Excited, naughty, pain or something else...???

[Hedwards]

So I've had Mickey since last September/October... we had a slow start due to stomach ulcers, and in that time he did the most enormous 'fly bucks' i had a rather ungraceful couple of falls and totally lost my confidence. when trying to go out for a hack, while standing at the gate to wait for it to be closed he would fly buck etc etc.

Anyway, stomach ulcers sorted, no longer is he girthy, no longer is he up-tight, he's a pleasure to be around and to be ridden he's fantastic and improving all the time, we've been on 2hour+ hacks, competed, lessons, cantering in company across country and he's been a star.

However, last night i was out on a hack with a friend, we'd had a lovely time, walking/trotting/cantering, he'd been perfectly sensible and relaxed. We were on our way home, and there's a narrow one way road with cars parked along one side, we always trot along as it gets quite busy, so its an attempt to not hold up traffic, at the end of the one way section, there is a 'park' that we ride along to avoid the road (we're allowed to!) - and just as we joined onto the park... boom... he put in the biggest fly buck ever, now for some reason i was prepared and as my friend i was riding with said 'your bum didnt leave the saddle' - however the buck must have been big, my friend wouldnt normally be quite so amazed/excited... after the buck there was lots of tense backing up, head throwing and being a general tit, i stayed calm, and didnt feel like i was going to come off, but it was totally out of character (after having been so calm and sensible), within a couple of minutes he was back to normal, calm quiet and relaxed, didnt bat an eye at walking across the park, or a large bus coming past when we were back on the road...

He had the osteo on monday, his saddle was checked about 2 weeks ago and teeth done a couple of months ago.

A bit of me feels like this is what he does when he's excited (at the gate when hacking way back, when we went to the gallops he did it a bit, if he has to canter at the back he does it, but only little ones) - but it was just so random, my friend said it could have been a fly bite, but i really dont think it was anything like that.

So any ideas, could it be his stomach again? even though he's showing non of the other characteristics he did before? could it be since the osteo visit? any ideas on what i can do?

When he's a good boy he's brilliant, i'm just worrying now that he could do this at any time out of the blue for no aparent reason...?

 

[Bantry]

- and just as we joined onto the park... boom... he put in the biggest fly buck ever,

i'm just worrying now that he could do this at any time out of the blue for no aparent reason...?

Its too hard to judge a single incident but seeing as he's had his teeth and saddle checked plus an osteo visit it sounds more like excitement.

 

[Booboos]

Horses sometimes do weird things. Treat it as a one-off, i.e. put it out of your mind and continue as normal.

If he does it again give him some Gastroguard for a week to see what happens. It may be that he will need treating for the ulcers every so often.

 

[atropa]

Could he perhaps have been bitten by something like a fly or tweaked something slightly then walked it off?

 

[shampain]

Could he perhaps have been bitten by something like a fly or tweaked something slightly then walked it off?

This was my first thought as well. I don't know about you, but where I am the flies are pretty awful at the moment. Hacking out the other day and the horse I was riding (young, but usually pretty chilled out if occasionally a tad prattish) surprised me with a buck. He'd been bothered by the flies for the duration of the hack up until this point and I'm about 90% sure that it was simply that something had bitten his stomach or similar area. Didn't happen again, as in your example.

That aside, I'd say that it would probably just be excitement otherwise. We all have those days.