My horse is a 24 year old ex-eventer/show jumper. Up until very recently he's been in full training, doing primarily flat work for the last year. I moved him to a new barn in March to step down his work a bit, but it rained almost the entire month and the barn doesn't have an indoor. As a result, he basically just got lunged/handwalked for four weeks. When I brought him back he definitely felt stiffer than normal, so my vet suggested putting him on Equioxx. He also gets monthly Legend injections and wears a BoT sheet. The Equioxx seemed to help a little bit, but there's been no major change.
My primary concern is that he's developed this very stilted (almost 4-beat) canter. It's mostly when traveling to the left, but this morning I noticed it to a lesser degree on the right as well. It feels like he's about to break into the trot the entire time. Some days are worse/better than others. He feels totally fine at the trot - stepping evenly, willing to move forward, goes on the bit, etc. I'm not exactly sure what the issue is, or even if it's weakness/stiffness vs. pain, but he does have diagnosed arthritis in his hocks and hasn't had them injected in a while (I believe they've fused at this point). I'm wondering if it could also be his back/sacroiliac area.
For context, my horse is not competing or doing super intense work. He gets ridden ~5 times/week for about 45 minutes doing lower lever dressage, and on his days off he gets a handwalk or a trail ride. My plan is to retire him in the late summer/fall once I find a suitable facility (unfortunately this takes lots of due diligence & weekend trips to visit farms in remote areas). I absolutely want him to be comfortable, and I think he likes being in work, but given the situation I probably would probably choose to retire him a little early vs. spending thousands on long-term treatments.
My current game plan (based on consultation w/ the barn manager) is this: Call the chiro out to do an adjustment and see if that makes him feel better. If not, call the vet to get a diagnosis. In the meantime, unless the chiro/vet/trainer tell me otherwise, keep him in light work (mostly at walk & trot) so that he doesn't get more stiff.
Does anyone have experience with a similar issue? Any recommendations? Should I go straight to the vet vs. calling the chiro out first?
Thank you for your help!
Apologies for the long post, but I need some advice...
I'm an adult learner and have been riding for about a year. I take lessons and practice at a yard, and I've been on a couple of treks too. I bought my horse Storm, a Clydie TB cross, from my trainer about 10 months ago and I've been having lessons on him. He's always been quite good with me, but he does spook sometimes. When I was first learning he'd stop if he thought I was unbalanced at all. And his shy wasn't too bad, just a couple of steps sideways.
But recently things have got worse. About a month or so ago I was at pony club and he started to trot without me asking, I did a half halt and he bucked me off. It was a pretty controlled fall so I was ok but a bit freaked out. After some investigation it turned out that the tree on my saddle was broken so it had been hurting him. I got the horse chiro to treat him and got a saddle fitter in to get a properly fitting saddle. Things were looking up, and I didn't blame him for bucking me off, the poor guy was in pain and I was causing it.
I started practicing using a better fitting saddle and things seemed to improve. Then on Tuesday I had another lesson in the arena where I had my fall. It was going really well, and then it wasn't. He spooked big time then freaked out and rushed at the fence, then slipped on the rubber chips. I ended up on the ground, winded with a concussion. Not the worst that could have happened by a long shot I know, but now I've completely lost my confidence with him. He doesn't do this kind of thing with my trainer, so I think he just doesn't trust me.
I really don't know what to do though. Should I sell him and find another horse? The idea breaks my heart because I really do love the big idiot. Or should I try and work through it with a trainer? Any advice would be much appreciated!
