change in horses behaviour can you help

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toni1234

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hi, i have a dartmoor cross new forest, he has always been a cheeky chap but recently his bahaviour has got worse unless the other horses are in i cant catch him from the field and even then when i catch him some times he will spin and try to double barrel me out the field. when i put him in the school he try to bolt on the lunge line and then cant be caught and even if i catch him on the lunge line he bolts again and he is a strong pony. His behaviour has really started to get me down as i dont know what has happened. he is only fed on happy hoof and spearmint. i also found out a couple of days ago that a guy at the back of my yard has fed him a large amount of cut grass could this have something to do with his behaviour?

can you help? will be grateful for any suggestions
 
With the grass coming through then I would have thought he would be more reluctant to come in, and also he may well be high as a kite and a bit of a bu**er on it! Sounds like he is too full of himself! With my girl the only way through is restricted grazing and plenty of work.
I would have serious words with the guy who fed him grass clippings, his behaviour is the least of the problems that it could have caused, colic kills so tipping grass clippings over the fence is a huge no no.
 
toni1234 said:
hi, i have a dartmoor cross new forest, he has always been a cheeky chap but recently his bahaviour has got worse unless the other horses are in i cant catch him from the field and even then when i catch him some times he will spin and try to double barrel me out the field. when i put him in the school he try to bolt on the lunge line and then cant be caught and even if i catch him on the lunge line he bolts again and he is a strong pony. His behaviour has really started to get me down as i dont know what has happened. he is only fed on happy hoof and spearmint. i also found out a couple of days ago that a guy at the back of my yard has fed him a large amount of cut grass could this have something to do with his behaviour?

can you help? will be grateful for any suggestions
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Cut grass should not be fed to horses, and yes, it can make them very frisky if they eat a lot of it, or worse, if it is not extremely fresh (as in cut that hour) can cause colic.

But I think your pony's behaviour could be due to pain. He obviously doesn't want to work for some reason, and nine times out often, when horses react this extremely, it is due to pain.

If you have had everything checked, teeth, back, saddle, other tack and he is still behaving this way then it may just be he is testing his boundaries and thinks he is the boss of you.
 
thank you both for your help, i have told the guy who gave them grass to never do it again and luckily he has been showing no signs of colic or laminitis. i have had everything checked out so dont think it is pain. if he has hi sbridle on then he trys it abit and then works like a dream. im just stuck with what to do with him last year we were qualifying for the great britain team in prelim dressage and now hes like a complete physo i just dont know what to do with him. he is being worked 6 days a week now but it just doesnt seem to be making a difference.
the only thing i was thinking was a calmer for now maybe?

thanks again
 
Cut grass is definately not good for them yet the riding school owner I worked for had been feeding is mowings for over 20 years with no trouble at all.

What is most likely the problem is the rapid spring grass growth
This time of year the grass is growing fast and this results in the magnesium levels available to the horse dropping.

Magnesium is used in muscle function and if the pony is deficient in magnesium their character changes, they become silly, flighty, very over-reactive to stimuli and spooky, some don't like to be touched. It is often nick named 'Grass Tetany' as its symptoms mimic tetanus.

It's very simple to deal with - you can either buy a commercial preparation or you can make this old stockmans mix yourself. TBH it works far better than any commercial mix.

1 level Dessert spoon each of Epsom Salts (Magnesium), Baking Soda, Yeast and Dried Thyme.
Mix together and add to his feed. You may need to add a little mollasses to hide the taste.

This mix needs to be fed twice daily while the grass is growing fast. Once rass growth slows down feed just once daily, preferably 1½-2 hrs before you work him. Magnesium is metabolised rapidly.

I rarely hard feed my own horses I have a Magnesium block and a multi vitamin Mineral block in the paddock so that they can help themselves whenever they like.
 
thats brilliant, thank you so much for your help and advice.
hopefully i will get him over this silly behaviour soon.
thanks again
x
 
hi abit of a update, he is still not wanting to be caught until the other horses come in however when i turn him out now he seems to be alot calmer. he still keeps trying to run off when i get him in the school but after that bit of naughtness he has been really good. im thinkin of maybe putting him on a herbal calmer what does everyone else think of this?
 
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