# Gelding very touchy round his chest and armpits and girthy



## xgemmax (9 June 2016)

My boy has always been quite touchy but recently he seems to be more so, especially when touched on his chest, between his front legs and armpits and is also quite girthy on and off?

He's regularly seen by a bowen practitioner who hasn't found anything wrong with him, I have had him scoped for ulcers and also trialed the equishure supplement (no different) He has had his back xrayed to check for kissing spines, I use a prolite girth so nice and padded, his saddle is regularly checked (last weekend), he gets fed low sugar and starch diet with equinaturals mineral supp and yeasacc, etc.

He's touchy when i brush and stroke round there too so not only when saddle is present, and he is very bitey also when those areas are touched. Not sure what else I can get checked/try to help?


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## be positive (9 June 2016)

I would get an ACPAT physio in to check him, it sounds as if he has had everything checked apart from this, bowen therapy is not anywhere near as deep as physio and if your current therapist can find nothing to treat it may be they are not able to get into the right place.


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## dixie (9 June 2016)

Have you treated him for ulcers even though he came up negative as this is a classic sign.  I believe that the hind gut ulcers cant be seen via scoping so it might be worth giving him some medication to see if he improves.
You could try giving him Charcoal as I noticed an improvement when feeding this.


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## xgemmax (9 June 2016)

Thanks both, no he hasn't been treated for ulcers other than the equishure in case of hind gut ulcers, what would i treat with apart from gastroguard which i wouldn't be too keen to give without vets approval? They were adament he didn't have any but I would try him on a supplement if theres a good one that would work?

I will book him in for a visit with an ACPAT physio too


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## dixie (9 June 2016)

This is quite useful to watch regarding self diagnosing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr05hMmLCY4

I'm sure others on here will be able to give you some more advice as to what to give him if that's the route you take.
For myself my horse was very much like yours to touch and the vet didn't think he had ulcers.  However he was scoped and showed that he did have them.  He was treated on the Gastroguard, they cleared up but kept coming back.  I found initially Charcoal seemed to work best but there are so many products on the market, its an absolute minefield.  If you do a search on here you will find many threads of the subject.

and this video, which I've just come across.  Same guy, he is very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iusu1f2_HQ


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## xgemmax (9 June 2016)

Thanks, interesting videos. My horse also does not like it when 'held up' under his belly like he does in the videos, just been having a look at the charcoal is it the 'activated charcoal' such as the one from pro-earth?


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## AandK (10 June 2016)

be positive said:



			I would get an ACPAT physio in to check him, it sounds as if he has had everything checked apart from this, bowen therapy is not anywhere near as deep as physio and if your current therapist can find nothing to treat it may be they are not able to get into the right place.
		
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I would agree with this.  My horse had similar a couple of years ago.  Turns out he was sore after having a bad run of abscesses (one in each front foot, and the one in the right foot came back 3 times!), a couple of physio sessions and homework in the form of stretching and he was fine.


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## VioletStripe (11 June 2016)

Personally I would have him checked by a physio - my boy had similar reactions and it turned out to be a tight muscle in his back! 

Regarding possible ulcers - it could also be worth treating as such. 
Take off any hard feed for a few weeks, never exercise on an empty stomach, plenty of hay... And then I found Ulca-Tonic by Dodson & Horrell to be fabulous. My boy had suspected ulcers after a livery yard fed him far far too little hay despite my constant complaints. The vet suggested I try changing the routine before going down the scoping route, as often scoping finds very little, particularly if they're more in the hind gut. 
Increased turnout, no hard feed or garlic or molasses, ad lib hay, and ulca-tonic given in a meal of HiFi, and I had a different horse. He's now no longer on the tonic, just given HiFi with some vitamin supplement, and he's still as good as ever!


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## Tnavas (12 June 2016)

Being girths and tender in chest area is often a sign of neck problems. I'd suggest a chiro rather than Bowen to check him over.


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## Tyssandi (12 June 2016)

Tnavas said:



			Being girths and tender in chest area is often a sign of neck problems. I'd suggest a chiro rather than Bowen to check him over.
		
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As TN said and the only other i think of is liver as my mare got very grouchy at the end touching girth  or chesty and armpits even threatening to bite which she NEVER did before she got liver disease.

OP I suggest running bloods too.


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## Tnavas (12 June 2016)

TYSSANDI said:



			As TN said and the only other i think of is liver as my mare got very grouchy at the end touching girth  or chesty and armpits even threatening to bite which she NEVER did before she got liver disease.

OP I suggest running bloods too.
		
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And, it is also a sign of the neck out of alignment. My own horse was like that following a cross country fall. The chiropractor sorted it out.


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## Tyssandi (12 June 2016)

Tnavas said:



			And, it is also a sign of the neck out of alignment. My own horse was like that following a cross country fall. The chiropractor sorted it out.
		
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I know  that is why i said it is what you said or the liver.


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## xgemmax (13 June 2016)

Thanks everyone, He has now blown an abscess out of his right fore so thinking he may have been compensating a little for this even though he didn't actually show lame until Friday evening. I am speaking to an ACPAT Physio at the moment and going to get her out to look at him as well


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