Advice Needed please!!

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eillim13

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Hello fellow horsey folk,

my quest for advice is regarding my TB mare.... i posted a few wks ago coz she had got away from me at mounting block and cantered down tarmac drive and tackled a cattle grid resulting in wounds/vet claim. We're now 6 weeks down the line, she has shoes on all 4 feet and wounds are healing well.

My prob is that this mare prev on a p2p yard, is quirky and on lots occasions in the 20months I have had her she has displayed behavioural issues. I have tried intelligent horsmanship which does help but she conts to act in a crazy way in certain circumstances and tbh I am slowing losing my confidence and am beginning to get scared when she displays this behaviour.

I was going to get back on her after her 6 week recovery period until she had another "episode" on monday eve.

Some of the times she does it and I can see/understand the trigger and tbh understand she gets tizzy but its the extent that this happens to that causes me concern.

My dilema is what to do with her? I have her for sale (cheap) but as I am sure most of you are aware there are lots of horses for sale who arent moving and there are lots of ex-racehorses out there who sound more sensible than mine!!

Does anyone have any thoughts on what is deemed sensible to do with her? or maybe anyone out there who has a similar TB?

I was thinking maybe someone who takes problem/quirky horses would be ideal if she was to be sold.

(Just to save questions.... I have had her on a magnesium calmer which i do feel has helped but she has been on it a year now, she is just getting a tasted of hardfood so I can get calmer into her. she is on allen and pages calm n condition which seems ok and a little dengie hi fi molasses free chaff. She is currently out 24/7 and has been for 3 weeks now)

Thanks in advance!
 
Unless she's skinny I'd be inclined to drop the hard feed and calmer and leave her on plain grass and see how she goes.
 
jemima*askin said:
Unless she's skinny I'd be inclined to drop the hard feed and calmer and leave her on plain grass and see how she goes.
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No she's not skinny but only literally gets a handful of each and is on a pretty bare paddock. This behaviour is not new, its been there since she was younger x
 
Flora said:
In what way is she quirky. What is she doing?
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Her behaviour varies, its almost like anxiety at times, she can hear something whilst in her stable and start moving quickly around and often I can hear her heart pounding. She sweats up if this goes on for long or if I dont intervene with her dually headcollar. She finds her dually immensly helpful but it isnt always practical. She can throw her front legs out and if (like mon) she is lose in box she can look like she's gonna come over door. Dually has helped with leading to and from field as last year she had the odd rearing moment. She often stands in field staring at clouds if bored.

tbh I do find she is better in work and the more variation the work the better she is. we have had napping out hacking but that was more so last year and this year she seemed better after winter off. If she tries I just turn her in tight small circles which seems to do the trick. Riding wise, she can sometimes "freeze" underneath you and feel like she's going to expode, i try to prevent freezing still by sensing its gonna happen and kicking on so she's going forward. She has reared with me on several occasions incl on long leins last year but I think boredom was kicking in a little on that occasion.

She gets very clingy if lives with one horse, she is better either on her own (which she has been pretty much for last year apart from a calf in stable next door for a while and occ a horse over wall in field) or with lots around her. But I do understand alot of that will be coz of her p2p days with lots around her!
 
eillim13 said:
No she's not skinny but only literally gets a handful of each and is on a pretty bare paddock. This behaviour is not new, its been there since she was younger x
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If you've never tried her without feed, you'll not know whether it's that that's causing it. We had a mare in a couple of years ago who was utterly unbearable on a handful of cereal, a completely changed character.

Always seems to me that its a very cheap and easy thing to rule out and as such worth doing before going down more tricky and expensive routes.
 
Good point Jemima - I have only not fed her for bout 6 weeks last summer before trying calmer coz she needs conditioning feed in winter plus till grass comes in. She's not had any since Sunday now so will cont without & I will see how she goes. Thanks
 
Didn't want to read and run - watching with interest as you have a similar story going on to me. Mine is mostly lovely but freaks if she hears something but can't see it, like cheering at a local rugby ground, or a piece of machinery operating out of sight. Her probably insignificant spooks scare me so they are now significant spooks but probably only in MY head!! On the ground we are quite good and trusting friends, but I don't trust her ridden and think we would be better off with other partners, but there have been no bites from her sales adverts. Much as I know she is not right for my confidence I will be heartbroken if/when someone actually does reply to the ad. Who wants to buy a TB anyway at the moment?
 
Ok I have a terribly old thread on here somewhere called Dangerous mare which may help you a little as it starts with beginning and hopefully the end of the saga's with my mare who sounds just like yours!

I wouldn't be without mine now but she was and still can be a total witch! I have now learnt how to work with her and recognise the signs and channel her into something more productive as a distraction.

For instance mine also used to hoon off as soon as my right foot left the mounting block and she dropped me twice and was starting to scare me. We solved it with her by me mounting her facing away from the direction we would ultimately go in - I.e not letting her look up the drive as I was getting on.
She is like a different horse now but even so I keep the routine the same and face her the other way. She's probably be fine now but I just chose my battles :-)

Not sure if this helps you at all but always happy to chat if you'd rather PM - we can discuss horror stories regarding our stroppy mares ;-) x
 
You have 2 options: sell or become a better rider. Riding lessons with a good instructor would be my choice, particularly if she is not selling anyway. You might always see if you can enjoy schooling or jumping her and she'll be easier to sell if working well.
You also could have her looked at for ulcers, it is extremely common in race horses (2 ways to go about that one: have the horse scoped by a vet which is expensive but then you are absolutely sure or directly try a ulcer supplement and see if there is any behavioural change).

It's not very fair if she is kept alone, I can understand she stare at the clouds if she is on a bare paddock with no company?
 
have you tried keeping her in the security of a herd?

many horses are a nightmare with just one other as they become very attached possibly due to the security of being together.

i would chuck her out in a big herd and bring her back in to work alongside something quietly confident.

if she has come off a point to point yard it is very unlikely she has hacked out alone and she is likely to have been raised within a relatively large herd as a youngster.

a lot of horses kept alone are constantly on alert as they onlyhave themselves to rely on

ditto testing for ulcers
 
SnowstormII & BaileyBones

Thanks for your replies, v good to know I am not only one!
I will look up your older thread BaileyBones when I'm on my laptop tomorrow!
I've also contacted a local ex racehorse retrainer who's going to give me some advice too 😄
 
Hi palindrome
Thanks for your thoughts. Yes I agree re: on her own but tbh she's been really settled & over winter hardly had an issue with her.
I am a competent experienced rider & when I hack out in company it's with a local instructor most of the time on her horses so she keeps giving me advice etc.
As far as ulcers go I've not explored that but I will speak to my vet for advice & go from there.
 
Hi Jools2345

I haven't got option of a herd & tbh she's been on her own over winter happily. She's out with one hunter on hol at mo & we're gonna try to add a 3rd to see if that settles the 1:1 bond.
She's fab hacking on her own coz she did do a bit at p2p yard so no concerns there.
I'll ask my vet for advice on ulcers plus my friend who's an instructor has experience of a horse with them so I'll ask her too.
Thanks for your thoughts, it's really helpful to make sure all bases are covered 😄
 
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