A new complication has risen out of the ashes of the last. A few months ago Gambler had a small case of
sand colic. I noticed that something was wrong when I tightened the cinch and he grunted (although at the time I thought he was coughing). Since then we have been giving him Metamucil every Saturday and he hasn't acted colicky at all. The grunting, however, has not stopped. Back in September he continued to grunt when I tightened the cinch. Then, a few days ago he started grunting when I put pressure on his back in preparation for mounting. Today I set the saddle on his back and moved it a little to get it centered and he grunted. I shook it around, and he grunted. I barely tightened the cinch around him, and he grunted. So either somehow Gambler has back problems again (although the chiropractor was just out a little while ago) or he's getting colicky again (although he is pooping fine) or he's just too smart for his own good. I'm hoping for the latter. Other than that interesting development, Gambler was good today. There wasn't much light, but we managed. We got some good pictures too.
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| Playing the friendly game. |
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| A practice one-rein stop. |
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| Standing ground-tied to be groomed. |
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| An artistic shot. |
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| Oh, I remember this thing. |
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| The saddle goes on . . . |
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| Check out those gorgeous Arabian ears! |
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| More pretty ears as Gambler watches Kezi come galloping toward the fence. |
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| Watching Kezi and hoping that she will stop - at least I was, I'm not sure what Gambler was hoping. |
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#grumpymareface
She doesn't appreciate it when Gambler gets all the attention. |
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| Right here I was shaking the saddle. At first he was grunting, but then he stopped and yawned which is a release of tension. |
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| Tightening the girth . . . |
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| The face Gambler making when he is grunting. |
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| Simulating the cinch with the rope while Gambler grunts and makes the "grunting face." |
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| More "grunting face." |
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| Big yawn! |
The more I think about it, the more it seems like Gambler is just pulling one on me. I hope that is the case. I'm just going to continue the mounting preparation and saddling. If he's being a smart alec, then the grunting will stop. If it gets worse, I'll go back to groundwork and seek the advice of a vet or the have the chiropractor out again.
Have you looked at your saddle fit? I know you've done a lot of work with him so he could very well be gaining muscle and the fit could be off...
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't explain why he would grunt when I lean over his back (I'm doing it bareback right now), but it's definitely something I need to look into! I'll be sure to check the fit of the saddle next time I see him. Thanks!
DeleteI'm behind in blog reading so you may have addressed this in future posts BUT if saddle it is off, his back could be sore...hence grunting when pressure is applied to his back even without thr saddle. Just something to think about.
DeleteI dealt with a lot of saddle fitting issues with Missy, so it's where my mind goes:)
You could be totally right. It seems like the saddle fits okay, but I will definitely keep an eye out for that if the grunting starts up again. Thankfully there is a close contact saddle that should still fit him if this one doesn't work and if all else fails I have a bareback pad. :)
DeleteMy horse, Cowboy, did the grunting face, but recently I moved the girth back a little and he has stopped. Maybe there is a comfy zone for some horses. My daughter's horse is very "cinchy" and she has to use a special gel cinch with her. We also did some TTouch belly lifts, from the cinch area to the belly, with her horse. I have two furry cinches buckled together, and my daughter gets on one side of Cowgirl, and I stand on the other, and we simultaneously lift and hold for 5 seconds, release, and do it again and again--breathing deeply while we do. The lifts are really light, but a small amount goes a long way. It seems to help her.
ReplyDeleteGambler seems very pleasant with everything except the cinching. He looks like he loves to play the friendly game with you!
Thank you for the advice! I've looked into TTouch before, but I haven't really done it with Gambler. I'll have to check out some books from the library again.
DeleteThat expression on his face looks like pain to me... Please look into the ulcer thing if you haven't already. This is the first time you had had the saddle on him in a long time and no weight was put in it so I don't think that would have made his back sore unless it was sore for some other reason. The fact that he grunted even with the rope around his girth makes me think his belly hurts. It could explain a lot of his weird reactions to be honest...
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't seem to be in any pain with the bareback pad. I am switched him back to a saddle now, so if any of the symptoms reoccur ulcers will be the first lead I chase!
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