Advice please

W

wickedwillis

New User
Joined
24 January 2008
Messages
7
Visit site
Can anyone out there help me? I am only 1 week into ownership of a young mare. She has settled well on her new yard and seems unfazed by all she has seen to date. She is green but tries hard. However, when riding her in the menage at the weekend, she went from a relaxed walk on a loose rein to bucking and rearing. In the confusion, we collided heads and I am now nursing a broken jaw. It didn't appear to be a 'spook' neither did she appear fizzy or on her toes. My only thought to date is that something hurt her and she reacted in a panic due to her age. She was shaking her head and I wondered if she is unhappy in her bit. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me. I now have 6 weeks of getting to know her better from the ground so all thoughts and feedback considered. I really do believe that this is out of charatcer but recognise that I have very little experience of her to date! It is my first ever broken bone and need to be able to rationalise what has happened to be able to put this behind me.
confused.gif
 
Yes I had her vetted. Not had her back checked but have found someone (recommended) so do intend to go down that route. Thanks. She had no winter turn out in her last yard and I had wondered if she had hurt herself in some way whilst out in the field. It is really muddy at the mo and she has been rather pleased to be out!!
 
I am so sorry for you, how awful in the first week, when you are bound to feel suspicious about the horse as it is.. do you have any chance of getting a really experienced rider to have a couple of sits on her?

Also would you be able to phone someone who used to know the horse maybe an instructor who taught her within the last few weeks?

If they are turned out, they are normally calmer, and I should think if she hurt herself out, you'd know about it pretty quickly when putting the saddle on and climbing on, or she'd be lame.

If you wear a nice wide fitting helmet, can you walk her in hand, out and about, perhaps with a saddle on, in your neighbourhood? That may help with your relationship and your nerves, seeing her under saddle.

Definitely though, I would get someone to ride her, then if she shows any signs of doing it again, and her back is not a problem, I would consider trying to get your money back and giving her back, or selling her on and starting all over again.

I am sorry, but I was in a similar position last summer, bought it in June, sold it in Oct, it was just the wrong horse, and I couldn't get over something it did with my daughter, you can't put these things out of your head.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I am only a 15 minute walk from my riding instructor so I m might ask her if she will make an assessment for me. I'm not sure how comfortable I am asking others to get on her after what she did but I guess if I explain the situation to them, it is their choice and, as I said earlier, she has done nothing else previous to this and I have ridden her before in the same tack with no issues. You are right, I have choices as to where I go from here - I am keen at this stage not to rush into anything. I bought her for her nature and the potential I saw in her...I would like to make sure I get a true assessment of her before I decide what to do next.
smile.gif
 
If she was on a long rein, with her head down, did she trip, catch the reins on anything, see anything unusual? It does sound like a panic response. If it is any consolation, my youngster did random unpredictable things when I first got her - she whipped round and tried to tank at a pheasant in the first week causing me to fall out the side and knacker my achilles tendon. A year on and i trust her completely, even more than my old boy which is incredible really!

All young horses can be unpredictable but with time and patience, they get confident and you learn to trust them. It just takes time (and hopefully not too many broken jaws!!!).

It pays to try to expect the unexpected with them, that way you can control situations before they escalate to falls/scares etc. I have to say it is only now that I will truely ride her on the buckle - i used to allow her to stretch down with the reins still short enough that I had control if anything happened.
 
Poor you... Hope you're not too sore. Something similar happened to me a couple of years ago. Was riding my fairly experienced 8 year old horse. I got up on him in the arena and walked him out to the field. Was on him about two minutes when he went crazy. Rearing, bucking and eventually I fell off. He went galloping off bucking like mad. This was so out of character for him. I had had him since he was 4 and had never been bucked off. Anyway didn't get back on him for a few days as I was in the middle of exams. When i did i lunged him for a while first and he was perfect when i got on him. Anyway what I reckon was wrong with him was that he had a belly ache or a slight touch of colic. We noticed that he hadn't done any droppings in quite a while and when he did eventually do one it was small and very firm. Maybe it was nothing to do with that but it added up and he was fine when i rode him afterwards. They can do very funny things when they are uncomfortable in their bellys.....

I do think you should try and get someone else to ride her a few times though, for your nerves as much as anything. I'm sure she'll be fine once you've ruled out anything bothering her.
 
That was something that I had not considered. I guess new yard, new routine, subtle changes to feeding any of these could result in a belly ache. Interestingly, the mare in the next door stable had an allergic reaction to something in the hay (we think) the day before and came up in hives. We have now changed the hay source (all the other stuff went back!)

Thanks a million for all your advice. I only registered today to get some help on this one and it has been great. given me some things to think about and been a very welcome distraction from day time telly
smile.gif


Thank you too for all your kind wishes. It was incredibly painful at first but I am noticing little improvements every day. Manged to eat scrambled egg today. Another milestone!!
 
Sorry to hear that. Usual thoughts come to mind. Could be just one of those things where she thought she's try it on with new owner or if she was OK when you tried her and you've got different tack could it be something is pinching her? If you had blood taken at vetting you could have tests done to make sure she wasn't doped. Get well soon and don't worry about it too much.
smile.gif
Most likely a little BLIP
smile.gif
 
crikey, how awful in your first week. i second all the advice to get her back checked (mctimony chiros get my vote every time) and her teeth checked (by someone registered), and perhaps her saddle too if you can. i would definitely try to get someone else to ride her in the meantime. really hope you heal fast and that there are no more dramas, just a really good relationship together.
 
I would look very carefully at her diet, our old TBxWelshD would react like this if she had ANY sugar or grain, was ok with fruit sugars (apples etc) but used alfa beet or non molassed sugar beet. She used to get lumps under the saddle when she got warm, never there when we put the saddle on, and would go off like a rocket! We no longer feed Amber ( Appalossa) on anything with molassess or Alfalfa, cos it does her no good! Plus Pearl the shirexclydesdale has had a huge improvement in her mud fever since no alfalfa. (What a bunch we have and have had!)
 
I haven't really changed her feed much but will try some changes out over the next few weeks and see how she reacts. Went to see her today. Was good and managed more than I thought I would. Don't think she understood why she didn't get her usual fuss!
laugh.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top