@epiphany - to make a boring long story as short as possible (but it will still be long cause I tlak alot)... She's always been "cold backed" - if that's a real thing...

Ive had her for 8 years (well - our 8 year anniversary is July 4th!!) The first year or so I had no idea what i was doing, my saddle didn't fit and i was riding her inverted. A vet looked at my saddle and told me to "run it over with a truck". Point taken, I got a saddle fitted to her. I spent the next 3 years doing various "maintenance" as suggested - hocks were fine so those never got done, but she was on polyglycan once a month, chiropract every three months, etc.

We moved to a new barn where the ring was small and there were no hills and her body showed it. She started having back pain and was unable to hold the left lead canter - it was a very weird feeling - she would break, but I couldn tell she wasn't being "bad" - it was like her hind end would literally dislodge underneith me and she would just collaps into the trot. I tried a message at first - she didn't repond well to it. had my vet x ray to check for kissing spine - was told she has one of the cleanest looking backs she'd ever seen. Enter shock wave therapy. I did this for about a year and thought i saw results...but im not sure...Im still undecided about it... as soon as winter hit and we had to go back into the indoor she had trouble again.

So, we injected her SI. At this point i pulled of her of the polyglycan, I couldnt afford it and I didnt think it was doing much. Over a month after the SI injection she wasnt responding, so, my vet injected her deep lumbar / lateral lumbar - I might be saying that wrong, but you probbaly know what i mean - something lumbar, some sort of muscle. This worked great. So, for the next two years, I injected her lumbar and also did her hocks once as shes getting older...still chiropract...but not as often.

So now we move to a new bard, awsome fields, awesome hills. Come time to inject her back my vet comes out and says her back and top line look better than they ever have, and she didnt even feel a need to inject it. Has she felt funny / sore / weak? She askes, Nope, i say, not at all. About 6 months later, however, I do feel something... so i call her. Back is still fine, but her hocks looked like crap - so what the hell - we injected those.

So now, about 8 months later - shes going GREAT. Shes always been super sensitive and a little funny jumping but Im buckilng down and taking lessons and doing this right. Shes actually cantering around a course of low fences quietly, im thrilled.

Now this next event is the onoy thing my trainer and i can pin point to mean anything...and we dont even know if it means anything....

i bring her to our first show of the season. for whatever reason, getting off the trailer, she flies back - I let the lead go but she throws her head up and smacks her head coming off. Uhg, really?? No blood, she goes right to grazing - OK - alot of comotion about nothing! We show, we jump 2 small courses, we win champion. Freaking fabulous. 5 days later i go to jump her. By "jump" Im talking a cross rail, a little, teeny crossrail. Nope. Uh uh. not doing it. I get mad, my trainer gets mad, I spank her and come back at it. Slams on the breaks. Now, my horse is pretty polite - so this dirty stop is a new thing. the rest of the lesson was a series of unfortunate relemntless beatings. that actually left whip marks on her *kitten*, and me growling / yelling / kicking / clucking / anything - I could NOT get her over.

We tried again a day later. Same thing. Im a wimp - I freak out jumping. Maybe its in my head. Maybe now Im riding the stop. So, i have a friend of mine get on. Shes a very soft rider and shes riden my horse before and they get along. She gets on - and - same thing, she couldnt get her over anything at all.

She mentiones that she thought her back seemed sore when she was brushing... so we check it out - yup - it is - OMG! Im a horrible mother, i didnt even think her back hurt! Ghah! So maybe when she hit her head she jammed herslef just enouh - makes sence, she is a bubble wrap super sensitive princess.

So i make a desperate call to my vet, who comes out, does a chirpopractic adjustment, and injects her lateral lumbar muscles again. I also grab a bottle of previcox for when i do hunter paces in the future...just in case...

2 weeks later shes back at work and goes over a jump quietly - OMG thank you lord! I have my horse back!!! This lasted two days. Two days and she was stopping, or, launching over them from what feels like a bakcwards crawling hesistant canter no mater how much leg i have on with her eyes bulging out of her head. God freaking damnit. Ok - so - I have my other chiropractor come out.

he works on her and sais she feels pretty good, its NOT her SI, but right behind the saddle, shes a little tender. then he looks at me the way someone who cares about you but needs to tell you something bad but doesnt want to does and explians to me that he doesnt want to say shes not fit, or not strong, becuase she looks great - but she seems to have a "hole" in her fitness, and he thinks its the way I ride. it has to be he sais, this seems to be chronic, and he tells me realiticly, i need to find somehting more sustainable to injecting every thing on her all the time. He tells me to take some dressage lessons, and look into this thing called the "horse hugger' that encourages them to use their hind end. he talks to my trainer who explains to him that yes, Im a typical "hunter rider" and that my horse is very, very, very good at lying to you about when shes actually on the bit. She gets round, but slows way down, she hangs behind the bit, in essence, she does twice the work to get half the results just to not use her back...

So - Ive been working really hard - Im exhausted after ten minutes of trying to hold her together and my trainer is yelling at me from the next ring over to shorten my reins and go faster, which i need - otherwise I wont do it, and my mare knows, i mean she knows, that i will give up and let her win. Ive gotten her over a few small jumps since then - not great - she doesnt feel like my old horse - but Ive gotten her over them. At the show she warmed up like my old horse and i made a stupid descision and decided to push it. At the first cross rail she stopped, I smacked her, she reared straight up, I pulled, she spun on her hind legs out of in front of the jump 9instead of flipping over thank you Shy) and that was that.

Im at a complete loss. Im considering just giving up - but at the same time I dont want to carry this fear that shes going to stop if Im out on a pace at a gallop and there happens to be a log on the ground.

Im considering calling a phycik.
My trainer also wants me to get her eyes checked...which i did when i first bought her...but im not sure she would know when to stop, if she couldnt see. Im also not convinced her back hurts if shes able to rear, hang in the air, spin, land, and gallop away.

Any ideas welcome :-(

Longest. post. Ever.

And worst spelling ever Im sure....

Oh goodness Missmissle!. That's a history and a half. From a vet perspective I have nothing to add. She isn't one I would want to begin to guess at without putting my hands on her.
I had a long hard to figure out physical issue with my TB mare I had. She was really green, but coming along great and all of a sudden turned into a nut case. She was painful and unable (not being bad but truly not able) to bend and supple which made her an anxious mess as she wanted to do what I asked, just couldn't. I went over her from tip to tail, and x-rayed bloody everything. I had a professional saddle fitter out and ended up buying a soft tree saddle for her that cost more than she did. By the end she finally got so lame in a hind leg and it turned out she blew out her stifle. I had to put her down. I couldn't even make her pasture sound.

From a not using her back issue, that can be retaught. Find a good dressage trainer and start from the ground up. I have seen some nice balancing systems that help with that as well as Vienna Reins. Slow and steady and reward every positive step. Sometimes you have to learn to stop after you do something right.

Those fights only make both of you less happy. I know you know this. I hope that she comes around for you. Besides, learning dressage will make you a way better jumper too.

Good Luck!

Pip

@luckypony - the sitting trot made me laugh because in the hunter world, when the judge sais "sit the trot" everyone immediatly slows the trot to about half the pace they were going. This, is seriously where I will win an equitation class. My horse was ranch broke, and one thing I'm able to tap easily into is that super slow quarter horse trot that you could literally stick both legs straight out to your sides and still not budge...

So now that Im trying to you know, ride correctly, I am riding her sitting trot alot more forward and just yesterday I was like, wow, this is actually super hard - I could not get the weight into mmy heels for the life of me! At first i was like core work out at a sitting trot? BAHHHAHAHA if only they knew.... well, turns out, yeah, if I ride her in a proper sitting trot, it's freaking hard!!!

I still havent asked Amanda, the dressage trainer, for a lesson, but I will... Just last week I was riding the sitting trot and she was turning one of her horses out, she weilded him around and just started yelling across two rings "melissa! you arent doing anything for that god damned horse to help her god damned back - ride that mare forward onto the bit! make her move!" and it went on - OMG I was so flustered trying to pull myself together I almost fell off in panik. I approched her later and was like "I got yelled at by the dressage lady" and she laughed at me and was like well, if you want to help her use her back....

I really have been trying - but yes, its a harder workout, which means my rides are shorter, and quite frankly, not as enjoyable. I also need to learn when to stop better - which I think i did yesterday, I only worked her for about 40 minutes, but we had a few brief moments of nice movement where i felt her back come up so I just walked her out of the ring immediatly after that.

Haha i wish we could all ride together!

Group dressage with no stirrups?

So I've mostly been lurking this thread, as I have almost zero experience with jumping and nothing significant to add. I enjoy reading what everyone else is up to, though!

@luckypony, if it looks like a trot but is smooth it could be a foxtrot. (I rode walking horses growing up.) Foxtrotters have just a slight hesitation to the trot, which makes it smoother than a true two beat trot.

@missmissle, sounds like you have had quite an ordeal, but I would think some dressage will help. I laughed at your description of the dressage trainer; she sounds just like the hunter trainer I ride with. Saturday we had left the arena and she was teaching another lesson, but yelled up at one of our group to put her heels down (we were just walking around shooting the breeze). I swear the woman has eyes in the back of her head--no loafing around her! Anyway, just wanted to wish you good luck with your mare. Keep us posted!

In for the no stirrups!

Had a nice little hack on my mare yesterday - she was having a bad day. By bad day I mean when the workers come up to me and start by saying "you know how she gets weird about going out of her stall, and getting the halter on, and leading, and going down the aisle..." (at which point I tune out for about 5 minutes thinking yup, ok, this isn't normal) - anyway I guess yesterday one of the workers had a really hard time putting her halter on - said she was in a bit of a panik and then led down the aisle repeadadly slamming on the breaks and throwing her head up in a sliding stop like a piano was about to fall from the sky - enter my trainer's explanation to her for everyone - "has irrational fear of painos falling on head"

When I went in her stall another girl started cobwebing the stall next to me, which threw my mare into a panik, she slammed into me trying to escape, then cowered in the corner shaking for slamming into me. Sooooooo one of those days, great. I really often ponder what would happen to her if I didn't have her. The poor mare has sliced her head open twice now due to people trying to lead her through narrow areas and her paniking and throwing her head up and them pulling. I have it imbeded into everyones brain at this farm, and repeat myself all the time and am super annoying im sure - to be sure, no matter what you are doing with her - hold the END of the lead rope. Aaaaallllllllll the way at the end. I know, its scary - shes behind you having a panik attack looking like shes going to sit down or rear up and charge you at full force - shes not... she just needs to work it ourt - for the love of god just DONT PULL. Ok, how did I get down this tangent? Oh thats right, my ride...

So after getting the halter on her and making her stand still for the cobwebbing, which, has never, ever bothered her before (irrational fear of paianos day this was indeed!) I led her out of her stall - which - if anyone has ever seen Jurassic park? She basically came out like a veloceraptor, weaving and bobbing her head up and down while looking above her - I think her eye balls actually almost came out of the sockets. At this point I opeted for trail ride day.

I've been at this barn over a year and there are trails across the street that ive never been to, basically because you have to cross a highway, and I dont know them, so i didnt want to go alone - and with the exception of a couple woman I can never seem to cordinate with, no one takes their show horses on trails.... Soooo I asked one of the woman, who of course just returned from them because this is how our schedules are - and told her if she didnt see me in a hour, to send out a search party.

It was really nice over there - as soon as we started to near the end of the driveway, a spot she hasn't crossed yet, her ears pricked forward and she picked her head up and had a walk of determination. I think she was in shock for a few minutes that I actually let her pass this point, and started to dance across the street in excitement. We got that under control and went into the woods, where she proceeds to do this amazing forward free walk that im pretty sure would score us at least 9s on any test, but in the ring I can beat her with spurs, two dressage whips, and my trainer throwing dirt at her and she will still crawl along at a snails pace.... I tried to trot in the woods but since shes gallop or nothing it basically turned into a sideways, riding a piece of limp spagetti type lateral movement mixed in with some piafing and such, that I just decided to ride while I had it, even though both of us were getting continuously smacked with tree beanches. We saw two deer, and a family of foxes! Ok, Im just assuming they were a happy little family...but anyway...

When we got to the power lines I couldn't help but notice I was riding dirt bike tracks and got even more freaked out when I came to a ginormous sand pit with tire tracks encircling it. Hm, this could pose a problem. My horse, who Im trying to reel in, is now in complete prix st george style half pass / tempis while leaping through the air as im trying to halt to figure out where the hell i am, and shes trying to canter, with her nose undeneiith her basically eating her chest and all four legs flailing in anticipation I kind of looked down at her and was like... um, youre going to fall over hun. Like, this was all happening at basically a halt, just going side to side and up and down... and i wish i had it on video...

I TRIED to do a canter for a small stretch but it was more like a dlophin acrobatic show, so I decided to turn around before a teenager on an off road vehicle came over the rise and landed on top of us at 60mph. The way back was even more exciting, as we traversed down what I am pretty sure was a 70 degree cliff of shale and rocks, one of those things where you get to the top and say "*kitten*, well, we're comited, dont die" - of course she went down sideways, still leaping, which I decided could have been worse, because at least she was using her hind end so I figured she'd fall on her *kitten*, not her face, and I would at least survive.

When we crossed back to the barn she marched right out to the ring like she wanted to tell all the other horses how mazingly cool she was for this adventure she just had. Unfortunetly for her, all the horses were in the barn. I think I actually heard her start crying when I put her in one of the rings. We trotted and cantered once around each way and she was fabulous - on the bit, for at least 50% of the time since Im apparently, 20 years later, just learning what on the bit means, and I felt her back come right up underneith me at the canter. And that was enough - maybe I need to do this off road stuff thing every day before I ride! If only I had the time...

and @hoyalawy2003 no lurking just join in the fun!

Ohhhh I remember my point now, Im having the vet check her eyes again on the 9th... at least if she's blind, I'll have a reason for all this odd behavior...

That sounds like fun! I am not gonna try it.

Good luck with the vet.

Pip

Oh, I tried foxhunting back in March and loved it so much I decided to join a hunt! Even though I don't have a horse, which is probably silly. I plan to beg, borrow, or lease to do it. I've had horses go sour on ring-type stuff. I think a break does a ton of good. Tally-ho!!

I can hardly wait to get working with ours again!!! My girls have been let go for over a year... yikes... gonna have to brush the rust off first...