trama horse and behavior

Question
I have a 4 or 5 year old mini mare that was broke to drive when i baught her a year ago she was also bred to foal. well she drove beautiful till she foaled and lost her foal to a very tramatic foaling process she lost the baby and prolapse after that so i was very gentle with her and didnt work her at all over the summer. this fall i started to drive her again but she is very jumpy with her back end if you touch it she flinches and tucks it in like im going to beat her and i make sure that im very gentle with her because i feel for her foaling expeience but she is so jumpy and cant figure out what i should do to get that out of her. i have tryed ground driving with open bridle and lounging and playing gently with her and rubbing her body so she relaxes but she never seems to relax. i am very confused and frustrated because she was so nice and calm to drive before this. can you give me any hints of what i can try . thank you kim

Answer
      Hi Kim,
  I am sorry to hear that your mare has had such an awful time. I hope to be able to make a few suggestions that may help.
  The first thing that comes to my mind is whether she could be still in pain, or is her reaction due to remembered pain. You could check the first of these by (in consultation with your vet.), giving her a painkiller, and then try touching her to see if there is any difference.
  If she is operating on the basis of remembered pain, I would begin by gently massaging her up around the withers, and gradually working back towards her rear. Watch very carefully for the first sign of unease on her part. When that happens you will know that you have reached your limit (in other words don't try to go any further back). It probably would be helpful if you could find some way of marking this limit. Massage her back and flanks right up to the limit as often as you can. I would hope, that after a few sessions of this that she would become comfortable with the procedure. If this happens, you then look for a new limit a little bit nearer her rear. Always remember that the limit is set by the FIRST sign of any unease on her part, and can only be extended when she is comfortable with being touched that far back.
  Obviously this is going to take some time and require quite a bit of patience on your part, but I would be hopeful that it would yield results. It should also build up her confidence in you, and with that in mind, I wouldn't let anything at all touch her back end while you are going through this process.
  I don't know if you are aware of the fact that you can make a horse relax by getting it to lower it's head, so a little hay, or other food thrown on the ground in front of her while you are doing the massage might help.
  I hope my suggestions are of some help to you, and I would love to hear how you get on. In the meantime if you need clarifications or have any other questions don't be shy about asking?
   Slan,
        Brendan