Again, thank you all for your comments. I went out to ride Friday, thinking that I would try the western tack to see if that made a difference, then up her ulcer medication if she behaved the same way she had been. Before tacking up, I turned her out in the indoor where she proceeded to gallop like a maniac and take the right lead at will.
Huh.
I tacked up and off we went. She was really, really good. I had the most impulsion at the trot that I've had in months. She happily and willingly took the right lead without any of the head-flipping fuss she'd been giving me. So. Weird. Was it the saddle change? Was it the emergence of spring grass that is somehow supplementing her diet? No clue. I decided against upping the medication and went home.
Saturday, I took Izzy out for a nice long hand walk down the road. Anytime she got nervous, we would just stop and look at stuff until she relaxed, then continue. It was great. Western tack again. We started riding over to the indoor. She would not go forward AT ALL. (Oh, and did I mention it was snowing? Yay.) Then, as we crossed the road, she stopped. With a car coming. Would not move. Grrr.
I finally got her off the road, but she was distracted and hard to deal with for the next 10 minutes. I got off after she gave me something decent and called it a day.
She went from magically fixed to magically unfixed in the space of a day, which again makes me think ulcers. That sporadic behavior is very characteristic of her last bout with them.
A couple of notes:
1) Izzy gets fed two large meals a day. She is a pretty moderate eater, so that works out to her constantly having hay in front of her to dispose of at her leisure. She doesn't tend to bolt her food, so nibble nets etc are not a huge deal for us.
2) She has been on Ugard this entire time. Just the maintenance dose, though. I will up it to the loading dose for now, but we can't do Ulcerguard until my budgeting improves. It's looking up right now, but we're talking next month at the earliest. I can increase her turnout time and have more alfalfa added to her diet, though. That should help her out.
An old picture, but the problem pony is just as cute as ever.
Cute picture of you guys!
ReplyDeleteIntermittent problems are so hard to diagnose. I feel for you and hope it's something (relatively) simple like ulcers. Good luck :)
Thats how my rides are with my boy, one day hes completely amazing the next, not so much. The road thing would have freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteShe is such a cutie though. [:
Could indeed be ulcers. Or muscle soreness. She worked a little, felt fine, and the next day, sore muscles. My PJ was like that. Once again, acupuncture was the answer.
ReplyDeleteThere's a book called "Beating Muscle Injuries for Horses" by Jack Meagher that teaches you basic massage. It's a worthwhile buy.