Grt Witchingham...the return of the Child Retard

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seabiscuit

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Nothing much to report really, except that Woody went into Child Retard mode on Saturday morning and has stayed like that ever since. His eyes have been permantly glazed over and he's left his brain behind somewhere on Mars.

He didnt want to come out of his field on either Saturday or today, and he was shaking before he even got onto the box and when he arrived at Grt Witch, the XC, and the loudspeaker, was so close to the lorry park and the dressage/SJ that it was enough to blow him up for good. He was hysterical when tacking up, tireless when being lunged, impossible to get on and there was NO chance of getting any sense out of him for the dressage. Jig-jogged and napped our way through the test and scored a 50.. I think the worse ever test in my entire life!!
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Knew there wasn't going to be much chance of getting any sense out of him for the Sj, When he's very tense, his back doesn't work properly and he doesnt come through from behind, and he shortens his neck- which equals no control when jumping. So decided to have a go in the SJ and retire him if he was being too strong and stupid, as there is absolutely no point in him carrying on jumping in that sort of fashion
Did not even attempt to even canter a circle in the SJ warmup. Tried a few fences out of walk, that was just rushed. Went in anyway, and got up to fence 6, and by this point he had had a fair few fences down ( I think about 4, maybe 5) and he was rushing, so retired him after fence 6.

So that was that! Dont know why he turned into a space cadet, he does this every so often but honestly thought that those days were gone and dusted now. Maybe the recent rain has caused the grass/sugar content in the grass to shoot up and he's O.D'd on sugar. Maybe he was cross because he got too hot as he had a rug on when it was raining. Maybe there was some funny noises going on around his field
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Any ideas as to the reasons behind why they 'glaze over'

Anyway, to console myself I bought some really nice Chavvy joules Tops in the sale
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Ohh no, what a shame.
Horses really pick their times dont they? He's been going so well by the sounds of things
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Huh? This is the same lovely horse jumping a BN beautifully the other day?
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Perhaps he is wired to the moon.
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Joking apart, remind us of his history as that might give us some clues.
 
I know, he's been sooo lovely the past few weeks, like a cuddly teddy bear
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Baydale- his full brother is apparently the same- has days when his 'eyes glaze over'. Anyway, his history- he was bought by an serious amateur SJ as a 2 year old, was sent to Johnny Harris's to be broken in and started, returned to the owners yard, who did BN/Disco/Newcomers on him. Newcomers he must have had a lot of poles down as there is no record of any clear rounds on his BSJA record. All I know is that they got 'fed up with him' couldnt sell him, was sold cheap to a friend of mine, she found him absolutely hysterical to start with and sent him to a Natural Horsemanship person and together they managed to do a fair bit to improve him a lot- we are just talking about very very basic stuff like being able to do general handling and hacking out, and turning out in the field and catching without him getting hysterical. When that was sorted out she ten offered him to me to buy- that was 18 months ago.

So his history is all a bit patchy really, no one really knows what really went on with him!

I still have days when I cant get near him in the field as he suddenly becomes hypersensitive to touch so he freaks out as soon as you touch him. Letting him go is also another adventure! Some days good, some days bad..

 
O_B - is he on any sort of calmer.

My TB used to be a bit like this (hypersensitive to sounds esp voices, and very schitzophrenic) but calmer has definitely made a big difference to her behavior/moods.

Your boy sounds a lot more complicated than her though.

Fiona
 
Yes, he is on Magnesium Oxide and Mollichaff Calmer which has extra Mag in it, but I wonder if I ought to try Karma which has Tytrophan and B vit complex. Whats the calmer you use? Your TB sounds similar!
 
She has been on Global herbs supercalm in the past (worked very well), and most recently on Horse First's Relax Me which is working well on half the recommended dose. Both are magnesium type calmers, the Global herbs TB calmer which doesn't have Mg in it didn't work.

She wasn't as extreme as your chap, but would suddenly freak (few injuries in the field due to this too), and a new venue would be VERY hazardous.

She does genuinely seem a lot happier in herself now.

Fiona
 
Argh! Bugger
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Sorry to hear that hon, specilly with all the work you have put into him
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Definitely worth trying one of the "calmers" with the extra ingredients in and see if they make a difference and help him concentrate a bit more...
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Oh no, naughty Woody..! Well, my Dutch friend had a great expression for what to do in that situation - she had a very very VERY naughty dressage warmblood that just would not settle at competitions. She calls it 'mopping until the tap stops running' and she basically abandoned the idea of competing for the day and worked the little horror until he was so tired he had no choice but to behave. Can you take Woody out somewhere local and just work him until he settles? She's a great one for just not giving up until they give you what you want, even if it takes hours.
 
oh gosh, he sounds very special needs, makes my day yesterday sound quite reasonable. umm, i almost daren't suggest this, but have you tried the first Parelli 'game' (the circling one, pushing front and then bum round) to get him to re-engage his brain? just an idea... to establish you as nice leader and let him relax a bit?
yes, i know a bit of Parelli and yes, i use it occasionally. so, shoot me.
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