Can you change a sour horse?

E

EquestrianFairy

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 October 2006
Messages
6,502
Visit site
My friends horse is quite sour, always looks very fed up, ears never forward etc. She's exceptionally hard work to get moving forward at times (I assume due to her lack of interest about being ridden in general)

She's been checked over numerous times, vet has said that it's possibly just the way she is.

I've personally never had a horse like this and I've always wondered do they stay this way forever or can you change it? Friend in question is actually looking to change yards now in a last ditch attempt.
 
ridefast said:
What does she do with her, what does she feed her, how fit is horse?
Click to expand...

She does mainly schooling and hacking although it's had two weeks off recently and she got back on today hoping it would have helped but the horse was exactly the same.
She's on haylege, speedibeet, nuts, chaff and a vit/min supplement.
I would say her horse is normally fairly fit, ridden 4/5 times a week of a varied load from flatwork to jumping to hacking. She doesn't take her anywhere as she has no transport but tries to hack different routes etc.

She's hard to catch from the field as , not sure if this makes a difference.
 
Last edited:
Is the horse sour doing a particular thing ie. being in the school?
I took on a horse that had gone sour in the school and jumping. I only hacked her for a couple of months and then started schooling but only on grass. I also started to jump her on grass and she started to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Edit: just seen you above response. Has she tried hunting? What's her diet?
 
Having to walk only with mine at moment, day one after a couple weeks off v excited but stayed in walk/jog, by day 3 one fed up bored horse! He is normally raring to go and his favourite thing, hunting ! I would try spicing up sour horses life, a gallop across the hills in company, jumping anything in the way out hacking, ....
 
Umbongo said:
Is the horse sour doing a particular thing ie. being in the school?
I took on a horse that had gone sour in the school and jumping. I only hacked her for a couple of months and then started schooling but only on grass. I also started to jump her on grass and she started to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Edit: just seen you above response. Has she tried hunting? What's her diet?
Click to expand...

No she hasn't tried hunting but I will certainly mention it, I never thought it if myself.
Feed: hay or haylege (she tried hay, then swapped to haylege so currently on that) speedibeet, chaff, nuts and a vit supp
 
try any thing out of the ordinary - hunting, beach rides, box her to new places to explore, even something like horse agility or a few tricks just to alleviate the boredom!!!!
 
Hunting, without a doubt. My cob was so lethargic and depressed I had him tested for cushings and put him on a prascend trial. The medication didn't help, so stopped it after 6 weeks as he seemed even worse, so I took him hunting on the advice of someone else.
Was expecting to get left behind, but not a bit of it!
We had a fantastic time, and horse has been completely different ever since (it was ony 3 weeks ago), much more forward and interested in life generally.
Best thing I ever did, well worth a try. :)
 
Low grade pain can make them behave like this, even if they look outwardly healthy.

I would check saddle fit, teeth, physio to check back, vet check too for ulcers/ low grade lameness. Then, if all healthy, go hunting, FAB to cheer up a mopey horse!
 
I would be concerned about the *not wanting to be caught* as this sounds like my mare a year and a half ago! She was a bit off and went a bit sour, she also was very hard to catch ( usually only hard to catch for a few days in Spring when grass growing), she started to turn her back on me! I wish i had taken notice of all the early warning signs as she looked fine and even did pony club camp with a friend's daughter. She suddenly developed a lesion on her hind SDFT and as they operated they discovered that the manica flexoria had torn so I think this had happened alot earlier which tied in with being hard to catch and a bit sour to ride!
 
My boy can get a bit fed up at times, BUT take him Hunting and he wakes up.

In training it can be Oh no Mum not again but once the season starts (Endurance) and we go to different rides he is a different horse. Vary the activity he does so that you keep his mind active.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top