Thumps

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

O.K. Susan, even though I've posted too many times (overwhelmed at having
free time now that school's out) I'm going to give you my "weird thumper"
story which sounds a lot like this person's.  Maybe you'll see a trend or
something.  Anything's better than sitting around calling other countries
names right?

O.K. I started endurance in 1987 on a 16 hand Appaloosa, 11 years old.
I'd owned him since he was 18 mo. old. He was on the track for a few
months his 2 year old year but other than that time was on fescue and
clover hay and a gallon of sweetfeed morning & evening his whole life. 
He'd done tons of trail riding never had any problems, but you know how
people trail ride. Walk & talk awhile, canter awhile, etc.

When we started training for endurance and I read all the books they told
me all these complicated ways to take his pulse.  I couldn't imagine why
anyone would get off and feel for a vein when I could just sit on his
back and take his pulse with my legs any time I wanted to once we'd been
going awhile.  It was just so obvious. Boom, boom, boom.  I trained him
hard (too hard) 5 days a week for 6 months and never had to get off to
take a pulse.  Then I watched Darolyn's endurance video and learned about
thumps. The next time we came back from a ride I looked and low and
behold, he was thumping. I was terrified.  I took him home. He looked
fine, trotted off to eat. I ran home and looked everything up again and
it really didn't tell me anything other than that he shouldn't thump.  So
I sat with him in the field until he quit (hours later).  Next time we
rode, same thing.  This time I sort of thought twice about panicing.  He
missed his planned first ride due to lameness, but when he finally did a
50 I went SLOW.  At the third vet check of the 50, there it was.  I
pointed it out to the vet and he sort of snorted.   He checked him out
and said, "There's nothing wrong with this horse".  I said, "But he's
thumping" and he said, "There's nothing wrong with him". I asked should I
slow down. He said no.  I did anyway and took about 10 hours to do the
50.  That was before thumping was an automatic disqualification so we
completed. 

I took him to his second ride (and last) and went straight to the vet at
vet in and said, "as soon as my horse is good and warmed up, he thumps,
but the vet at the last ride said it's not really thumps".  He looked at
me like I was an idiot *and* a liar and said, "We'll see about that".  I
was entered in the 30 miler and at the 1/2 way point my horse's buddy
outrecovered him in the P&R area.  His out time was 2 minutes before
ours.  I checked and my horse was not thumping yet when he vetted
through.  When it was almost my out time I got on.  No thumping. Then it
was my horse's hauling partner's out time and it trotted away while I
held my horse back. I felt him begin thumping immediately as he watched
his friend trot away.  At the finish I showed the vet and he was sort of
perplexed.  There were absolutely no other signs of a problem and the
horse had obviously been ridden well within his ability.  He'd also eaten
and drank well. The vet agreed that he didn't think he *really* had
thumps (whatever that means).  I have always considered thumps sort of a
"light going off on the dashboard".  The thumps don't get you, they warn
you.  I sort of felt like my horse was like one of those with that stupid
"check engine" light that never goes out but nothing ever happens.  I
never knew the horse to suffer any sort of cramps or any of the other
signs you described as a calcium deficiency.  Is there such a thing as a
hyperactive phrenic nerve?

Angie  (Present Georgian, born & raised in Tennessee of parents born in
Alabama, of Scots-Irish descent...anybody want to run that down?)
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