Bringing excitable horse back into work

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Scheherezade

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Over the past 5 weeks I've been bringing my almost-5 year old back into work, after he was diagnosed with OCD in August. I've increased from 5 minute driveway walk, to 20-25 minutes round a few fields, including up and down a hill (in walk).

Horse gets turned out 5 days a week, now that the weather is good.

However, as would be expected, his fitness seems to have suddenly increased, and he is a nightmare to contain. Today I tried to introduce trot. My idea was that he would walk round on a large lunge with bridle and saddle, have a trot for one circle both directions, then I'd put on side reins, and he'd do it again. I put a couple of poles on the floor, as in the past thee have helped get him to lift up and stop him dragging along on the forehand.

BUT, all he did was hoon around, once I'd caught him after he escaped and set off round the arena. He was cantering, jumping around, leaping over the poles and basically, "full of it". Led him around in walk, took him back to stable and turned out in field. As we left, drove past the field to see him galloping full pelt round, trotting (very lovely elevated uphill paces mind...) up and down the fence.

Yesterday, because of the wind when I was trying to ride, he was jumping up and down on the spot, and we ended up doing a funny walk-trot shuffle for 5 minutes.

So today I've put a sachet of danilon in his feed (he gets 1 feed a day; topspec 2 cups, small scoop of alfa a (to mix the supplements into), cortaflex and I've just added 15g pure glucosamine and a dollop of NAF superflex) in case there is any swelling.

I don't know what to do, I just want him to be sound as he's gorgeous :(
 
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If he's exciteable - then I personally would put the lunging equipment away and simply ride him instead.

Hack, hack and more hacking. Long and slow
 
echo that- get on him and ride!

poles will just make him more excitable at the moment so i would wait a while before introducing them.

is he meant to be doing schoolwork or straight lines?
i would think if he has been off with lameness you would be better off hacking.
 
Has he always been like this and has he always been on Alfa A - some horses just cannot tolerate it. I would replace it with perhaps HI-FI or lite or good doer if he holds weight. Also why are you giving cortaflex plus glucosamine? Glucosamine can sometimes make them go nuts, I had one horse that was fine on it and one that it sent through the roof.

Also has the vet told you to lunge? I would be very wary lunging a horse with OCD, as AM has said above, hacking is probably the best way to go. If he is too fresh on the road - to cause a danger then try walking round the fields or local bridleways.
 
Agree with the above. You will have much more control on him then sending him out on the lunge where he is free to hoon about.

Hacking will soon chill him out (though in the wind, they usually are always more on their toes!), i would just be taking him on long walk hacks on the road or ground which isnt rutty.

and as LP says, check with the vet as how best to bring him back. Lunging can be quite hard on them if he has been off... maybe best to build muscle up from hacking straight lines first?

Good luck xx
 
I would ride after he has had turnout if you don't already, rather than staright from the stable...
Also, if possible, have him out 24/7 and agree with just a plain and simple hack..
 
Thanks for replies! I wanted to start off the 'new' paces with lunging first, so he could balance himself without me on top, but as you say; it's probably best to get on!

Alfa A is the only thing that seems to hold his weight steady. He's a bit chubby at the moment, which will hopefully drop as he gets more work/more turnout, but Hi-Fi type chaffs don't seem to agree with him. Plus with him being a baby and needing nutrients etcetc...

Vet just said to bring him into walk slowly, no real instructions. We're quite a way from the road/rail lines, and he's a bit of a wide-eyed baby, so for the time being, until he's upto 45-1hr hacks, I'm sticking to the (dry, grassy, sloped hills) fields. Does this sound right? When would be best to introduce trot?

lochpearl - I'm wanting to cut out the cortaflex, and introduce pure glucosamine, so I'm reducing the cortaflex, and introducing the G. Eventually I want him to be on superflex and pure gluc (vet has said this is ok). But you're right, I think it might be the superflex, as he only got G for the first time yesterday, and he was loopy the day before.

On livery yard, so have to live by their turnout rules. However I think they're going out 24/7 into the big summer field in a couple of weeks, so that should help.

I'm now just terrified he's hurt himself today!

Thanks for your replies :)
x
 
Sorry, can I just comment on what you have said about the feeding? My horse had severe collateral ligament damage to both coffin joints when he turned 4, he has been on box rest since July last year and he is full ID - so lives on fresh air. A hand full of Alfa A is not going to make any nutritional difference to say Good doer or Hi-Fi lite, Good doer can actually be fed as a complete meal. It was made for horses that are prone to put on weight. If you are really wanting to give your horse the correct dose of all vitamins and minerals that are needed I would suggest you feed a low cal chaff with say baileys low cal balancer, this will keep the tubbiness away and he will have everything he needs.

As I said before the sparkiness is probably to do with the supplements also that you have him on, personally I would prefer to feed a more expensive supplement and have a sane horse that wont injure me or himself than using something that might be cheaper but is sending him loopy.
 
A more expensive supplement? What else can there be - the equine america cortaflex is £50, and the topspec is almost that! Unless this is what you mean as "A cheap supplement that is sending horse loopy so likely to injure me or himself". I thought the topspec was more expensive than the baileys?

I started the NAF on Sunday, and the Glucosamine yesterday, with the intention of stopping cortaflex (as I'm not keen on it), and using the superflex and Glucosamine together, with vets agreement. I'm using the Glucosamine &MSM because the vet told me to, basically.

He isn't prone to putting on weight; the opposite really. It's just that he has been on box rest over winter. I did ask the vet about using topspec lo-cal, but he said not to, and just to get him out & moving more. Unfortunately the weather over winter meant he was confined to the stable.

I appreciate your ideas, but I think I'm going to wait and see how his weight stabilises with the increased workload and turnout before I reduce the feed, as last winter I changed feed at the same time as increasing work (rebacking) and he became very thin and poor. If he's still a bit podgy come mid April then I'll change.

Feeding is a complete minefield though, it is difficult to get it exactly right. None of my other horses were ever this fussy/difficult! But it may be the superflex which caused the explosion today (that, or the fact he had been since Thursday). Once the turnout routine is stable, it'll be easier to work out what feed/supplements is best for him.

I just wish I could send him away for someone else to bring into work/sort out feed, but as that's not an option, I'll just struggle on with my best intentions, haha!

Thanks :)
x
 
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Of course I am willing to accept, and would believe that I am doing completely the wrong things, and pouring money down the drain, so if I really am doing it wrong - please do say!

This whole injured, hyper youngster thing is completely new to me. Vet said bring into work slowly, feed glucosamine & MSM. I've had an injured, hyper 8yo, which was completely different! The rehabilitative process seemed so much more straighforward, and all he got was chaff and cool mix!
 
Has he had the operations to remove the chips?? I've got one that had the op on both hocks last year...She has now been broken and is going really well but my vet + guy from Newmarket who did the op has told me under no circumstances to feed her anything that she doesn't need... Just Hay and grass as much as she can eat... Especially being so young they do not need the extra pressure on their joints... I would have a word with your vet as feed for mine was definately a no go... Even now that she is doing full time work she is only allowed a scoop of moly chaff a scoop of midlins and a handful of eco mix. With OCD they should not have ( according to vets I have spoken to - every medical person I can get advice from about it ) anything that they don't absolutely need to eat. They have always told me that until she has stopped growing that she should be kept a little under weight rather than over as it's kinder on her joints. Even once they have had the operations, they can still get leg problems from it.

* Just what vets have told me - And we haven't had an off day since operations last year*
 
BrambleandMonty said:
A more expensive supplement? What else can there be - the equine america cortaflex is £50, and the topspec is almost that! Unless this is what you mean as "A cheap supplement that is sending horse loopy so likely to injure me or himself". I thought the topspec was more expensive than the baileys?

I started the NAF on Sunday, and the Glucosamine yesterday, with the intention of stopping cortaflex (as I'm not keen on it), and using the superflex and Glucosamine together, with vets agreement. I'm using the Glucosamine &MSM because the vet told me to, basically.

He isn't prone to putting on weight; the opposite really. It's just that he has been on box rest over winter. I did ask the vet about using topspec lo-cal, but he said not to, and just to get him out & moving more. Unfortunately the weather over winter meant he was confined to the stable.

I appreciate your ideas, but I think I'm going to wait and see how his weight stabilises with the increased workload and turnout before I reduce the feed, as last winter I changed feed at the same time as increasing work (rebacking) and he became very thin and poor. If he's still a bit podgy come mid April then I'll change.

Feeding is a complete minefield though, it is difficult to get it exactly right. None of my other horses were ever this fussy/difficult! But it may be the superflex which caused the explosion today (that, or the fact he had been since Thursday). Once the turnout routine is stable, it'll be easier to work out what feed/supplements is best for him.

I just wish I could send him away for someone else to bring into work/sort out feed, but as that's not an option, I'll just struggle on with my best intentions, haha!

Thanks :)
x
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I think you are getting what I'm saying mixed up!! Topspec and Baileys are not supplements they are balancers, they are fed to the horse to ensure that he/she gets the right vitamins and minerals in their diet - this is why you can feed them on their own without any other feed. You mentioned that your horse had a belly and this is why I mentioned the Baileys low cal. Everyone is different and some people prefer Top Spec I on the other hand have had great results myself with Baileys so I will tell people. - Again only my decision and thoughts.

The supplement that I was referring to was the cortaflex - I have no idea why you don't like it - it is one of the best on the market and if he wasn't this hyper when he was on it and has only changed since you added the glucosamine etc then I would not be swapping anything over. My horse is on cosequin (£175 to buy through the vets), if I decided to change this through my own or vets advice and I had adverse reactions I would change it back.

My horse has been on box rest since July - I fully expect there to be an explosion he has been on box rest 24/7 no in hand grazing and we only started walking in hand mid Jan, he will explode when he first goes out and probably when first sat on but after that I expect him to behave.

You might also want to invest in some ProKalm (google it) it is probably the only thing on the market that works.

As I said - i was not telling you to change his feed, you said you were having problems and said what you were feeding the horse and I picked up on things that I know have set previous horses off. I hope that he chills soon and that he continues to be sound.
 
He doesn't have any 'chips' I don't think? No, he had alcohol injections into the joint, apparently it is a very new procedure - my horse was only the second one they had ever done, the first being administered the week before me. But it is supposed to have a very high success rate. The vet said he may need a second "dose" in a few months time.

That's very interesting though, and against what I have been told re: nutritional advice.

It's so difficult, I am trying to do my absolute best, but it always seems to be wrong (sorry, having a woe moment). I'd like to find someone to bring him on and compete if/when he is well, but right now I can't afford it.


What would you advise, Egerden? ATM he gets 2 cups topspec (the normal one), small scoop Alfa A, and the supplements. He was on a small scoop cool mix before the topspec, but he almost exploded on that. He's welsh x TB, so quite dizzy anyway.

I just want him to be well :( The supplements and topspec and alfa are going by what others have suggested. Perhaps if I cut out the alfa completely, and get hi-fi lite as lochpearl suggested?
 
just a thought... my mare was loopy on topspec... may be worth trying him on a different balancer?

ETA - sh'es also alfalfa intollerant and hi-fi is still half chaff half alfalfa - it was actually hi-fi that made me discover her intollerences! you want a purely straw based chaff if you want to try him without it... lowest sugar one i've found (as most straw shaffs are high mollases) is D&H safe n sound - i use that as a chaff/bulker/suppliemnt holder for my mare. for hard feeds without alfafa look at allen and page
 
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I would definitely look at his feed, especially if he is not underweight. I had to bring my mare back to work in the past few weeks, she had very limited TO at her previous yard, then I moved her. She was a SOD for the first week, had been a sod at the old yard, and I changed her feed.

Basically, I now make her take all her energy from forage. She goes out from 9am to 4pm, then comes in and has two haynets to keep her eating until the next morning. All she then has is a feed balancer, to give her vitamins and minerals - two feeds of 250 grams a day. She has gone from having big buckets of chop and nuts to two small feeds, but lots of grass and hay.

She still does random things like escape from her stable, but I got on her last week expecting to be decked - other horses in the school, horses on a lorry - and she was as good as gold, and has been ever since. I am feeding Pure Balance from the Pure Feeds range and it's an eye-watering £27.50 a bag, but she gets 500g a day, and the grass and hay are all part of my livery price!
 
I haven't ever heard of that procedure, but as you say it is new... How did you find that he had OCD?? It totally depends on each animal as to how to treat them, and obviously it's best to get advice from your vet who knows him, but if it were me, I would cut out all feed and just give him grass and as much hay as he will eat... ( that has worked wonders in my mares case, and she is a sparky 4 year old, she has been an angel siince the op ) If you feel you need to give him a feed, give him a handful of chaff with a good quality minerals and vitimins supplement - My vets have a joint supplement designed for joint problems, cheaper than cortaflex and I find it great, google them and it may be worth enquiring, priors farm vets, forest row. You could always call them too to see what they would suggest about feeding...

Let us know how you get on...

x
 
He had bone scans and xrays. I asked the vet for the articles, but I don't have them on me now. I'll do a journal search and will send you them if I find them.


So it would be worth cutting out the topspec? It would help a lot if he were not needing to be fed, both cost and time reasons! And a good chaff with everything in, just a handful to mix the supplements into.

Thanks :)
 
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