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HorseAdvice.com » Training, Behavior, & Conditioning Horses » Behavioral Problems » Resistance to Forward Movement: Go Problems » |
Discussion on Help in sorting out problem horses, and understanding them | |
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 15, 2000 - 3:55 am: Hi there, I am looking for advice. I have an eight year old horse that I event in NZ. I have had this wonderful creature for nearly all his life. He is not easy as he is very intelligent, and you always need to be ahead.During the summer, I have had someone else riding him, who knows him pretty well, and has ridden him successfully on previous occasions. Three weeks ago, he started napping at a showjumping lesson, with going sideways, rearing and was really anxious. He has never done this before, to this extent. He competed at a show the next weekend, and we could not even do the showjumping as he would not enter the ring. He was really upset. He has been checked out for soreness, back, teeth etc, and there is nothing major wrong. I am progressing through this , but simple things like hacking down the road are now major hurdles to overcome. Can some one out there please try and advise me, why my horse may be showing this adverse behaviour, and some ideas, when he stops dead in his tracks, and immediately wants to rear. What are the best ways to handle this. Thanks |
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 15, 2000 - 6:44 am: Hello Carolien,I recommend you start by studying the Training: Behavorial Problems section and be sure you study the forum associated with this section. There are at least a dozen similar posts and you may find some ideas in there. One thing I would like to point out however is that you cannot rule out painful conditions even with a complete physical exam, they are still a possibility. Reveiw the article on Equine Diseases: Lameness: Diseases of the Spine and Back. DrO |
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 15, 2000 - 1:48 pm: I would definitely suspect a physical problem, if he also reacts badly to just a pleasure ride, not just in the show situation. I would have a chiropractor or massage therapist check him too. I would have the vet check for back problems, leg problems, kissing spines, arthritis, everything you can think of!Check your tack also, and your saddle pads and girth. Check your boots too! Maybe something in the heel of your boot is digging in his side. Have the vet check his eyesight too of course, if he hasn't already. I rode one horse that refused to go forward, sidestepped, and found he was going blind in one eye. I'd even check this horse's ears for infection or mites or whatever. |
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 15, 2000 - 2:15 pm: Hello Carolien,His behaviour is certainly indicative of pain somewhere. Sideways evasions, rearing, are resistances that are really trying to tell you something. You are obviously checking all the normal things, back, teeth, etc. Did you get an equine physiotherapist or chiropractor in? What bit do you use? I saw at one livery yard where I stabled my first horse that many horses started refusing and rearing because it became fashionable to put the horses in pelhams, which are very harsh in hard hands. Once the horses went back to snaffles, the rearing stopped but the refusing went on because the horses remembered the pain. Is the other person who rides your horse a good friend? Do you supervise, and know exactly how she rides? Does she use the same tack as you, etc. etc.? Are you absolutely sure nothing happened with her to hurt or frighten him? He didn’t have a fall, and hurt and frighten himself? So many questions! Have you had the saddle checked by a good saddler? Sometimes, the spine can twist, the whole saddle can be crooked and press on a sensitive place, his back can change shape and the saddle can suddenly be too narrow, etc. etc. I do hope you find the reason, because he is obviously a super and much-loved horse. Hope to hear your progress. Alexa |
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 16, 2000 - 3:33 am: Hi everyone,Thankyou very much for the quick responses to my discussion topic - Harley. I have had a massage therapist check Harley out thoroughly and he was uncomfortable at the neck and wither. His back is ok, as he is very compact,and tough. My saddle does not appear to be pinching him and I ride him in a loose ring snaffel. My friend used my tack, and I have not always been present when she has ridden. She is a very assertive rider and a couple of people think it may have been abit of a personality clash as well as the horse being in a bit of pain. He crashed into a fence before Xmas, which may be the root cause. We have schooled him on various occasions during January, and he jumped well. His jumping technique over jumps is still very althetic and does not show signs of soreness. He is now on rakekill which is injected on alternative days, 4 ml which helps release a substance in the brain to relax anxious horses. Yesturday I managed to hack him for 45 minutes before he threw a little nap. Today, I hacked him on the road, and he was really well behaved. I think that you are all correct, that it was steming from pain, but now it has been fixed, he is anxious. It now seems to be a mental thing , which perhaps only time will heal. I read the behavioural problem horse section last night and found it confirmed that how I was handling it seemed to be on the right track. I will keep you all posted, and in the meantime any more advise will be welcomed. Once again thanks for showing an interest in my problem. |
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 16, 2000 - 1:20 pm: Just one more thing, which may not be a cause of Harley's discomfort, but I thought I'd mention it.I have a mare that went badly for other people, even though they were good riders, and I was there to supervise. She always acted as if her back was sore. She'd balk, she'd nip at her sides, she'd go sideways, kick at her belly. She did this with different riders, different saddlepads, different saddles. We tried checking and switching equipment. She never did it with me. To the best of my knowledge, and the opinion of a few others, she was just uncomfortable with the way these other riders sat and cued her. My vet's check could find no back pain. She was seldom used, so I stopped letting others ride her and just retired her or rode her myself. I think you're on the right track with your horse. I would try to not let this other person ride him, as it may have something to do with her. Hopefully in time he'll regain his happy attitude. Good luck! |
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 16, 2000 - 3:04 pm: One more ingredient to the mix you may want to investigate. Having some problems with back and hind end stiffness in a mare who also foundered led me to doing some internet research which led me to the website www.ruralheritage.com. Go to the vet clinic part of it that deals with EPSM, a muscle disorder which assorted signs, including what you describe. There are articles by Beth Valentine, VMD, Ph.D and a bulletin board where she answers posts directly. It has to do with decreasing a horse's grain and replacing the energy calories with fat. Four months ago I changed my mare's diet to soaked hay cubes and one cup of oil per feed 2 x day. She was in the middle of a painful founder episode at the time where she was completely unwilling to move and her body was very tight. Two weeks after the start of the diet she was still lame but her spirits and willingness to move, even trot and buck, was remarkable. She continues to feel very well. One thing with the diet is that it can benefit any horse so won't harm and it may be something worth looking into. This muscle disorder has an assortment of symptoms but mainly affects the large muscle groups and the horse reacts to the pain in various ways. Performance horses go off form, idle horses get cranky, etc. A number of people with thoroughbreds in training have found this diet helps immensely. It's worth investigating. |
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Posted on Friday, Mar 17, 2000 - 10:19 pm: Hi,I second this motion. My horse is on this diet and it DOES work. Alice |
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 18, 2000 - 7:50 am: Dear Caroline, Boy does this sound like my geldingwho is a western pleasure show horse, he did very well right up to last June, and all of a sudden he began bucking and balking from entering the ring, we'd have a good week and then he would regress again, since June he has been treated with acrupunture, chiroprators, and now almost 10 months later he is going next week to have a complete bone scan and EYE exam, and to our dismay, we are forced to retire him at the age of 12, and are buying a new show horse so he can come home and be a horse again, but we're not giving up on him, we are all still working on him to find out what ever happened to him, the Vets and trainers all believe he was injured sometime or another, but we still cannot find the main problem, thank god for horse medical insur.After the bone scan I'll update you on what was found out, hopefully we'll be able to cure this problem. Keep us all posted, it will be interesting to see if your horse stays sane. sandy |
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 21, 2000 - 3:56 am: Hi there, just to give you some quick feedback, since I have had Harley on the Rakelin prescription, I have managed to hack him out successfully without him napping to any degree. The test this weekend will be when I take him to a gymkana, I will keep you posted. Meanwhile thanks for the valuable advise. This is a wonderful website. Thanks once again |
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