Good horse suddenly sour

[avar99]

I have had my horse for 4 years and he has always been well-mannered. Under saddle he has been struggling to canter in proper frame and was getting frustrated. It all got worse today when I rode him he kicked at me when mounting. When riding he would walk forward without any pressure but as soon as my leg touched him he quickly went backwards and started spinning to the right. I got off him and tried bareback to see if the saddle was bothering him and the behavior got worse. I got off him again to palpate his back and barrel and he had no reaction even though I used heavy pressure around his body. I am calling the vet but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with something like this before. He is completely sound and has no history of ulcers or colic, had no feed change, tack is fitted, gets regular vet/chiro visit.

 

[Squeak]

I have had my horse for 4 years and he has always been well-mannered. Under saddle he has been struggling to canter in proper frame and was getting frustrated. It all got worse today when I rode him he kicked at me when mounting. When riding he would walk forward without any pressure but as soon as my leg touched him he quickly went backwards and started spinning to the right. I got off him and tried bareback to see if the saddle was bothering him and the behavior got worse. I got off him again to palpate his back and barrel and he had no reaction even though I used heavy pressure around his body. I am calling the vet but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with something like this before. He is completely sound and has no history of ulcers or colic, had no feed change, tack is fitted, gets regular vet/chiro visit.

Sorry to hear your horse isn't normal but it sounds like you're doing the right thing by calling the vet. Hope the vet manages to find something easily and that it's easily fixable

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would do exactly what you have done ; Stop riding and call the vet.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Could be anything I think with horses it's so easy to miss subtle changes because they often are good at hiding things.

So your doing the right thing getting the vet hopefully it's something easily fixed let us know how you get on.

 

[LEC]

Yep that’s a vet job. Lameness work up combined with ulcer discussion/management being at the forefront.

 

[nikkimariet]

Teeth
Saddle
Back
Vet

Imho you should be going straight to step 4

 

[avar99]

I have had my horse for 4 years and he has always been well-mannered. Under saddle he has been struggling to canter in proper frame and was getting frustrated. It all got worse today when I rode him he kicked at me when mounting. When riding he would walk forward without any pressure but as soon as my leg touched him he quickly went backwards and started spinning to the right. I got off him and tried bareback to see if the saddle was bothering him and the behavior got worse. I got off him again to palpate his back and barrel and he had no reaction even though I used heavy pressure around his body. I am calling the vet but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with something like this before. He is completely sound and has no history of ulcers or colic, had no feed change, tack is fitted, gets regular vet/chiro visit.

Just thought I’d update on this. Our area has had wildfires for a little bit but they were over 15 miles away from our barn. One sparked very close to the barn a couple days prior but nobody was notified. We had no idea until the barn was covered in smoke and ash. We immediately evacuated him to a smoke free area. The vet was supposed to come this day but obviously was not able to because of us leaving. He is being treated for ulcers and monitored for respiratory issues. He has improved very quickly so we believe he might have been hypersensitive to the smoke and ash.