Help with horse that is fussy with contact ( might be long- sorry)

charlie76

charlie76

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Right, I will try and keep this quick! We have a 7 yr old hannovarian that we have had for since March. He is a really nice moving horse and he has a huge jump having won his first XC last week at 3ft 3. When we bought him we knew he was green as he was only backed as a 6 yr old and we knew he had some issues with the contact but we thought we could work through it but we are hitting a brick wall.
When riding him he is fine if you just bumble about on the flat but if you ask him to take more of a contact and work a little harder he does one of the following:
Chucks his head up
Runs through the hand
Dives down on to the forehand and snatches the bit
Stops dead and throws his head or runs backwards
Then he is fine again for about 10 mins then does it again.
He also will not accecpt a half halt in canter so his canter is either long and flat or he breaks.
He was vetted 6 weeks ago ( 5 stage with full xrays) and he did this when vetted, the vet checked his mouth and looked over him and said he felt he was just being naughty and to give him a smack- we have done this several times and it makes no difference.
We have had the saddle checked and ridden him in 3 different saddles. We have tried the following bits: hanging cheek, straight and jointed happy mouth, eggbutt snaffle, french link, loose ring snaffle, KK ultra, Neue Schule training bit- you name it!
We have also ridden him in a hackamore and he was fine with it for a week then started to do it all again in the hackamore which leads you to believe its not the bit or his mouth.
We have had his teeth, back ect checked.
He is fine out hacking and he is fine on the lunge with side reins or the pessoa. He is also fine if you ride him in draw reins but this does not solve the problem.
He is worse when you ride a downward transtion or a half halt.
I even tried riding him bareback yesterday to see if that made a difference- but no- just the same.
He is fine jumping although he still is a little fussy when you ask him to wait to a fence.

HELP!?!
 
My mare was a bit odd about a contact - she either stuck her nose in the air or pulled like a steam train. I bought some Stubben fliexi reins on eBay for abt £20 and they really seemed to work, we've gone back to normal reins again now
smile.gif
 
If it's related to asking him to use his backend more or engage the hindleg as it sounds like it might be(?) then I'd be looking for problems behind the saddle. Oftne a hindleg problem will display as a head issue.
 
I would get a qualified equine dentist to have a look.
It could be that he is not quite fully developed muscularly as he is still quite young.

I think once his mouth has been looked at, you could try seeing if lowering the bit in his mouth or raising it makes any difference.

He may benefit from some sympathetic schooling and only asking him to be in an outline for very short periods at first to build up his muscles and confidence.

He may have in his past been accidentally caught in the mouth and it will take time for him to trust again.

He sounds a lovely horse and it would be worth persevering with him.
 
Hi

God I can really really empathise with you... I have a 17.1 ISH who I got in November... she DID have bad teeth when I got her and has had them sorted out, however, despite having the teeth done, she still exhibits all the behaviour that you have described, to a tee. The only time she is well behaved is out hacking and jumping, when she will take a contact, and very nicely, I am just about to have her lunged in a pessoa/ chambon, to see if that helps her too... what breeding line is she???? just interested.

I think perhaps it is just an old ingrained habit from bad hands or something in the past and like me, you may just have to keep positively working through it, give lots and lots of praise when he relaxes and I think keeping the work varied helps, let them do what they enjoy, like hacking, to build up the right muscles... hope that helps... let me know how you get on!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. We have had a Equine Dentist to him twice in the past few months and there is no reason for his behaviour. The vet has also had a good look.
Bossanova- I think most of the problem comes from him not wanting to engage the hind leg and carry himself. We have had the saddle checked by a saddler and they can't see its causing him a problem. Its very frustrating as he is very talented. For a while he stopped doing it, and was going very well with 2 seconds, a 3rd and a win dressage but he seems to be going backwards again- we have changed nothing at all.
 
This sound identical to the problem I had with a Hannovarian Mare I bought from Germany. After several months of different bits etc and dare I say it, my husband whom is a Vet checking her teeth I finally phoned a friend who is an Equine Dentist, he came out and witnessed her display of evasion to my hands then he spent an hour doing her teeth, I then got back on her to see if the reaction was any less severe but she did exactly the same. He was determined it was in her mouth that was causing this reaction and not her behaviour so my husband decided to sedate her and both of them gave her another thorough examination. After a few minutes they stumbled across a minute bump in the gum which happened to be a piece of broken tooth so my husband cut the gum and removed the piece then the dentist re filed the lower tooth to keep it away from the upper wound. I gave her 5 days off work then hacked her on the buckle end for a couple of days and from then on she has been a totally different horse the change is dramatic. So it may be worth you getting an EDT with good reputation out or your Vet. Hope this helps
 
The previous owner said that she had a horse before that did the same and like your horse has a tidy bit of tooth in the gum. I did have him checked by the dentist and vet but they may have missed something. Will get him re done. The only reason I am reluctant to think mouth is that he showed the same reaction in the bitless bridle.
 
Has he ever had wolf teeth through or taken out? sometimes they have blind wolf teeth that can cause a problem, you often need an xray to see them
 
no, never had wolf teeth.
It is the most frustrating thing. It could just be that he is being naughty but we want to give him the chance first.
 
Just a thought but even in a hackamore they can feel it if they are sore as there is pressure against the cheek which can push onto the sore spot. I had to wait for dentist when my mares teeth were a bit sharp, I tried her in a borrowed hackamore while I was waiting, she was better but not massively because the shanks were still making her catch her mouth on the sharp tooth.
Could it be a head shaking type episode?
 
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