Calm and confident horse suddenly spooking and napping.

HeyMich

HeyMich

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As title really!

She almost put me in a ditch today :-( She has always been a bit cheeky/strong, but the napping has been upped to max and she was soooooo spooky. She is normally the unshakable, calm, confident one on a hack.

Pain? Hormones? Winter silliness?

I have the vet coming on Tues for routine vaccs so I may ask him for a bit of a once over too. Good idea or overreaction maybe?

Thanks all xx
 
Mine has been absolutely fine this winter. Until January. Didn’t help with the snow. Rain. Lost shoe and me having a virus means December was a write off. Think with mine it’s the lack of consistency, and living off haylage.
 
exracehorse said:
Mine has been absolutely fine this winter. Until January. Didn’t help with the snow. Rain. Lost shoe and me having a virus means December was a write off. Think with mine it’s the lack of consistency, and living off haylage.
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Ok, thanks. That's good to hear. (not that I'm glad yours is being an arse too, iykwim!) So, more work and less haylege? Roll on the spring!!
 
Has any thing changed food wisr? This can be something as minor as someone giving "treats", such as carrot or something with alfalfa in. My older Appy used to be awful if she got a whiff of either carrots or alfalfa. We also nearly went into orbit when some kind soul gave the younger Appy cattle creep feed over the wall! :eek:
 
Mine is mental at the minute! Hes normally rock steady but we've had all sorts of high jinks the last week or so. I think with him its a combination of a yard move, the time of year and pushing his luck a bit as he is feeling well. Unfortunately for him hes found his food cut back, his turnout increased and his work doubled. He has been much better the last couple of days as a result.
 
oldie48 said:
If a horse is losing their sight they can become very spooky and nappy, it's probably not this but it's a very quick and easy thing for your vet to check and is a standard part of a stage 2 vetting.
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Ah, thanks. That would totally make sense. I blimmin hope it's not the case tho, as she's only 8!

Right, I'll write a list of things for the vet to check. Thanks all! Xx
 
YorksG said:
Has any thing changed food wisr? This can be something as minor as someone giving "treats", such as carrot or something with alfalfa in. My older Appy used to be awful if she got a whiff of either carrots or alfalfa. We also nearly went into orbit when some kind soul gave the younger Appy cattle creep feed over the wall! :eek:
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Yes, actually. I bought the wrong feed last week! It was the first thing I thought after our disastrous hack today so I made a sharp trip to the local feed suppliers.

I didn't realise Alfalfa could be so unsettling. Not sure if it was in the new feed, but I've bought some of the usual stuff again, just in case.

Thanks!
 
Leo Walker said:
Mine is mental at the minute! Hes normally rock steady but we've had all sorts of high jinks the last week or so. I think with him its a combination of a yard move, the time of year and pushing his luck a bit as he is feeling well. Unfortunately for him hes found his food cut back, his turnout increased and his work doubled. He has been much better the last couple of days as a result.
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Thanks, that's great to hear (that he's settling again, not that he was being silly!). Good to also hear that the high jinx was due to him feeling well - let's hope the vet finds nothing wrong and my mare is feeling tippity top too! Xx
 
HeyMich said:
Yes, actually. I bought the wrong feed last week! It was the first thing I thought after our disastrous hack today so I made a sharp trip to the local feed suppliers.

I didn't realise Alfalfa could be so unsettling. Not sure if it was in the new feed, but I've bought some of the usual stuff again, just in case.

Thanks!
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Give him a week to get the new stuff out of his system and I bet he will be back to normal (whatever normal is for a horse! :) )
 
Alfalfa sends mine doolally!
But also, mine is prone to ulcers and when they have come back she is sharp and spooky. She was first investigated and ulcers diagnosed after a particularly explosive episode. Poor horse was in pain and settled back down within days of starting treatment.
 
Notimetoride said:
Alfalfa sends mine doolally!
But also, mine is prone to ulcers and when they have come back she is sharp and spooky. She was first investigated and ulcers diagnosed after a particularly explosive episode. Poor horse was in pain and settled back down within days of starting treatment.
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Yes, I think ulcers may be a potential cause. Good to know that others have responded to treatment so quickly.

Is there a blood test or something initial that the vet could do on Tues, or is it straight to scoping to diagnose? I'll definitely call him on Monday to ask. Thanks xx
 
If you changed feed then that is more than likely the cause but worth discussing with the vet whilst they're there. That said I know of a fair few horses who are being generally daft atm! One of them is mine but he's doing less work than he should be due to weather, dark nights and then me having the lurgy and so no energy to do owt with him last week. (Oh and he's also Welsh and prone to dramatics anyway!) He's also fed fairly decent amounts of hard feed as he looses weight otherwise (mostly non heating apart from the oats but when he's worked properly I don't have issues). Took him for a VERY long canter yesterday (went exploring, didn't realise quite how many miles the track my friend had told me about went on for! First time in a long time I've reached the bottom of his usually endless energy reserves) which resulted in him being in a much less silly mood today so if you get the all clear that there's nothing obvious from the vet then I'd try upping her work slightly / doing something that actually makes her tired and see if that reduces the stupidity.
 
HeyMich said:
Yes, I think ulcers may be a potential cause. Good to know that others have responded to treatment so quickly.

Is there a blood test or something initial that the vet could do on Tues, or is it straight to scoping to diagnose? I'll definitely call him on Monday to ask. Thanks xx
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Straight to scoping I'm afraid. It's not awful though like people might tell you it is. No food beforehand for 8 hours so rather than leave her without food all night, I feed and give haynet as usual at teatime, then go back down the yard at 10.30/11pm to remove haynet (if scope is booked for 8.30am ish). Horse is sedated so isn't really that aware. I've watched all 6 of my horse's gastroscopes and they have all been dead straightforwards. I'm so glad we now know we have an ulcer issue and can work with it. Many people don't investigate so I wonder how many undiagnosed cases there are which are just put down to naughty behaviour (like I did initially)
 
Cut all hard feed and see if it makes a difference.

You could also try a bute trial (ask your vet first) and see if behavior improves.

When my mare changed it turned out she was in pain.
 
I’ve just gone through something similar with my mare who is normally very lovely but proved to be quite a handful at a lesson (away from home) over Christmas. Nothing nasty just exuberant and full of herself. Her daily feed (chaff, bit of unmolassed beet and m micro linseed) gone, turnout increased (it dropped over Christmas with me being on hols), lunging upped to get her working but also for me to see how she was moving and full check of tack. I don’t think it’s one thing - she’s happier with a gel pad saddle riser (saddler coming this week), but seems calmer anyway with the other changes. I had also just changed her hay (the meadow hay I usually has just got too dusty and she’s now on seeded hay, so it will be higher in sugar). You know your horse and if you have a niggle getting her checked makes sense, even if just to put your mind at rest.
 
HeyMich said:
Yes, that's what I'm worried about. YO thinks I'm being paranoid, but I have a niggly feeling something's wrong. I'll see what the vet says and take their advice.

Thanks all! xx
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Dont ignore your gut instinct. Mines never been wrong so far. Last time everyone thought I was crazy and was adamant there was nothing wrong, turns out there was something quite significantly wrong! This time, its not really crossed my mind that there might be something wrong, and more work has done the trick and hes back to my superstar, foot perfect pony again :)
 
Just a quick update - vet came out yesterday and agrees that there's enough reason to suspect ulcers. Scope booked in for next Tues. They also took bloods to test hormone levels - less likely, but still worth discounting.

Very glad the vet agreed that all the niggles added up to something possibly not right. Gut instinct indeed!

Thanks everyone for your advice and reassurance. Greatly appreciated! We will let you know how things unfold...
 
HeyMich said:
Just a quick update - vet came out yesterday and agrees that there's enough reason to suspect ulcers. Scope booked in for next Tues. They also took bloods to test hormone levels - less likely, but still worth discounting.

Very glad the vet agreed that all the niggles added up to something possibly not right. Gut instinct indeed!

Thanks everyone for your advice and reassurance. Greatly appreciated! We will let you know how things unfold...
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Hope you get some answers and you get your sane Horse back :)
 
As other posters have said, if your horse is usually safe and sensible - look for something that's changed - it might not be obvious.

Years ago my daughter's very strong grass kept pony was given two pounds of oats by someone who should have known better - that quickly turned him from a minature cart horse into an unguided missile!

Later on, she had a lovely iron grey mare for bringing on as an eventer ( with varied success haha!) every now and then she'd throw a wobbly that most knowledgeable folk ( you know the type!) all put down to marishness - until I was grooming one day and found a piece of braided wire sticking out of her stomach right where the girth fits. Despite being quite firmly embedded - it had fallen out by itself by the time our vet visited ( isn't that typical!). So I always reccommend a microscopic examination every now and then to check for this kind of thing.

I used to be quite skeptical about lasers for horsey stuff reckoning that they claimed too much; however; they are a wonderful diagnostic tool - they can find "heat" in places where all those laying-on-of-hands people cannot reach so even small injuries show up.
 
As others have said check eyes. My old horse has a dodgy eye and will spook at absolutely nothing. Don't think windy weather is helping either as way more noise and flappy stuff banging around. She is in a silly mood with the wind constantly jogging when led and ridden
 
Yes, it's ulcers ��

Scoped today, and she has quite a few ulcers. Plus some signs of old/healed ones and thickening of lining, which apparently means new ones forming too. Ho hum...

Glad they have found something that's easily treatable. Explains the silliness and personality transplant!! Poor wee lass. Feel bad that she's been in so much pain!

Thanks for all your advice and encouragement HHOers. Greatly appreciated! Xx
 
HeyMich said:
As title really!

She almost put me in a ditch today :-( She has always been a bit cheeky/strong, but the napping has been upped to max and she was soooooo spooky. She is normally the unshakable, calm, confident one on a hack.

Pain? Hormones? Winter silliness?

I have the vet coming on Tues for routine vaccs so I may ask him for a bit of a once over too. Good idea or overreaction maybe?

Thanks all xx
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I just cut majority of magnesium out my mares diet and the spooking is def much less
 
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