help!!! don't know what to do

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kante

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So I have had my horse for a few months now.
He's a 4yo warmblood and is lovely to do in everyway. Has been out and about a couple of times and bar from a few baby issues has been good and has been coming on really well at home. Has been really good in the school rarely silly or spooky. Was ridden right up until the snow hit and was incredibly sensible even being ridden in a hail/snow storm!
Than the snow came full force and he had to have 2 weeks off as school was unusable and he could not be turned out as yard wouldnt allow it. Lunged him for 2 days than jumped on board as he wasn't too hyper just a few bucks, but once on he just bronked. :( lasted for a few days gradually getting better till 5th day was fine on right rein and only a few bucks on the left.
And than more snow hit and another two weeks of unable to work. He has now been back in work for 2 weeks but tried to get on once only as on the lunge he is just going mental, bucks massively and is really spooky.
He is now going out and he calmed down for 2 days but went nuts again today and yesterday so have run out of ideas
please help don't know what to try
 
Could he have picked up an injury at all?

My first instinct would be either pain related or he's gone a bit nuts if still being fed too much hard feed when stood in.
 
Not sure if this is what everyone would do but I have ridden several large, spooky, baby warmbloods.

I would lunge him first, give him a canter on both reins...as long as you can hold him then I wouldn't worry too much if he had a bit of a bucking fit or tanked round for a while. He is only a baby and probably needs chance to get it out of this system.

Once he has had 10mins on the lunge I would get on him. Has he is already warmed up I wouldn't spend ages walking him around. Get him moving, ride lots of different shapes (not sure what level of schooling he is at) but lots of things for him to think about. Not stuff he finds hard but things he finds interesting. Loads of transitions, mix it all up so he doesn't know what is coming next. Completly ignore any silliness, spooking, bucking etc just keep him calmly going forward and changing direction. I expect once he is back in a routine and use to being ridden he will be fine, just need to get him through this patch.

Good luck!
 
Did you cut down/out his hard feed to reflect the work he was(n't) doing? My warmbloods are fine on haylage and a small amiunt of high fibre cubes, unmolassedbeet and chaff when they're not doing much work
 
Yes he is on next to nothing hard feed wise just carrots a handful of nuts and his supplements. He has had his teeth checked when we got him so all that should be fine.
@wispa I understand what your saying and it is good advice may just have to pluck up the courage as last attempt involved dangling on by a neck strap( he is very athletic!)
 
carrots are full of sugar.. can be like giving kids sweets, so id drop them. id also start getting tough on the lunge, tellin ghim off for the bucking, if needed try lunging on long reins so you have more control. lots of transitions to get him thinking and some poles to make him think about his feet.

if that fails.

have you tried taking him out on the road in hand? could you get some one to lead him off their horse and give him a good hours hack ? then the next day trying hacking out?

of course with safety in mind, but it could be that hes pratting about on the lunge then your getting on and hes still in hyper mood. so the hacking route and behave instantley could challenge his mind a bit more.
 
kante said:
Yes he is on next to nothing hard feed wise just carrots a handful of nuts and his supplements. He has had his teeth checked when we got him so all that should be fine.
@wispa I understand what your saying and it is good advice may just have to pluck up the courage as last attempt involved dangling on by a neck strap( he is very athletic!)
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If he is starting to knock your confidence, could you not get someone else/ an instructor to get on him to start with a few times to begin with? You don't want him to learn that this is behaviour that he can get away with. He is allowed to have a spook and be fresh but then he must settled down and concentrate. I would make sure someone is with you when you ride him as well just in case. It might be best to ride him once he has been out so that he has already had chance to let off steam in the field first. Also once you get going I would ride him everyday if possible for at least a few weeks until he is back in the routine of things. Once he starts behaving just do another 5/10 mins, end on a good note, give him a pat and tell him he has been good and call it a day. Big babies do tend get tired quite quickly and you don't want him to start making mistakes once he is being good.

All easier said than done but one of the joys of fresh baby horses.
 
jhoward said:
carrots are full of sugar.. can be like giving kids sweets, so id drop them.

There is not enough sugar in a carrot(s) to have any effect on him or even contribute to his behaviour!
I have a pony who is severely insulin resistant, we have to keep his sugar levels very consistant (thats how i know how much sugar is in everything) and carrots make no difference.... he is allowed at least 10 a day before we start worrying! :D
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lubuzz said:
jhoward said:
carrots are full of sugar.. can be like giving kids sweets, so id drop them.

There is not enough sugar in a carrot(s) to have any effect on him or even contribute to his behaviour!
I have a pony who is severely insulin resistant, we have to keep his sugar levels very consistant (thats how i know how much sugar is in everything) and carrots make no difference.... he is allowed at least 10 a day before we start worrying! :D
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horses are individuals, what effects one in one way can effect another differently, carrots are full of sugar so imo if theres a chance of it adding fuel to the fire then why chance it?
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I've seen for myself what carrots can do to some horses' behaviour plus every vet I ever heard on the subject bans apples and carrots from the diet of laminitics because of the sugar. My own horse has epilepsy caused by her hormones, and the pesticide residue (which has an oestrogenic effect) on ordinary carrots (at a legally "safe" level, don't forget) worsened the problem. My vet advised organic carrots only and she went from a seizure every 10 days to none at all for a full 6 months.
 
I know its probably not appropriate for but all of these problems are avoided if you let them live out. All mine do - rugged if they are clipped with walk in shelters which are bedded. we are in Aberdeenshire and are now on our 50th consecutive day of snow cover with only 5 days having reached positive figures at lunchtime. I can't count how many times I used to be where you are. Just a thought........
 
Agree with others that say lunge, lunge and then keep up work. Just hard luck with weather and lack of turn out. Young horses need routine and work to settle them. Give him and yourself time!:)
 
fatpiggy said:
I've seen for myself what carrots can do to some horses' behaviour plus every vet I ever heard on the subject bans apples and carrots from the diet of laminitics because of the sugar. My own horse has epilepsy caused by her hormones, and the pesticide residue (which has an oestrogenic effect) on ordinary carrots (at a legally "safe" level, don't forget) worsened the problem. My vet advised organic carrots only and she went from a seizure every 10 days to none at all for a full 6 months.
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Yes carrots are full off sugar and can course behaviour problems and should not be fed to laminitic / ir ponies.
I suspect your lad is just fresh and letting off steam. Good advice above
 
Im in exactly the same boat as you OP. My 4yo is feeling fit and healthy and letting me know he doesnt appreciate not having turnout.

He was a gem in the summer you could do anything with him but since he had some time off he has been spooky and silly when ridden and can get quite dangerous.

I have spent a lot of time lunging then when I am on I have to hold him in quite a tight contact until I feel his back go down and him start to listen, then I can relax a bit and school him into the contact.

I try and let him have a blast in the indoor every couple of days and he is on hay with no hard feed at all.

Bear with your boy hes just feeling fresh and hopefully will(along with mine) be back to normal come springtime.
 
I am in agreement that you should stop the carrots my ish would change behaviour when i gave her carrots or anything with sugars as soon as i stopped giving them to her she would calm down. My horse is now fed a forage diet :D
 
How much turnout is he getting? Sounds a lot like my big silly beastie, if he's stabled, he'll school nicely for a while, then maybe a bronc, or perhaps launch himself in the air, may even squeal

Different horse now he's living out, still the occasional squeal but much less drama
 
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