back to basics

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harrihjc

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Flash has had a mystery lameness for over a month now, and the vet has advised us to slowly bring him back into work. He's seeing the physio before I do anything, but I'm thinking of going right back to basics with him and seeing how he goes, he's a very green 5yr old.

He has always been very lazy and doesn't move off your leg at all (wondering whether this could be due to some discomfort as he's rather a handful on the ground!) so where would you start to tackle this? I'm thinking of lungeing and long reining him (god help me, he does like to chew the end of the lunge whip!) to build up his fitness and muscle a bit before i get back on, he has no topline at all anymore and is little more than just a colourful fat belly!

he's also never happy in his mouth, so we've booked the dentist for him, again, but I'm going to have a play with bits and nosebands etc. So far we've tried a french link, normal single jointed D ring snaffle, straight bar, and a myler snaffle, and although her prefers the myler, realistically he doesn't actually like any of them and grinds his teeth, opens his mouth and is generally rather annoying! Any suggestions of where to go from here??

Any help much appreciated, its been a very traumatic few weeks and I want my happy sound horse back!
 
Hey hon, tbh the thing that builds youngsters up more than anything is road work and hacking...and lots of it.....but I remember you saying you are limited in your hacking? Otherwise lots of long reining BIG shapes, and poles on the ground will help....but still IMHO no substitute to hacking and road work....
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Some light lunging with loose side reins may help to build up his topline, but if he's not a mouthy happy horse, it won't really help him there. Have you tried going bitless? He might love that!

But really I agree with katB - no substitute for hacking and hill work!
 
re: realistically he doesn't actually like any of them and grinds his teeth, opens his mouth and is generally rather annoying!

i think i'd call that "annoyed", rather than "annoying"... i'd try him in a hackamore, and if there's a huge improvement, have an expert look at his mouth and work out what kind of bit he will be comfortable in. grinding teeth etc is not normal behaviour, most horses don't mind the bit at all as long as it's reasonably comfy.
 
It is a shame about the roadwork, as that really would be what we should do, but we also have no hills at all around here
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Yes kerilli, you're right really, but he does it in a head collar too and I just hate the sound!

I was thinking of trying a hackamore, but have never used one before and didn't want to try something like that and not know what I was doing. Plus its a bit of a no-go for showing.
 
if he grinds his teeth in a headcollar, he's got a problem that needs sorting, seriously. it's a symptom, imho, not a habit.
i only suggested the hackamore as an experiment, not a long-term thing. okay, other things to try, once your vet and dentist have determined that there's nothing wrong with his teeth or mouth:
if he has a small mouth and/or a big tongue, stick to thin-ish mouthpieces. a simple snaffle covered with soft leather (yes, really) can make some horses mouth a lot, get them used to playing gently with the bit. i'd absolutely avoid happy-mouth type bits. try aurigan, kangaroo metal, black rubber, sweet iron, copper... borrow bits from everyone, find out which taste he likes best, some hate certain metals. stainless steel has a bitter taste, a lot of horses hate it.
 
Thanks Kerilli, I'll give it a try. He has previously had vet and dentist check his mouth and he had large spurs (is that the right word? I've gone completely blank and it was the first that came into my head), when you first put his bridle on he really chomps and plays with the bit, and when he settles after a few minutes he's fine if you have no contact at all he's fine, but as soon as you take up even the lightest of contacts he starts to fight, so obviously checking for discomfort first.
 
Hi, just a thought but it's worth asking the therapist to check for discomfort in the poll area.
My horse (amongst his hundreds of other soundness issues!) turned out to have a wonky atlas bone. The chiro got me to feel it, and it was easily 1" higher at the right - but I'd never noticed just from grooming etc. She clunked it level again and he started licking, chewing and generally looking a lot more relaxed. He seemed a lot more comfy with the bridle afterwards as well, and accepted the bit better.
The chiro said that a lot of horses have tightness or tension in that area either from skeletal or soft tissue issues.
Good luck getting your boy sorted, he sounds lovely
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Thank you Est and Kerilli, I will definitely ask that. He's having everything checked before I make a start with things as I want him to be happy and comfortable, his reluctance to move forward and accept the bit worries me that he's not comfortable, and I want to rule that out before considering it's a 5yr old testing the boundaries!
 
I think I might just stick to lungeing him until he's had his teeth done, I want a clean slate and get everything right, I think he may have been rushed a little initially, and did a lot too soon, so as annoying as his lameness has been, I think the time off to be a baby may have been quite beneficial
 
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