could she be lame?

I too agree that your mare is feeling alot better! About 6 years ago my mom bought a tb mare who was pretty malnourished, but was bomb proof! After she got some weight on her she turned into a new horse, bucking,biting, spooking! No grain either. Anny way it took alot of work because the horse wasn't as bomb proof as she thought, just exhausted!

I also think that your mare is moving differently because of her lack of shoes. It doesn't take them long to get used to them but it seems to take a while after you take them off.

Good Luck and I would recommend as much exercise as possible. Even if you just lead her on walks and lunge her.

ill just have to see how she goes. She is still a lovely girl in every other way. Im happy to put money in her settling down once the work rate goes up a little. She does get some form of exercise nearly every day though whether its going for a walk through the forest, or lunging or riding. But the lunging is kept at ten minutes and I don't usually ride for longer than half an hour at this stage. My plan was to up the work rate at the beginning of next month. Seeing as there is no rush to get her ready for showing because of the horse flu lockdown, im happy to just plod along with things :)

Thanks guy

Poptartshop - I love my reef tank. One of the perks of working at an aquarium - you get all that stuff at wholesale cost :) same as my basic horse stuff like shampoos, wormers etc etc etc a lot of our suppliers do all animal supplies so I can cash in on that too :)

Oh that's soo cool!! Must be soo fun to work there!

yeah its not too bad :) work is still work though lol just a way of getting more money to pay for the horses hehehe

ah ok! I thought you were talking about oats in themselves over here oats mean oats and we would say feeling her feed lol

And no, I wasnt holding off on riding cause of the flu :) although I do keep that in mind when planning riding schedules etc considering she would be in the higher risk category for getting the flu on a worse level

Haha true. :P
So, how is she now? Any better?

i rode her a little today and she wasnt too bad. Seemed a little calmer tha she has been but I didnt do too much today. I was exhausted after work and didnt have the energy for much. I rode her an my wb today for about ten minutes each lol I don't know why I bother some days hehehe

Im going to lunge her in the morning so I will see more then too :)

Oh that's good LOL

Well now im pretty sure she is lame :( when I rode her yesterday she was like driving a car with a flat tyre. I asked one of the ladies if she could take a look while I trotted her a bit and see if she could pin point where it was coming from. By the time she looked it wasnt as bad as at first and all she could see was a slight 'limp' on her back offside.

Today I took her to the lunge yard to see if you could see where it was coming from. Its definitely her back offside but I have no idea what has caused it all. I stopped her pretty smartly and left it there.

Everything has happened since the shoes coming off but it never seems to be consistent. Sometimes I think she could be putting on an act but she never minds lunging cause she is lunged with nothing at all on, not even a halter. So does her thing and seems to enjoy it. She is free to run :)

What else should I look for?? I've check her hooves and there is no visible bruising or other issues under and I can't find anything else myself.

I got kind of worried that she may have foundered because of the fact that I havent been able to ride her much lately because of the rain and she still gets the same hard feed. She doesnt get much grain though apart from cracked lupins of which she gets about a handful and a half a day...soaked for about 30 minutes before adding to the feed. I felt her hooves and they don't feel hot and there is no raging pulse near her fetlock. She also seems to stand fine. Can they even founder in their back hooves?? No visible signs of laminitis either.

I know im a worry wart and probably expecting the worst but when I don't know whats wrong, I worry more.

Any ideas anyone?

Did you say that the vet was coming to look at another horse this week? I would definitely have him take a look at her. With her sweating issue earlier and now the tenderness in the hindquarter she may have something going on that not easily seen by the lay (non-vet) eye. I wonder if she is having a hard heat/season. Or if there is some issue with her back in the lumbar area. Just a guess, but at this point I think I would have her vet checked.