Fits and starts.
February 8, 2012 4 Comments
We had a middling lesson on Monday, but last night I ended up staying out of the saddle because Derby was clearly back sore, and was absolutely evil in the cross ties, snapping and pinning his ears flat against his head. This isn’t normal behavior for him, so I put down the brushes and gave him the a once over. His back was reactive. He was also sensitive to very gentle touching on his sides and his tummy. This is also new – he enjoys being groomed and generally doesn’t object to having his tummy curried, except when I need to employ a bit more vigor when removing clods of dried mud – but that wasn’t the problem yesterday.
Unfortunately, the appointment to re-scope him was cancelled and we’re still trying to synch everyone’s schedules. In the meantime, I’m going to call the vet today – at this point, given what I saw last night, I wonder if he’s not getting some ulcers. His behavior has been strange, and last night was markedly worse, and he has been on a variety of meds lately (Previcoxx, SMX and Dex.) Time (and the vet) will tell, I’m sure.
About Sarah Skerik
Collecting Thoroughbreds 
I think you’re right about the ulcers.
Poor Derby, he can’t seem to catch a break, can he??
Those definitely sound like distinct ulcer kind of reactions, and a likely problem for them when they’re on meds!
When we discussed my horse’s Jeckyll and Hyde behavior my vet immediately said he suspects ulcers. He said they can develop and go away over a weekend away, or when given some kind of medication which irritates the stomach, etc. I believe part of our problem away from home now is tension which has built from him physically not feeling good about going away from home in the past. However, he does not appear to have ulcers all the time – certain situations just bring out the behavior, and so my vet has me give ulcergard as needed rather than a full scare kill-the-ulcers! kind of treatment.
I hope Derby is on the mend asap. You two have hit a rough patch after so much great progress. That seems to be the way with horses…
I give Val a supplement called SeaBuck. Lots of testimonials that it helps with ulcers. It’s natural with no side effects, and not terribly expensive. Good luck!