but my horse was still sensitive on his legs and on his chest. So the holistic vet persribed an alternative EPM treatment.

I contacted my main vet and asked him about my other options. We agreed that if this treatment didn't work I would do the EPM test, and then persue a regular EPM treatment.

I went back for a final follow up and my horse received a clean bill of health. The holistic vet actually cried and refused to charge me, he just said he was happy to see my horse better. He said most horses would have bucked their owners off, or would not have been able to be ridden in the condition my horse was in (horse mom of the year award right here....whoops!).

I did ask the holistic vet why my horse was never neurological or showed any symptoms. He said that acupuncture points are very sensitive and we caught it at the right time. Had I waited another 4 months my horse likely would have been neurological. My horse also had sores in his mouth and was not one to really clean up his hay. After both of these treatments his sores went away, and he started to eat and clean up all the hay I gave him.

Since all of this, he has turned into a much different horse on the ground. Although I do have to manage his back, but he has a PHT magnetic blanket that seems to really help.

Good luck with everything. If only horses could talk.

I do have pictures of all the treatments I gave, and videos that document how he changed over time that I can share if you are interested. I also saved my receipts from the holistic vet.