A moan and a groan....

Mary Poppins

Well-Known Member
Oct 10, 2004
13,735
4,832
113
Visit site
All I seem to do is post up depressing threads these days but things with Ben just go from bad to worse.

He has been lame for 10 weeks now, firstly with an infected splint, a bout of colic, then a very sore back and is now lame on his right hind. This is likely to be the cause of his problems so he is booked in for scans next week. He may have bone spavin but do not know this yet.

My bill is already £1400 and the insurance have rejected my claim because they are saying I compete outside my activity group at elementary level. This is simply not true and I am in the middle of a huge row with them. While I am sure I will win (as I have never done anything above prelim), it is so stressful and upsetting.

I can long rein and ride him in walk and have to do this for 30 mins per day so the vet can see if this makes him better or worse. It goes against my conscience to ride him when I know he is lame and for the first time since I have owned him I have to make myself get on.

Then there is the spring grass! He is having to come in for a full 12 hours to get him off it as he is fat! This time last year I was riding him for 2 hours per day and he was muscled and trim. Now he just looks fat and wobbly and I am worried about laminitis.

The vet wants his lovely white feathers all washed and clean for next Monday morning so the clippers glide through them easily!!! He has warned me they will need to be gone so he can feel his legs properly and inject if necessary. It took me years to grow them. He already has a shaved patch on his front right leg where his splint is so I may as well clip them all off together.

So it is all doom and gloom. I am so worried about what the vet will find next week. I am worried the insurance won’t pay out and to top it all off I have organised a party for my sons 8th birthday on Thursday with a bouncy castle for the garden and it is due to rain all day!

I keep saying to myself I will not post on here until I have some happy news but I am wondering if that will ever happen!
 
It never rains but it pours, and ain't that the truth sometimes :( I really know how you are feeling, when it's one thing after another with a lame horse it feels like your whole world is crumbling around you and it's so hard to stay positive and not dip into doom and gloom land :( Hopefully the scans will give you some answers next week and you can start on the uphill part of this journey soon :)
 
I really feel your pain and worry through your post. But that is the thing about NR we are here for the good and the not so good.

I would put the pressure on the insurance company and ask them to prove what level you have been riding at a simple internet search should clear that up. I would also sent them a copy of you dressage tests which show dates and scores.

I have to say your post did make me check my own insurance to see that I am clear to ride at the right level!

Hopefully the scan will show something and that another period of rest will be all he needs. As for the getting fat again that is something you will just have to tackle when he is fit to work again.

Chin up chick let the vets do there business and then deal with the outcome as best you can.
 
I really feel your pain and worry through your post. But that is the thing about NR we are here for the good and the not so good.

I would put the pressure on the insurance company and ask them to prove what level you have been riding at a simple internet search should clear that up. I would also sent them a copy of you dressage tests which show dates and scores.

I have to say your post did make me check my own insurance to see that I am clear to ride at the right level!

Hopefully the scan will show something and that another period of rest will be all he needs. As for the getting fat again that is something you will just have to tackle when he is fit to work again.

Chin up chick let the vets do there business and then deal with the outcome as best you can.
I am just sick of shouting at customer service advisors who know nothing and just read me notes from the claims team but won’t let me speak to them. In 6 weeks I can go to the obudsman with my complaints and I have a very long list of them. I truely have done nothing wrong. My paperwork states that I am covered for up to elementary dressage and I have only done prelim. This is my first claim in 6 years. They have excluded this tendons and ligaments in his front legs because he had an abscess last year which is another dispute I have running, but that doesn’t have any connection with a splint and a sore back which is what this claim is for. It is a total scam and I think a fishing exercise to try and catch out people who may have gone above their level which is actually an easy mistake to make. Luckily for me I haven’t improved much over the last 6 years!!
 
Who's your insurance with? You should win claim about the dressage, it's just stress you don't need.

I'd just accept the feathers are coming off and that's that, annoying as it is. Fingers crossed for Monday and that you get some answers.

Sorry @Mary Poppins I don't have much advice but didn't want to read and run, really hope things pick up for you and Ben.
 
I am sorry you are having all this stress with your insurance company, no one needs that when they are already stressed anyway.
As for the other things well, feather will grow back, I know it's not what you want but if it helps with a diagnosis so be it. He will get fit again once he's back in work and if he has to have some down time when you get your diagnosis well you'll just have to do what you can and mange him with grazing muzzle and soaked hay when he's in.
I honestly think that once you have some answers to his lameness you'll feel a little bit better, when you know what it is you can deal with it. The scariest part is the not knowing what you are dealing with.
As for your sons party, well kids are kids and Im certain even if it's raining they will still have a fantastic party with the bouncy castle, they are very good at making the most of any opportunity it's just us 'grown up's' who fret.
Chin up it's not all doom and gloom, look for the positive, you can now long rein with the best of them and Ben has taken it all in his stride and continued to be the superstar that he is. :)
You can come here and rant too, anytime, you've been on here long enough to know that we can and do take the rough with the smooth and will support the downs as well as the ups.
 
I don’t want to name and shame until I have my money. They are just setting themselves up to be shot down by the obudsman when I take my complaints to them, but they have to give the insurance 8 weeks to pay up first. I am sick of calling them and have raised 3 official complaints already. There is no reason why they can get with rejecting the claim. I will get the money in the end and will then very publicly and loudly shout their name from the rooftops!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey
Thank you all for your kind wishes. My day has gone from bad to worse after my eldest son has had an episode of hypoglycaemia. He has been sick 4 times and has blood sugar of 2.7 which is just high enough to keep us out of hospital but if it goes much lower I will have to take him in to go onto a drip. It has been a regular occurrence for us over the last 7 years but he hasn’t had an episode like this for over 2 years now. We had hoped he had grown out of it and we have even stopped our check up appointments at Great Ormond Street because he was doing so well.

At least I haven’t thought about the insurance issue much in the last few hours. It seems so insignificant now!
 
So sorry you're having a rough patch @Mary Poppins. I hope your son is ok and picks up quickly and that it is just a blip. As for Ben, it must seem never ending, sending all my best wishes for him and your son.

Good luck with the b*st*rd insurance company too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mary Poppins
Oh Lord, you really didn't need anything to put it in perspective for you!

Good luck, I hope the blood sugar stays up *fingers crossed*
 
Hope your son recovers quickly and is feeling better! No advice to give other than keep arguing with your insurance, all the best to Ben as well!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mary Poppins
Thanks everyone. My son is fine now. He managed to eat a lolly and then his blood sugar came back up. He has had this problem since birth and it is undiagnosed. Apparently it is so rare that it hasn't been invented yet. His blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels and he is very sick, he was sick 6 times in about 3 hours today. I then have to try and get some sugar into him and then he needs to eat proper food until his body decides to regulate itself. If I can't get him to do that he needs to go into hospital and go on a drip.

He is now bouncing round the house like nothing has happened. He can go from being completely well, to very ill and then back to completely well in a number of hours. I just try and keep up with what is going on and make sure I have plenty of sick buckets within easy reach and a houseful of food!
 
Fingers crossed the insurance issue is sorted asap and they pay out. And then hopefully the vet finds something relatively easy to sort and Ben is back fit and well as soon as possible. And well wishes for your son. Like others have said, it never rains but it pours... but it has to stop eventually :) take care x
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mary Poppins
Don't worry on the feathers front. A full feathered horse can grow it back fine in a year.
Is he full feathered? That must look amazing in the dressage tests, I love floating hair. :)
The cob just had a little bald spot at the back. Looked ridiculous as I left the rest, but it grew. I was equally gutted though so I know what you mean.

Insurance sounds weird. Complain. I am insured for all activities except advanced eventing. It makes no distinction between dressage levels. It's dressage.

Talking if this. Have his issues appeared since you tweaked his way of going? I wonder if he's been hiding issues that are only coming to light with more work, fitness and using himself differently?
 
Aww MP. Its so hard and it does honestly feel like everything is crashing down.. Its crap. But it doesn't last forever :) In regards to the insurance if their going to be a pain. I would send in the copies of your test and get your vet to have a word with them. Normally vets are much easier at dealing with them and get much better results when they phone! Or a letter from your vet to the insurance company. In regards to the abscess claim, get your vet to write a letter aying the abscess has nothing to do with his tendons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mary Poppins
Thanks everyone for your support. Today is another day and it is trying to be sunny so hopefully can air the house as it still smells after my son being ill yesterday.

Ben is full feathered. At the moment they look brown as they are covered in mud, but in the nice weather when I wash and brush them through they look amazing and we always get nice comments. I know they will grow back, it is just sad to see them go.

My vet is fighting the exclusions for me and has written to them and I have asked my farrier to do the same although he hasn’t yet done it.

With the refusal to pay the fees I have made 3 complaints already and now am just sitting back and waiting. If they don’t pay up within 6 weeks I have a very valid case for the obudsman. I can’t keep calling them every day, it is upsetting me and I have my kids to look after as it is the holidays.

Onwards and upwards.
 
newrider.com