Grumpy horse :( gastric ulcers?

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Honeybunch

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Hi guys! im new to this, so please be nice :D

This is probably a stupid thread but here we go. At college I loan a horse and he is VERY grumpy. He bite's people on a daily basis so he now has full bars up on his stable, and is very confined and is starting to get depressed. It breaks my heart, as i take him home with me in holidays where he is a different horse. I have brought him some stable toys to take his mind of things but he is starting to get worse. There is no turnout atm due to snow, but when it's not snowing they get turnout at weekends. He is ridden twice a day everyday by the students here and is a saint to ride.

He is rarely grumpy with me, which makes me feel even worse. He has also started rearing when doing the girth up, and he will be getting his saddle checked in the next few weeks. this is a long shot but i wondered if his grumpyness could be related to ulcers? the college wouldnt pay to get him scoped, but when hes home in summer i could pay. also he goes out every day at home, which could make the ulcers better hence why he isnt grumpy there? it's just so sad and i really want to help him :(

thanks :)
 
Sounds like it could be any manner of things but I'd say it might be worth checking for ulcers. My horse had ulcers last year- even though he lives out 24 /7 and didn't get any cereal feed etc.

Does he seem in pain at all? Any mild colic symptoms? I'm sure they all show symptoms differently.

What about maybe looking at his feeding etc while he's at college and seeing if changing things makes any difference to his grumpiness? Is he fed high fibre or cereal based feeds? How about his hay- does he have it ad-lib at the moment? If you're in charge of his management, perhaps it might be worth looking at this. You could look into a supplement too to see if that makes any difference. At least that way you can feel like you're making a start before the summer.

Good luck. I hope you get to the bottom of it!
 
as above - it could be a number of things, but ulcers would be my first guess. If the college won't pay for him to be scoped, would they do a trial with aloe vera for a few weeks to see if that helps him?
 
The two could be linked in that if he is in more, and isn't on ad lib hay, he's not getting a constant throughput of food to keep the acid down like he would if he was out? My chap is girthy and is better and happier if he has a haynet half an hour before we tack up. Mind you he is funny about having his tum brushed too! We're working on it.
 
Hello, a couple of suggestions, just from my own experience which may help you. I would get a vet or physio to check out his back or hind end as he may have pulled something and resent the saddle going on. However if its ulcers, having had personal and horse experience of this I can recommend aloe vera - cured mine! - and yea-sacc to balance the gut flora from acidic to more neutral ph. Have you noticed him chewing any wood? This is normally a sign of ulcers as well as in my opinion they try to buffer the acid with it... I have had a few horses with this habit and feeding yea-sacc/ brewers yeast normally stops the behaviour within a couple of weeks. The doctors prescribed omeprazole for me which after repeat prescriptions never helped one jot. A week or so of aloe vera juice every day and the pain went and never came back. If it flares up from spicy food or alcohol I just take a dose every morning. You can get aloe vera for horses to put in their feed - its widely used - and wont do any harm. Its an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. I hope this helps your horse. Good luck :-) x
 
I know tht my mare had a high-cereal diet before I got her and that she was unhappy, difficult to tack up and very grumpy. I feed her a fibre-rich diet with no cereal and give her Aloe Vera juice. She is much nicer to know but does revert a bit if we run out of AV. I suspect ulcers. I suggest that you get him some AV from your local health food shop and give it to him. It won't do any harm and it might help.
 
Hello guys, thanks for all you responses. He is fed one scoop of chaff, half a scoop of pony nuts and some sugar beet twice a day. he is on pretty much ad lib haylage too. if i was to give him some Aloe vera, would i just get it in liquid form? how much would he need and how often? :)
 
What's he like at home with you? What's his routine? How does what they do routine wise differ from what you do?
Maybe being a College horse doesn't suit him, and he's a one to one kind of horse? Not every horse fits in a riding school environment..
 
Shadeyoak said:
What's he like at home with you? What's his routine? How does what they do routine wise differ from what you do?
Maybe being a College horse doesn't suit him, and he's a one to one kind of horse? Not every horse fits in a riding school environment..
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I would also 2nd this, he may just be totally fed up with all the people and if they aren't listening to his subtle messages to back off then he has to escalate them into more threatening behaviour such as biting to get noticed.

Poor chap and well done you for bodning with him and giving him time out :)

I't no secret that when i got my mare she was horrible, I just couldnt believe i had taken on this grumpy, biting/ kicking machine that just seemed to hate everyone ....

We are now 6 weeks in, she did a ten day course of Omeprazole and that, with the settling in and routine she seems to be getting close to being a different horse and I actually adore her :D

I'm going to give the Aloe Vera route a good research as well :D
 
the only differance really is at home he gets turn out everyday, and just one to one with me so i guess thats probably it. he also hacks at home, and doesn't much here unless i take him out at weekends.

he isnt suited to being a college horse, but as he is one of there best horses riding wise (jumps and flats up to stage 4) they will not give him up. i am hoping to buy him at the end of my degree though :/

he has always been pretty grumpy and bity, even when they get turnout when the weather is good. when weather is good he goes out from friday aftrernoon untill sunday afternoon every week, but i know this isnt enough, it just isnt possible for him to get any more :(
 
Not getting out everyday for him is one cause of his stress, them keeping him because he's one of the 'best for riding' isn't exactly fair on him, his mental wellbeing has to count as well, what you described in your first post, is a horse who's getting to the point where he's going to say "NO!" only loud and very clear..
Just when that happens, only you'll know when he gets there :(. I hope they let you buy him, he clearly likes you very much ;)
 
Shadeyoak said:
Not getting out everyday for him is one cause of his stress, them keeping him because he's one of the 'best for riding' isn't exactly fair on him, his mental wellbeing has to count as well, what you described in your first post, is a horse who's getting to the point where he's going to say "NO!" only loud and very clear..
Just when that happens, only you'll know when he gets there :(. I hope they let you buy him, he clearly likes you very much ;)
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It will be scary to see how he expresses that 'NO' when he is already at this level and still the message he is trying to convey is still being ignored .... I wouldnt like to be around when he does bless him :(

OP I'm really please you want him, you sound like you are quiet a team ;)
 
thank you guys, yes he is very special to me. i broke my neck in a fall 3 years ago and was terrified of jumping ever since. i will now jump him over a 3ft course! i love him to bits.

turnout isnt an option for any of the horses during the week, not just because he is good to ride :/ the fields here just wouldnt hack turnout everyday :( he is comming hom for a little holiday in a few weeks so at least he gets a break!

as for the aloe vera i have purchased some, and will give it a go :) i also read about slippery elm powder, so brought some of that too. deffo worth a try! has anyone else used this??

thanks again for all your responses!

P.S the video link was V useful! he responds to all the places the man mentioned, so i deffo suspect ulcers now too :(
 
Perhaps he is just a one to one Horse. Could you move him back to yours permantly? or move him to a nearby DIY yard? There was a Horse at the college I went too, he was very aggressive, he bit someones fingers off! It got to the point that only the YM was allowed in with him, she had to bring him out and hold him whilst we tacked up and even then we had to be careful. He was nice to ride though. He too had full bars up and beware signs plasterd all over the door.

I had to make up some yard days, so did so in the 6 weeks summer holidays. They asked me to go and get him from his stable, I said no as we couldn't go in with him and they said don't worry about it, his a different Horse when the students go home. They were right, he was a perfect gentleman.

He was not suited to college life at all. Its just a shame they were too selfish to let him go to someone else.
 
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