[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Dawn

In those two, I can tell the biggest difference in her rump around her tailhead.

As can I

[Shannon]

I just bought some ranitidine from Wal-Mart- $4 for a box of 65 150mg tablets. Each box should last me about a day for the 3 feeding a day days, and then longer on the twice a days. I got enough to keep me going for about 5 days, should that be long enough?

Someone on COTH suggested Tums...Miss Mare got 10 tablets of Tums today LOL. I can't start the ranitidine until after the 4th-- I can't do a midnight feeding on Saturday when I have people at my house!

But...................She is getting worse My friend got on her today, and she kept wanting to go UP. Thank goodness my friend is one heck of a rider and is used to this. Of course right after she did this, someone set off a firework maybe 250 feet from the arena, and she was barely spooked We know the saddle fits, and she's never done this before. I could get on her bareback and just walk her around on the buckle with no issues. She seemed very stressed today, like something was hurting her. She is sound.

After she reared, Nikki worked her for a bit longer, but then we put her in the roundpen. She bucked a few times but as soon as we'd stop pressing her on, she'd come up to us as if asking for help.



The ranitidine will start Sunday Until then, I'm not going to work her.

[Dawn]

Wow!

Tums are not 'very' effective because they only neutralize stomach acids on a 'very' short term basis. Now if the horse is on a hard feed diet that is upsetting, then tums with the feed can help to some extent.

I will be very curious to see/hear how she does on the ranitidine.

And I'm glad no one was hurt!

You said someone set off a firework. Had there been things like that going on throughout the day? (Not necessarily fireworks, but 'out of the ordinary' stuff.)

[Caterina]

Naughty pony, I hope that stuff helps.

If not, maybe with the diet change, she is a little low on Mag or Vit B?

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Wow!

Tums are not 'very' effective because they only neutralize stomach acids on a 'very' short term basis. Now if the horse is on a hard feed diet that is upsetting, then tums with the feed can help to some extent.

I will be very curious to see/hear how she does on the ranitidine.

And I'm glad no one was hurt!

You said someone set off a firework. Had there been things like that going on throughout the day? (Not necessarily fireworks, but 'out of the ordinary' stuff.)

You know, I was thinking as I was posting that it's very possible that someone was setting off poppers during the day prior to us getting there. However, her paddock is a good deal farther away from the yard they were setting them off in. I'm sure it could have still been loud though. You could be right...But she was acting very uncomfortable, much more so than spooky.

I figured the Tums aren't that effective, but also figured it was better than nothing for the meantime. I made a mash out of her TC Lite so the Tums would dissolve...She sure didn't seem stressed as she was eating it!



(Sorry, I illustrate everything with pictures )

[Dawn]

Haha, that's an awesome picture!

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Caterina

Naughty pony, I hope that stuff helps.

If not, maybe with the diet change, she is a little low on Mag or Vit B?

I hope it does too. I'm actually thinking about getting a Vit B supplement anyway-- I know those won't make a night and day difference, and if the ranitidine doesn't do any good, at least the Vit B might help slightly for the meantime.

Originally Posted by Dawn

Haha, that's an awesome picture!

So messy

She went up a few times before, but not that high, and even though I had my camera in my hand I was too worried about her falling off (which I shouldn't've been-- but she was so close to the fence, if she'd fallen on it....) to snap a picture. She's glad I got this one-- it's her profile picture on Facebook! LOL.

Anyway, am I right in deciding NOT to work her until this is solved? Or should I be, on the slight chance that this is behavioral?

[Dawn]

I would not do any under saddle work. (Both in case ulcers are the issue, and to preserve everyone's safety!) But I would continue handling her (not necessarily working her) in hand. Take her for some hand walks. Don't 'work' her, but make her behave at the same time.

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Dawn

I would not do any under saddle work. (Both in case ulcers are the issue, and to preserve everyone's safety!) But I would continue handling her (not necessarily working her) in hand. Take her for some hand walks. Don't 'work' her, but make her behave at the same time.

Good, thanks, that was my plan. The area I have her boarded in is sort of rural, but filled with mini-mansions with little barns and avocado orchards. There are bridle paths going through the whole community, and the other day my friend and I explored them a bit on foot. There is a loop that would take about 20 minutes under saddle, about 40 on foot, that goes through bridle paths and comes back on a bit of a trail with small hills...I've REALLY been wanting to take her on it, even if in hand. I'm just worried about how she'll act though.

She is in a paddock larger than the roundpen, so she can gallop around all she wants if she so pleases.