Help me with my crazy horse please

He looks to be almost shuffling behind, and as others have said he looks stiff, but what worried me more was in the first video, when you were trotting he looked like he was dipping his back away from you as you came down, and the only other horse i have ever seen do that had quite a severe back problem which required her to be an in patient with the chiropractor for almost a month.
The vets could find nothing on xray with the mare, but the chiro could plainly see something was not right.
I would get him xrayed (as already mentioned) and if nothing showed up, then i would get a bl**dy good chiro out to assess him!
 
May I just say, he is really lovley horse, Good for you for persevering and listening to your logic instead of the idiots who say "pull it over" (I mean Why you would even consider this!).
I'm only repeating whats already been said, but yes if he rears when in pain then, it seems like pain to me. Is your physio well recommended? I would get thourough vet check insist on x-rays, there will be a cause though I may take time to reveal. Your riding was fantastic, he is obviously a lucky boy to have an owner who cares, I would also have tried riding though it as you have done, but as this is obviously not working I wouldn't be getting back on without some explanation.
Also, I don't think bute is enough to dull pain to that extent, but obviously I am no vet!!!
Have you checked his history out? Nothing funnys ever happened to him?
Edited to say--Good Luck
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Who is the Physio you are having? I know a VERY good one

Also I can recommend some good vets in Yorkshire if you need.

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we have joelle steyt

she was recomended to us by our vets, which are rainbow equine at malton xx
 
Good grief.....all I can say is ''yee ha!'
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Very well sat BTW....more guts than I will ever have!

Lovely looking horse, and he can move nicely but I agree he appears stilted behind, almost dropping his left hip in trot in the first vid.....sure can jump though...

I dont think he is being naughty- I feel he is in pain, but still wanting to work for you...looks like a nice sort, I hope you get it sorted.
 
ok i havnt read all the posts lots of long ones!!
BUT if u have ruled out all medical problems..
I would leave her on a slightly longer rein ( i know easier to say than do) and just keep her going forward?
does he keep bucking if u push her forward fast ?
was always thought to KICK on when they start bucking .
Also when a horse naps out of badness dont turn them away the way they want to go!keep at them.
 
Hi,

How long ago did this behaviour start? One of mine started doing this a coouple of weeks ago. SHe pretty much couldnt walk the side of an arena without temper tantrum consisting of 10+ bucks jumps through the air and a couple of rears at a a time. I found as soon as we jumped she calmed as she really enjoys it and is a SJ as she really hasnt been well grounded in terms of manners which is annoying and will rear barge in hand which i brought an end to but we've still got a way to go and she is a bit to smart for her own good. Before this she we work up to elementary and she loves it which was really odd when this behaviour came as we have WHP championships in comparison. Decided to put her on lunge on cavesson only and she put on a show was jumping 2m off the ground vertical rears the lot just to assess what was up. SHe is stabled now during the day and she is now completly calm yay so may be excess energy/feed/work etc
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But defo wait for physio to come
 
well hats off to you for continuing to get back on but my advice would be to take great care untill you have ruled out everything. He is very athletic and if you are not careful might give you a serious fall.

If he is generally a happy chap to handle and be around on the ground he is either very dominent and self opinionated when you ride him or more than likely in pain somewhere. Horses don't behave like that consistently without a reason. Failing any physical problems you really need to get the help of someone you trust and respect to help get this horse back on track for you.

Good luck
 
i know you said that he has a varied routine, but maybe you could try something totally different to get him concentrating on something else?
my horse had a rearer, went over a couple of times and so she tried polocrosse (sp?) and since then its never reared again, we dont know why that helped but it may have just been something different to focus on instead of dressage and jumping....
are you sure hes not scared of something or in pain?
good luck and well done for perservering!!
 
Whenever I see a post like this I immediately think of my TBxWelsh mare who was within days of pts at age 12, because of her dangerous behaviour. Then by chance we stopped feeding her sugar/ceral based feeds to try to stop her coughing. It was like denying a junkie their fix. She spent 3 days in withdrawal and then became like a different horse. She was back to behaving predictably and safely and we kept her 'til she was 24.
I would suggest removing all feed except hay/haylage to see if that makes any difference and then gradually intoduce ingredients one by one to see if you can identify the cause of the behaviour.
 
Not read all the responses yet, but watched both videos.

Definately something not right in his back end (high up? pelvis?). I do not believe this is 'naughty' behaviour: his ears are back, but not flat, I believe he is in pain.

Get your vet to refer you to somone such as Sue Dyson at the Animal Health Trust at Newmarket. It could be that sending the videos would be a good start.
 
After watching your video it brought back lots of memories.My tb who is now 7 I bought him as 4 1/2 yr old used to be very nappy and reared just like yours .After hacking and at the end of a canter track he would leap with 4 feet of the ground again like yours.I had everything checked we thought it was naughtiness being so young and coming of the track ,it was a completely new way of life.He once reared up and went over backwards with me on board,it took nearly 2 years but finally had a diagnosis and he had hock spavin.Im not sure if this was all related but he couldnt work very well in the school as he couldnt engage and he also bucked after grid work .Might be a idea to get his hock checked first with simple flexation test if it shows positive then xray would confirm.Im no expert but the rearing and bucking looks as spectacular as mine used too.Everyone thought I had sticky jods on .Pain makes them do funny things.
 
First of all, you are a seriously good rider to sit to all that and very brave to get back on! He looks like a lovely horse and I hope you get to the bottom of this.

For what it is worth, it looks like a pain reaction to me as well, back or back leg related. He didn't seem to be tracking up in walk and trot and his canter was very stilted (OK, I appreciate he was messing about, but even so it did not look quite right). Bilateral hind limb lameness can be impossible to diagnose without a nerve block, so it may be worth investigating further. Also, I had a horse with similar (although not so extreme - I would have fallen off!!) problems, which the vet, physio and saddler pronounced fine, but it still was a saddle related back problem which took ages to sort out.

Good luck!
 
I have only scan read the longer posts and I haven't watched the vid - but I just wanted to say that I know of two ex pacers and both have pelvis problems from there time as racers. It is quite common so I have heard. Both hack happily but will never work hard.
 
QR- I agree with everyone who says your boy does not look right behind.

However if you get this all checked out and the vet still cant find anything (which I think is unlikey) I think it may be connected to the pacing. Does he behave like this if he was ridden on a really long rein?

It looks to me from the video he is trying to pace and the back end is almost like a disunited canter with none of the legs co-ordinating because he wants to pace but is breaking to canter, getting frustrated and letting rip.

He is over bent in the video and also looks to be reacting to being "gathered up"
Once a health issue is ruled out i would try just walking him somewhere nice, a beach or quiet place, on a long rein talking to him and taking him back to basics. He may even have hurt himself behaving like this, he is getting himself in some pretty wacky positions. Poor boy and poor you.
 
my heart goes out to you. i've also had my mare 9 months and have allsorts of problems with her rearing and napping. i've gone down the intelligent horsemanship route and have had great success with groundwork just building up the trust and bond. she is being seen by an osteo in a few weeks as my horse whisperer says she has a twist through her spine. i'm soooooooooooo hoping this will sort her out, coz when i cant hack out alone, it becomes very frustrating, as thats what i wanted a horse for. i'm with her the whole way and gonna give her a fighting chance, within my financial limits anyway, and hopefully one day she'll be happy to hack out alone.

i wish you all the luck in the world with your horse. its so heartbreaking when you face problems like this.
 
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No help im sorry but jesus christ.. i hope one day i can sit like that!

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FFS, i hope i never have to!! Well sat.
You can see when he is moving, without the airs above the ground, that there is something up with his back end. I have seen the same sort of disunited thing before but can't think where and why, it will come to me.
Before the jump, you can see that he rears to spin away from the jump, like he knows that if he does it it is going to hurt.
Please stay off this horse, for your sake and his, until you get to the root of this problem.
I really hope you get this sorted out. He is beautiful and obviously very athletic.
 
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Who is the Physio you are having? I know a VERY good one

Also I can recommend some good vets in Yorkshire if you need.

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we have joelle steyt

she was recomended to us by our vets, which are rainbow equine at malton xx

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Then you have the best already!
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Sorry, bit late but my 2 cents worth anyways
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Im not sure if the odd hind action is due to him being an pacer or the fact that he is lame, but the rearing to me would suggest that he his in pain and is using the rearing/bucking as an escape method, to stop being made to work.

But when walking, he seems to drop his pasterns very low, at one point touching the ground
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that to me seems to indicate severe pain in the hip area or back.

No one seems to have mentioned kissing spines which could be the reason for all the pain behind the saddle, or the fact that he is reluctant to go forward could be because of ulcers?
 
mayflower - yeah weve had her before and cant sing her praises enough

thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, as I said I will make notes and ask the vets which ones they think would be worth looking into first seen as they know the horse

thanks guys
 
Yikes!!! Just watched you videos!!!!! You should make a living from backing youngsters!

Being a pleasant horse at all times barr being ridden rules out brain/hormone releasing tumours or at least makes them a lot less likely.

The only horse I have seen/heard of behaving similarly to this had a severely torn neck muscle. I'd also reckon poss kissing spines/other serious spinal issues. Not convinced on the 'lame behind thing' - this is how many if not all pacers move behind under pressure. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have hind limb lameness issues!

I know you have said he behaves lunged with tack but have you lunged him wth fairly short side reins? So that head carraige is similar to when ridden. Just to rule that out to.

I have a feeling that a whole body scintigraphy (sp?) scan might be the best way forward if nothing else is immediately apparent.

I really think it would be best for your own safety not to be riding this horse until a definitve answer is found but you may also have to accept that there is a chance there may never be one as it is often impossible to locate the problem area. If only he could talk! I'm not sure what I think bout them but wot bout a horse whisperer/communicator? If all else fails it could be worth a try! Good luck and please let us know how you get on.
 
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