Help and ideas needed

L

lucym

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 September 2006
Messages
1,857
Location
Devon
Visit site
HELP please!!
my rising 5yo has gone from flowing and enthusiastic in his work, to resistant, unhappy in mouth (grinding teeth) and lacking in power

so, we had his teeth done, all fine, then we had his back done, all ok part from alittle tension behind the saddle on one side, yet he still will not work
experimented with bits, yet nothing makes a difference
mctimoney lady says maybe to speak to the vet and see what he thinks

he is quite happy to hack on a lose rein, but as soon as there is a contact there is alot of resistance. is this just teenage mood swings, or something else? he does tear around the field so maybe he has pulled something?

also do people think that stiffness in the tail is a sign of stiffness in the back?

thankies, any ideas appreciated
grin.gif
 
I had this problem recently...thought it was teeth so got them checked by vet and they were rasped...this didn't solve the problem, things continued and he went to a specialist centre where the teeth were checked again...problem still not solved and I was told to bring him back into work...

I started to ride him again and he was worse then ever in his contact so decided to get the equine dentist out and she was the only one to spot that he had a wolf tooth rot sitting right where the bit lies.

I was very surprised as I knew he had had his wolf teeth done years ago as I have owned him since he was a yearling.

I have had the root removed and he is starting to go fantastically. I could not believe it took 3 "Professionals" to look at his mouth before the problem was spotted.

My other suggestion would be to check the saddle fit as he may have changed shape?
 
My mare went like this, she is around the same age as your boy too. I didn't work her for a month, got back on her 3 weeks ago and she is even better than before. The break seems to have done her some good.
 
i'd try a totally different saddle, and maybe a different regime for a week or two (lots more nice hacks or something if you're doing lots of schooling?), and then a bit of a holiday, i think. i've given mine a rest before and they come back so much better in every way, it's as if they've been schooling themselves in the field!
one thing, who checked his teeth? as Lady_Luck says, there are dentists and Dentists... mouth is the first place i'd look for trouble if he's fine until you take up a contact tbh.
 
If the physicals have all been checked and they're ok, I'd seriously think about a real change of routine and/or a complete break for him. He's still pretty young and will get bored/tired with the same old routine fairly quickly. You've got all the time in the world with him, so it certainly won't do him any harm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top