Another 'nearly fell off' story

[applecart14]

My horse who is recovering from a slight sprain of his suspensory branch (lateral) is a nightmare to ride at present. He is obviously feeling very well due to the unseasonal mild weather we have been having, as have a lot of horses and the fact that he was quite fit when he did his injury (ironically shying from something in a dressage arena). He is resigned to walking and trotting in straight lines for the next four weeks before proceeding to cantering and schooling movement and appears to find the whole thing laboriously boring. THe vet has offered a good prognosis.

Last Sunday he shied violently at something left in the verge (thank you Mr Fly Tipper) and we ended up facing the other direction although he doesn't bolt thank goodness. He got a good wallop and we managed to pass it eventually. On arrival back at the yard I jumped in the car to retrieve said item form the verge!!

Last night he shied violently twice in the school! Someone had jumped during the day and had used a filler that is hung on the menage fence and hung it back up differently to how it had been hanging, thus showing a different design to what he was used to seeing. It beggars belief. Most horses wouldn't have even noticed the filler, let alone that the design was different.

This is a horse that is happy for a combine harvester to trundle towards him down a lane, passing within a couple of feet of him and is often confronted by three abreast cyclists around a bend in the lane, without even flinching. Yet the sight of a different pattern on a filler, a dock leaf blowing in the wind or a piece of boot lining deposited on the verge will send him into near hysteria.

I am not ashamed to admit when I am scared and it rarely happens these days as I have owned him for nearly 12 years (and have not fallen off him in a shy as yet) but last night I was frightened and actually ended up in tears. I spoke to the YO and she suggested I reduce the amount of Good Doer that he is on. I have already reduced the pink powder as its a feed balancer, reduced the carrots and the apples he eats, and also reduced his pature mix and pony nuts to half a mug a feed! He appears from the front like he is fat and carrying weight but to be honest, I think this is just a gassy belly from the hay (he is not on grass and hasn't been since November) and the fact that his tummy muscles aren't brilliant due to his way of going and my lack of skills as a rider. You can also slightly see his ribs when he stands to the side. I've asked the YO to replace the barley water (run off from boiled barley) with water to wet his feeds.

I feel totally desolate, my partner is coming up tonight to support me but I feel like I have really asked him there to assist when I fall off (which I am expecting to). All this shying isn't helped by the winds we have been having lately and the fact that the sheep like to hide under the tree line next to the menage, which terrifies the life out of him.

It was spinning that did his leg in, in the first place, after spraining the branch galloping around on the lunge on a twisted shoe, although we weren't aware of this at the time. What hope have I if he continues in this trend?

Any advice??

 

[milliepops]

I think we're all struggling with the weather, lack of turnout and daylight etc - there's a lot of highly strung horses around. It's tricky when you can't just give them loads and loads of work to keep them on an even keel.

Do you have a trainer who will come to you? It seem to me like you maybe need someone to ride him for you for a few mins, to get him to knuckle down a bit, and then for you to ride with some supervision/instruction to deal with the spooks until you feel confident again.

As far as the leg goes - what will be will be. You can only do the best you can, and if he injures himself again then that's life, sadly. (ETA I mean this in a 'you can't work magic' way rather than in a harsh way )But in the meantime it sounds like you need some help to get on top of this now, so that you feel in control.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

pain makes horses spooky and scared.

this is the 3rd? or 4th? time this horse has injured himself in that area.

stop expecting him to go on forever would be my advise.

and yes i know your vets says he's fine, blah blah blah. he's not fine and clearly telling you so,but carry on breaking him down, your horse your choice.

 

[Annagain]

You have my sympathy. Mine will spook at fillers left around the edges of the school (ready to go into a jump when it's high enough) and then fly over them without batting an eyelid when they're in the jump!

Brave pants are my only suggestion. Just because he did it last night doesn't mean he'll do it tonight. Ride him positively but don't hassle him and avoid the area that caused a problem yesterday to begin with but gradually work your way towards it. Likewise if he finds something to spook at tonight, ignore him and move him away to another part of the school. Easier said than done, but make sure you're not winding him up too. Lots of deep breaths and sing!

Even with him recovering, there must be exercises you can do to keep his mind active, lots of transitions - between halt / walk / trot or slight changes within the pace. Not suggesting you go asking him to lengthen, but smaller trot and back to working etc or practice going from medium walk to free walk and back? Or maybe set up some simple Trec style "obstacles" which can be done in a straight line.

Or could you long rein him - at least to start with until he settles?

 

[JanetGeorge]

Have you tried long-lining him (it can be a bit hairy the first time - a 22 yo of mine dragged my rider up and down the drive a few times - thank goodness she hung on!)

He's obviously being a bit of a prat - it's probably a combination of weather and lack of turnout. Even some of my sensible ones are being a*seholes for these reasons at present!

Start the long lining wit someone at his head as well - so he gradually gets the message.

 

[applecart14]

pain makes horses spooky and scared.

this is the 3rd? or 4th? time this horse has injured himself in that area.

stop expecting him to go on forever would be my advise.

and yes i know your vets says he's fine, blah blah blah. he's not fine and clearly telling you so,but carry on breaking him down, your horse your choice.

If you followed my previous posts and know the horse from when he was at NW you will know that the horse has always been a spooky horse, he was spooky from day one, always has been. This is not pain related. He doesn't spook at combines, or motorbikes, or unbrellas or cyclists. Does this mean that he is not in pain when he sees these things, but is only in pain when he sees other things that cause him to spook then? What happens if he doesn't spook at cyclists, but then spooks at a leaf on the same hack, does he go in and out of pain all the time? Your reasoning makes no sense and you sound ridiculous.

His injury is the equivalent of us going over on our ankle. Does someone suggest you retire or shoot yourself when you sprain your ankle? No. You do rest, exercise and build up again. Use your common sense.

And yes he is my horse.

We are not all lucky enough to have a yard of posh dressage horses that we can cast to the winds when something goes wrong with them. Some of us have to work bl**dy hard to keep what we have in work and rehab when they become injured. Most of us do it on a shoestring, and are not rolling in money.

 

[milliepops]

pain makes horses spooky and scared.

.

well this is certainly true - I've seen bute trials result in unexpected and dramatic improvements in behaviour, but it doesn't have to be the cause.

Its an imperfect situation. I'm guessing that turnout is limited at this stage of rehab so exercise is needed, and the horse has been passed to start work which it would need to do even just to return to a job as a hack.
I do have sympathy in this situation, having a much loved horse with 2 injured front legs - just had to reassess what I did with her from that point on. I couldn't just plonk her in the field, she needs controlled exercise to stay strong and out of mischief. Though it is with eyes wide open to potential reinjury. I think from Applecart's last sentence that she's acknowledged that as a possibility.

 

[applecart14]

well this is certainly true - I've seen bute trials result in unexpected and dramatic improvements in behaviour, but it doesn't have to be the cause.

Its an imperfect situation. I'm guessing that turnout is limited at this stage of rehab so exercise is needed, and the horse has been passed to start work which it would need to do even just to return to a job as a hack.
I do have sympathy in this situation, having a much loved horse with 2 injured front legs - just had to reassess what I did with her from that point on. I couldn't just plonk her in the field, she needs controlled exercise to stay strong and out of mischief. Though it is with eyes wide open to potential reinjury. I think from Applecart's last sentence that she's acknowledged that as a possibility.

Thank you for a bit of common sense.

The horse has undergoing extensive rehab, in the form of ultrasound, ice therapy, anti inflammatories, controlled exercise plan and physio care. Just because a horse repeatedly injures itself doesn't have to mean its 'game over'. Some horses spend a time injured from one thing or another, and a lot of problems are over compensatory problems caused by other problems. i know of three horses immediately without even thinking hard where they have suffered one problem after another after another.That's horses for you.


Sorry to hear about your mare Milliepops. I have considered reassessing my horses futuretoo in respect of jumping, which is what I put in a previous post a few weeks back. Reinjury is possible, but he hasn't reinjured anything to date, so it proves that the programme me and the vet have devised between us works.

 

[applecart14]

You have my sympathy. Mine will spook at fillers left around the edges of the school (ready to go into a jump when it's high enough) and then fly over them without batting an eyelid when they're in the jump!
Even with him recovering, there must be exercises you can do to keep his mind active, lots of transitions - between halt / walk / trot or slight changes within the pace.

Or could you long rein him - at least to start with until he settles?

Yes he has always been like this jumping too, will happily jump 1.05 without batting an eyelid, yet will constantly be looking around the arena to see what he can spook at! I like the idea of transitions, I could work on these a lot more. I am currently doing six long sides of the school in trot, and about three short uphil trots out hacking and he feels sound. The vet has asked me to put a video together for him to see how he is progressing as we have done this on previous occassions.

Have you tried long-lining him (it can be a bit hairy the first time - a 22 yo of mine dragged my rider up and down the drive a few times - thank goodness she hung on!)

He's obviously being a bit of a prat - it's probably a combination of weather and lack of turnout. Even some of my sensible ones are being a*seholes for these reasons at present!

Start the long lining wit someone at his head as well - so he gradually gets the message.

Thanks for your help. I will see if the long lining helps. I will try it round the yard first when it is less windy before venturing into the school and at least it will give him some variation.

 

[milliepops]

Sorry to hear about your mare Milliepops. I have considered reassessing my horses futuretoo in respect of jumping, which is what I put in a previous post a few weeks back. Reinjury is possible, but he hasn't reinjured anything to date, so it proves that the programme me and the vet have devised between us works.

I noticed that in your other post a while back. It's rubbish but sometimes worth a bit of sacrifice to hopefully keep them on the road safely for longer.
Mine is OK. It's just sods law - 3 accidents in 2.5 years. I no longer even want to do fast work or jumping with her, quite happy to do lots of sensible hacking and try to keep her strong through her schooling. She's feeling fit and well - she'd just love to go hunting when they meet down the road but I can't accept the risk

Long reining is fun, definitely get a bit of help to start with and then you need to adopt the same firm attitude that you would need when riding in the event that he spots a monster to spook at. Difference is that at least you're already on the ground, so hopefully will be able to feel braver.

 

[stencilface]

You have my sympathy with rehab antics, I did all mine on the roads - I wore draw reins to help control the explosions which were very, er, interesting!

The last lot of rehab I did I was pregnant and long reining on the roads, learnt that my horse can do lots of gymnastics, including nice levades, the little ****, all I can say is that growing mini SF added ballast to keep him under control!

Regards the shying, my sisters horse is 25 this year. He has always spooked, always, whilst being completely bombproof with traffic and serious stuff. The amount of times he goggled fillers under jumps, to crawl to a stop and jump from a standstill are impossible to count, it was his trade mark. The only thing I can suggest is to get him an eye test, as that certainly something my sisters horse had. He has no problem with his eyes it seems, he's just a tit!

I also feel your pain on the reinjuring, mine is undergoing his 3rd lot of expensive rehab to date since 2011, it seems he's barely been sound since then. I've one mind to retire him completely, or at least purely to hacking, no more circles and jumping, and he's got such a low mileage as a 16yo, its so frustrating. Again regarding the constant reinjuring, mine is now going down the bf rehab route, which I'm sure from previous post you're interested in.

 

[ester]

I don't think he sounds that unusual OP, I know a fair few that are fine with combines etc but change something in their immediate environment and it is at the very least an excuse to be daft. You just need to sit it or long rein him.

 

[mytwofriends]

Violent spookiness and shying is horrible, isn't it? My boy is quite adept at it, and fairly regularly either shoots forward, clattering like a good 'un, or spins 180 degrees (always to the right) without me realising what's happening. It's often something innocuous - currently Blackbirds are scary - and very rarely something legitimately terrifying.

He also turned into demon pony after a stint of box rest last year. He managed 5 out of 6 months. Hand walking was hideous, and downright dangerous, so he got hoofed out for my and his sanity.

Don't lose heart. Spring is on the way, so more turnout and more work may be what your horse needs. In the meantime, try and enjoy your riding again. Pick and choose your weather and maybe have someone with you each time for moral support.

 

[applecart14]

I don't think he sounds that unusual OP, I know a fair few that are fine with combines etc but change something in their immediate environment and it is at the very least an excuse to be daft. You just need to sit it or long rein him.

I will continue to sit it best I can, just losing my nerve along the way. He is a long way down to the floor. Intensive care, two slipped discs and numerous hospital visits over 25 years have made me slightly nervous thats all ......

Thanks to those who have responded with kindness. I do appreciate your help. Seems like there are many of us who have been in this situation with spooky horses and countless rehabs!

 

[applecart14]

The only thing I can suggest is to get him an eye test, as that certainly something my sisters horse had. He has no problem with his eyes it seems, he's just a tit!
.

Interesting you say about eyes. In around 2012 I had the vet check him as I was worried about his continual shying and spooking at all things. He spent a period of time looking in his eye and said that he had an extra layer of cells over his cornea called an epitheral layer and this would cause him to spook at things, like looking through distorted lenses. I spoke to Dr Knottenbelt who was most helpful as I was looking at a referral to his clinic. He seemed to think that this would make no difference to the horse: extra cells would not have this distorted effect that the first vet had said. I had his eyes looked at a couple of years later, the second vet from the same practice spent 20 mins looking at both eyes and could not see a problem at all.

I have done the standard eye test of holding a flame to the eye and seeing the upside down image, the sidewards image and the normal image all portrayed in the reflection of the eye which proves light is bouncing off the retina correctly (according to an old veterinary manual). I am still none the wiser, but I do know he tends to shy worse on the one rein than the other and always has done, and this does correspond with what the first vet said about that particular eye.

 

[AandK]

Not much you can do when they are on restricted exercise/turn out. But I would be looking to cut out the pony nuts, mix and apples/carrots if he were mine. All full of sugar which can exacerbate spooky behavior if they are that way inclined.

 

[stencilface]

Not much you can do when they are on restricted exercise/turn out. But I would be looking to cut out the pony nuts, mix and apples/carrots if he were mine. All full of sugar which can exacerbate spooky behavior if they are that way inclined.

Agree with this, mine was on a no goodies diet!

 

[Mrs G]

Just a thought, I've been considering an RS-Tor riding aid; it might help/give you a bit of confidence?

 

[khalino]

pain makes horses spooky and scared.

this is the 3rd? or 4th? time this horse has injured himself in that area.

stop expecting him to go on forever would be my advise.

and yes i know your vets says he's fine, blah blah blah. he's not fine and clearly telling you so,but carry on breaking him down, your horse your choice.

What a cruel response...

 

[JanetGeorge]

What a cruel response...

You're not wrong! Some stupid, smart a*se folk just can't resist! Maybe the Fat Controller should do to her what I did to her on my forum a few years back. Some folk never learn!

 

[serena2005]

I'm in the spooky horse club
One day she's fine the next a pole was moved and it's like hell has opened up in the arena!
Yet she will happily hack down the side of a motorway (bridlepath not actually on the rode!) And over a motorway bridge.
I hope things improve for you soon

 

[tankgirl1]

pain makes horses spooky and scared.

this is the 3rd? or 4th? time this horse has injured himself in that area.

stop expecting him to go on forever would be my advise.

and yes i know your vets says he's fine, blah blah blah. he's not fine and clearly telling you so,but carry on breaking him down, your horse your choice.

Not read the rest of the thread, but I agree with PS, listen to your horse, I would never 'wallop' any horse for spooking

 

[Princess16]

Not read the rest of the thread, but I agree with PS, listen to your horse, I would never 'wallop' any horse for spooking

Then I suggest you read it . Nowhere in her post has OP said she has walloped her horse FGS!

 

[Auslander]

Then I suggest you read it . Nowhere in her post has OP said she has walloped her horse FGS!

First post. 2nd line of 2nd paragraph.

 

[Micropony]

They are all being a bit full of themselves at the moment, and restricted exercise is often, er, interesting afterv they've been out of work, just unfortunate to be doing that at this time of year.
If it makes you feel any better, my last horse dropped me IN WALK once while rehabbing. It was sheer boredom I'm sure, although truth be told I can't remember as I hit my head on the way down.
I would be tempted to drop anything sugary, cereally or not strictly vital from his diet for a short time, just until you can make the work more interesting, do a spot of long lining if you're able, invest in a neck strap, balance strap, RS-tor or similar, and pay someone else younger and bouncier to ride for a bit if needs be. It's meant to be fun, after all!

 

[popsdosh]

First post. 2nd line of 2nd paragraph.

Some dont bother reading before they jump in with both feet good spot!!!

Last thing you should ever do ,a horse should be ridden using whats between your ears and not walloped because the riders scared and knows no other response still we have all seen it over the years.

 

[Princess16]

First post. 2nd line of 2nd paragraph.

Apologies must have missed that !

Agree walloping is unnecessary.

 

[applecart14]

Some dont bother reading before they jump in with both feet good spot!!!

.Last thing you should ever do ,a horse should be ridden using whats between your ears and not walloped because the riders scared and knows no other response still we have all seen it over the years.

Of course Popsdosh you have never reprimanded a horse in your life when it has shied? Of course not perish the thought. And I am the Queen Mother.

Err if you read my tens of other posts over the years you will find that I NEVER usually smack or shout at my horse as there is no need to. But as this particular time we could have ended up under a car due to the enormity of the shy, yes, for once I did wallop him. And it was only a 'wallop' because it was on a thick exercise sheet which he would have hardly felt, backed up by a less smart one on the shoulder. In fact my response is normally to laugh at him, as it relieves the tension and makes him and I calm down.

Its not the 'only response' I know. Normally I take time to 'show' him something scary, but our lanes are narrow and bendy and I so it is not always practical to do this as you will understand. I have spent years trying to recitfy this horses shying behaviour using all manner of things like trying to desensitise him, used join up, lunged him past things, walked him past things, before trotting, when still shying going back to walk and repeating the exercise, for days at a time sometimes.

When he was on a bute trial following a very serious accident with his leg stuck in a wheelbarrow (I was at work at the time, before I get slated for that) he was on a bute trial of three bute a day for a week. He still shied at things then. There was no pain on three bute a day, which proves my point, that it is not pain related.

Again people comment when they don't know me, or the horse, and it really annoys me. I asked for advice on how best to deal with the problem I am encountering, having admittted that I am at very low spirits and feeling very down about the whole thing. Some people on this forum seem to get off on kicking people when they are down.

I was asking for help not asking to be hung in public and criticised about how I ride my horse or how I keep him.

Thank you to those that have contributed in a more positive and helpful manner

 

[Goldenstar]

Spooking is an indicator of discomfort .
And a horse that's always spooked may well have always been in discomfort .
Applecart it's very difficult if you can't do more exercise and I remember you don't turn out in winter he goes in a pen hope I have that right you in a bit of a sticky situation I would consider trying tincture of Valerian which is a powerful herbal calmer while your going through this period .
As a side point on his muscle bulk why not try giving him myoplast when you get him back into more work ( they need to be in working for best results) I had two of mine on this and I am amazed at the results .

 

[claracanter]

Hi,

I am going through rehab with my horse too so I know hoe you are feeling. I just want my lovely boy back not an excitable rubber ball. I assume like me, you can't lunge your horse before you ride due to the injury. Would you consider a calmer?