Help - Very STRANGE behaviour

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Mungali

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Apologies for posting on here as well as Veterinary but hopefully there may be more people viewing, who may just be able to help. Also sorry for long winded post, but am a bit worried at the mo !.

Not sure if anyone can shed any light on my boys behaviour. He has started to snatch/bite at his back legs/flanks. Basically he can be stood there quite normally and out of the blue put his ears back and violently snatch round very quickly at one or other of his flanks which is followed by lashing out with that particular rear leg.

At first I thought it was because he was getting annoyed with being in his stable away from some of his mates. But I have just been up to see him in the field (with all his mates) and for the first time ever I have seen him do it while turned out. Can go on for a while in his stable but only did it 3 or 4 times in the field. He doesn't appear to do it every day and I first noticed him start doing it back in December.

He isn't biting at flies and he doesn't appear to be colicky.

Anyone shed any light on this please ?.

Thanks
 
I read this post in Vet. Can't help I'm afraid as I would have said the same as the other poster.....midges or lice.

The only other thing I can think of which would make a horse react in this way is Bot flies....but they can't be out yet and if they were you would definitely see and hear them. Is there any noise that he is reacting to? Or perhaps psychological issues?
 
I had a self mutilater, would turn round bite flanks and kick out with hind leg, when excited would start biting front legs and when extremely excited would rear up and come down onto knees biting front legs. Its a habit, I don't know if that what your horse is doing but its the only thing I can think of at the moment. My horse wore a bib so he couldn't mark himself because he really use to mutilate himself without it, some people wear neck cradles, the bib stopped him marking himself but he use to still go through the actions.

Sorry can't think of anything else!
 
Hmm..thanks Tia, but don't think it is fly related, I am worried he may just be starting to become a fruit loop !. He doesn't do it constantly its very ad hoc at the moment and is very normal in every other way, but it's just very strange behaviour when he does do it.

Also if he does it the stable, as they are wood when he kicks out he is obviously causing some damage.
 
Thanks Horsegroupie - he only does this at the moment and doesn't exhibit any other strange behaviour. He doesn't cause any damage to himself, other than what he may hit with his legs if he kicks out, especially in the stable !!!

Do you still have your horse ?. Did your horse suddenly develop his behaviour like mine ?.
 
Sadly he had to be pts at the age of 28.
My horse came with the habit. He was perfectly normal in every other way and didn't have any other vices, didn't crib or weave.
He didn't do it all the time either but other times he would do it alot, obviously he was quite a set in habit already and I have no idea when or how or how long it started over, I assume it started as a boredom habit.
His main action was turning round to his flank, squealing and kicking the stable wall, but he would also lift the leg and sniff his willy and squeal and kick out. When excited it would escalate to the other actions I mentioned previously.
There was no way of stopping the habit in my case, all I could do was have a bib on him so he couldn't mark himself, because he would draw blood when excited and he seemed to get excited about doing it to himself. I do know of another horse with the habit but the owner won't admit it but the horse wears a neck cradle at home and i've seen them take it off and the horse is worse than mine ever was.
 
I can only hope it doesn't become worse as he is such a sweet horse and in a lot of ways ideal. Don't know what it is about me and horses, but just when you think you have finally got it right it all goes *** up.
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I'm confused now he is only doing this in the stable and when turned out isn't he? Its not effecting his work is it?
I never let my horses habit put me off him, he was a real sweetie, lovely to handle, fantastic to ride, amazing in competition...couldn't ask for more from him?
 
Have you cleaned his sheath recently? If it has become infected or just uncomfortable, could explain it. There are a lot of flies about, they could be gravitating towards a smelly/messy sheath and causing him discomfort.
 
I can see a cleaning job coming on !!!!

Will now have to look up best way to do such a lovely job as have to say I have never done it (had him nearly two years). But...got to be worth a try to see if it helps - thanks.

Doesn't appear to be smelly (not that I get that close) and def not swollen, but does have hard black gunk stuck to it. Lovely topic for a Saturday night.
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Hi Horsegroupie - no not affecting his work and up until tonight I hadn't seen him doing it in the field.

As I say, he first did it in December after being brought back into a stable after living out with his friend (we were having stables built so had to live out until finished). When we stabled him he started to do what I described but very intermittently. He hasn't done it for a while (that I know of), but started out of the blue again last night in the stable.

Again Just thought he was being stroppy so rather than damage the stable and him just turned him back out, but having seen it in the field tonight, it's obviously something else.

I was very suprised the first time I saw him do it as he has never been anything other than normal in his stable.
 
Ulcers, perhaps? Or some other intermittent internal pain? I handled a horse that bit anything it could get its teeth on (including once picking all 5' 10" of me off the ground by my shoulder!!) and we just thought it was "him" because he was fantastic to ride and jumped houses in the ring. When he was something like 10 or 11 he started losing condition and generally showing signs of being ill. Upon examination it was discovered that he had a progressive kidney disease and had probably been in pain for a very long time. Sorry, I don't mean to alarm you, just to say that just because one can't see a cause immediately doesn't mean there isn't one.

If you rule out a physical cause (maybe consult a vet?) it really does sound like he's a mutilator.
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One doesn't see that much outside the race horse/breeding stallion world but it's not out of the realm of posibility. Do you know how he's bred? It seems to run in some lines. (I had a fantastic event horse that belonged to one such family - he didn't hurt himself but he was spectacularly agressive towards other horses.) Because this behaviour is an expression rather than a straight reaction it doesn't necessarily reflect any particular cause but is rather an outlet for the horse's anxiety/emotion/tension. So different things might set him off at different times. It's more like the horse equivalent of biting one's fingernails (or cutting if you want to get extreme).

As far as what you do, it's a stereotypie (what we used to call a vice) like cribbing or weaving, which means you can't do much except take particular care with his mangement. It could be completely anxiety related, it could have a physical root. It's interesting that you say it started it when he was confined, just as so many other more common such behaviours do. Have you noticed if anything makes him better or worse? I guess if you've ruled out anything physical - and I do mean anything since even if it's anxiety related the question is why is he so upset - then you could just see it as an outlet. Still, though, I'd want to know what sets him off.

Good luck - that's an odd one!
 
My sister's horse does this sometimes, out of frustration. Say, if he feels he's been tied up for too long, or if you're late with his dinner.

He doesn't actually bite himself, but pins back his ears, flicks his head as if he's going to bite his cheast, and kicks out with a back leg. But he's far from normal even at the best of times!
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Thanks Cruiser & Deadpan - as you say it is a strange one, will see what physio says at end of this week and give the vet a ring to see if they may have any clues.
 
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