Angry Nappy horse

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imafluffybunny

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My Westfalen gelding has always been a happy plesant guy but suddenly he became nappy (usually on the right rein) and reared a few times.
When I bought him I had everything xrayed including his back and everything was fine, I have has a physio look at his back and all is fine, I have bought a wow saddle that is fitted to him, his teeth have been checked and all fine, he is completely sound, the farrier is happy with his feet so I am at a loss as what could be causing this. I have bought a supplement that soothes acidic stomachs which seems to have made a difference but it is hard to tell as he is now so unpredictable.
Some days he is as good as gold and others he is the horse from hell.
Has anyone else experience this and advise what they did because I am at a loss!
 
Hi,
How long have you owned him? It sounds as though you have checked everything that might make him behave like this so you will need to start looking at his feed, he might be intolerant to barley or something in his diet as this can have an adverse effect on him. It might be worth putting a pro biotic through his gut to help. The other question is without wanting to sound too rude - what level are you at with your riding?
 
Hi, I used to ride profesionally in Gemany, I have riden many Grand prix horses so I would like to think I am a fairly experienced rider.
I have owned my horse for just short of 4 years, he is fed on a low sugar feed, Dengie Alpha A lite, high fibre cubes and a low sugar feed supplement. I think i have experimented with neary everything, i have almost put it down to him being a grumpy bugger but i really dont think it is.
I am looking for new ideas!
 
Its difficult to decide what has caused his change in character as you seem to have covered as much questioning as possible, you said he was checked over by the Vet - did he check his eyes for cataract? this can play a major part in a horses behaviour as they start to see things that are not even there! The other thing, although rather daunting is to have a brain scan if he gets worse as again a small lesion to the brain can cause a change of behaviour, I presume a full blood screening was taken and analysed. Cant think what else might help you overcome his problem. Good luck
 
Have you tried putting him on a course of bute to see if it is pain related? Also, you mention its often on the right rein which implies its during schooling. Does he do this only in the school or even if you school him in a field or on a hack. Is he one-side dominant, i.e. fall out say to the left so when you work him right he is loading his right side which he would prefer not to. Or he has an underlying discomfort on the right which feels worse when more of his weight is put that side - but hopefully a course of painkillers would help eliminate a pain problem.

You sound very experienced but maybe have someone very knowledgeable look at you schooling to see if they can detect a reason.

Just some thoughts that might help.
 
my mare can have napping tendencies, most of the time she is good as gold but every now and then she misbehaves and i have to jump off and drag her for a bit, she plants herself, once i have successfully got her moving i get back on and she is usually fine, its just sometimes a battle of wills
If your horse is physically fine dont give in if you can, they can test you, my mare has been doing it sporadically for the last 15yrs!
try and keep at it and dont let your horsey think they can get away with this, good luck
grin.gif
 
If this is a change of character then it sounds as though something is wrong somewhere. The difficulty is finding it!
What is your gut feeling?
Has he grown out of the saddle?
Perhaps the course of bute is a good idea.

I have heard of problem horses that had all sorts of physical checks when nothing could be found, and had every "expert" under the sun to look at them, and in the end they DID have a physical problem but it was so obsure it was very hard to diagnose and in some cases took years (just to cheer you up).

Like a horse that fell over backwards and banged its head. It seemed fine at first, no injury, but later this horse started bucking and continued to buck for years until it got treated by an oestopath under a general anethistic (sorry about spelling), or the horse with broken ribs from a kick in the field, or a really strange one of a horse that bruised its ribs every time it lay down,and the saddle was painful for him.

Unless the horse is just fed up with schooling I think you have got to delve a bit deeper into a possible problem.
 
Thanks for all your ideas and advise, i really believe deep down there is a problem but it is knowing where to start! He is such a kind horse and this is so out of character but it is so frustrating! I think i will probably go with the bute idea first and see how that goes. He will probably be near retirement by the time I sort this out!
 
Hi - have had a similar experience not sure how bad you boy is being, this is a bit of a long shot and I am pretty novice but I had terrible issues with my horse and a gradual worsening of behaviour that lead to him being completely dangerous in every respect. I have owned him for 4yrs and he passed a 5* vetting on purchase, the vet finally diagnosed a kissing spine after 2yrs of telling me nothing was wrong as he was bi-laterally lame and difficult to diagnose, his back was fine to start with but over time gradually worsened and he became very temperamental as he was asked to work a little more.

I am sure it is highly unlikely to be this, but even if you had an x-ray and all was ok 4yrs ago, the back can deteriorate over time and some of the behaviour sounds similar to my horse. Has your physio tried to get your horse to arch and hollow his back, Ryan wasn't able to arch at all, had big issues going into canter, became the king of broncing especially down short sharp hills and generally became more and more grumpy, anxious, stressy, nippy and bargy and utterly unpredictable, absolute school master on a hack for 45mins and then suddenly all hell would break loose! You can get him to arch his back by running your finger along the gullet between his front legs to the girth area and then dig your fingernails in a bit to get an upwards movement, if he can lift his back easily, you can at least look at discounting it ( he can probably lift his back anyway when you work him unlike Ryan who is a lazy so and so at times!), but the bad behaviour is common with this problem

I know pain in general from anything can cause most of these symptoms, but my gut feeling tells me you are probably right there is something going on as I am not convinced horses are deliberately grumpy. In the unlikely event it turns out to be this, my horse had an op and is back in full work being ridden 5-6 times a week and looks brilliant.

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted
 
Another long shot but sounds exactly how my boy was when he did a hind suspensory. We got the vet out but he wasn't lame and it took two more trips before he agreed to nerve block him because I knew he wasn't right. He ended up having his whole back and both hind legs x-rayed and scanned because he was showing no other signs of suspensory damage. The only other sign that something was wrong was that he started plaiting with his hind legs, very odd movement!
 
If you have a gut feeling that something is up and if this behaviour occurs in particular circumstances, then there may be something underlying it and I would discuss the situation with your vet. If you have had him for 4 years things may have changed since he was originally Xrayed.

I wouldn't give your horse bute other than under your vet's advice. Doing this is illegal and could make things worse or complicate further investigations.

If you have a gut feeling that something is wrong then there may be something to it and for your peace of mind I would suggest that it's worth getting your vet to look into it.
 
My neighbour had a horse that was slowly becoming naughtier and more nappy and it was checked over by just about every expert going. It turned out to have a problem with its hock, it was obviously hurting the horse, but not enough to make it lame, just enough to make it very unhappy and start it along the road of being really naughty and difficult. It was not until it actually went lame that they realised the extent of the problem in the hock. It had an op and is still being rested.

You should try the bute route (sorry), it is a cheap way to see if the horse is in pain somewhere.
 
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