Hey, I Could Do With Some Help On My Problem Horse

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Mosh

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Hey, I'm Hannah and i'm 17.
I own a 16.2hh thoroughbred who's rising 10.
Hes an ex race horse (flat and point to pointing) and has also been abused.
But we have a problem, Handling he's a baby and so gentle and calm but sometimes when hes ridden, hes dangerous.
For example, today we were trotting in the field and suddenly he did a massive buck and then continued to bronc, i eventually got him to walk calmly for 20 seconds and then i got off, as i felt it was too dangerous to carry on.
However sometimes hes perfect to be ridden, he is learnt the basics, works in a good outline and is learning leg yield and shoulder in and his transitions improve all the time.
Its like a switch in his head and he explodes.
I've had all physical checks done, like his teeth, his back is seen to by a physiotherapist and masseuse, his feet have been done but at the moment he is not shod. And his tack has been fitted to him, with his saddle being re-fitted to him shortly (within the next month or so) ad he will have a chiropractor soon as well.

Sorry it was such an essay

Any help would be appreciated
thank you
Hannah
 
Is there any warning when he is going to do it? Does it happen typically when you are walking, trotting, cantering, in a particular place, only when schooling or hacking for example?
 
we've got some lessons planned and y riding instructor friend is at a bit of a loss as well. We're trying
his feed is pretty basic, some economy mix, chaff, apples and carrots and garlic.
He also lives out all year with hay in his field.
he could be just feeling well but its pretty scary all the same considering i'm only 5 foot 3
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Might be worth lunging him before you ride to get rid of any fizz......sounds very much like tension to me! Also saddle fitting I would get done sooner,and consider a set of shoes as some TB's can be very prone to soreness in the feet due to the nature of their feet construction...just an idea!
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there is no warning, its all random, his ears go back slightly and then we're up in the air, and hes never done it in the same place twice.
I don't ride him particularly tense either, i'm quite relaxed on him but still alert obviously
hacking..once we're out, hes an angel usually
 
I don't think he is necessarily classed as a dangerous horse or problem horse, but I can see how you feel when his bucking obviously frightens you. It may just be that he is too much horse for you.

I can understand why you got off, but it really isn't always the best solution.

Firstly I'd look at his stable routine and feeding. Make sure he gets as much turnout as possible and that he doesn't get too much hard feed, give adlib hay/haylage and fibre based feeds.

I'd then get some help from an experienced instructor.

Good luck

ETS - just noticed that he lives out, perfect! One thing I do think is that you will need to be brave enough to ride him through his little sessions!
 
lol, at the moment his shoes aren't staying on very well due to mud, i asked my farrier and he said he should be fine un shod for a while as long as e only do some light schooling which we are.
As a TB i know hes fizzy and i don't mind usually and people at the yard give me a cure, but not giving me answers on why. We're all a bit confused to be honest.
i'm persevering though, i know its not always perfect.
I'm gonna book some lessons i think with an instructor he knows me but not the horse and see what she thinks.
 
i would love not to class him as problem horse, hes my baby and i love him to pieces
it just seemed a good way to describe him at the time, very frustrating!
its like hes simply misunderstood!
usually, i do ride through but today was....extreme.
i'll try lunging him, probably for longer this time and perhaps make life a bit varied
 
i noticed you said you were feeding him carrots i have been told i think its 5 carrots have the same energy as a scoop of oats so might be worth cutting them out (not sure it would or wouldnt help) have you had his teeth, back and saddle checked?
 
yeah, his saddle, back ad teeth have all been done.
His saddle was fitted to him not long ago and will be re-fitted to him again soon.
I'll try cutting down on the carrots and probably cut out some of his hard feed, see what happens.
 
Sounds silly, but it could be as simple as he has figured out that he can do this and get away with it and so he does. If you recognise the signs before he has a session then perhaps you could prempt it... perhaps by asking something a little more complicated, taking his mind off what he is thinking of doing or even just pushing him forward so he doesn't get a chance to. Perhaps using a daisy rein to stop him getting his head down far enough to buck and bronc may be an option.
A collegue at my yard had the same senario and got a trouble shooter in to ride her horse a few times, perhaps this is an option for you
 
i think that is part of the problem.
I took a nasty fall a few weeks ago at college and since then i've been a bit nervy and perhaps he can tell, even if i don't think i'm showing it.
i think what i'm gonna do is, move his saddle fitting appointment forward, change some of his feed around and ride him a bit more. We were going to try jumping soon and he enjoys that, so it might help.
I could be asking a bit too much of him too soon, hes been in work for bout 7/8 months...although i think he would cope with some simple leg yielding and transitions, hes not young as such
next time i'll ride him through it a bit more and i'm going to ride some laid back horses on Saturday so that should help.


Thanks everyone for your suggestions
feeling a lot better now
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Sounds like my horse.His history is the same but he is only 6.Its just excitement its like something goes pop in his head.I found the more I did the less excited he was in the end he was more cob than tb just have to bore him so its routine ,dont give up and try not to get off.Its as if they cant go forward so it comes out in broncing sessions.I had the same with my first 6 months of jumping lessons once he go over the excitement it all stopped.Im only 5 2 and my horse is 16 1 so I know its not a great feeling but you will end up a better rider.Everyone would ask me were I bought my velcro jods from after a lesson.If you can get in early with that first buck and lift one hand higher ,abruptly not severely, I always found it stopped him mid track caught him by surprise and took the sting out of his tail ,That and a loud no helped.
I cant feed too much haylage to my horse it makes him loopy more so than hard feed.
You mentioned you were on a field bear in mind when they have raced its all open the same as the field so probably better to stick to fields when he is tired after a long hack.I only did open fields once he was in long hard regular work.If its any consulation I will have the same problems again soon my boy is off work at the moment and I know when he comes back hes going to be a loon for a while again .Tbs are great horses but they are just so quick to react .Hope it works out for you.
 
does he ever appear stiff on his back end? My TB was diagnosed with mild hock spavin - I couldn't work out why he'd rear when I tried to jump him.

TB's do have a habit of reacting badly to pain....especially if it's intermittent! May be way off but it seems weird that he's doing it with no warning, isn't being overfed and doesn't normally do it.

If he's been raced then odds are he's had alot of wear and tear on his joints....just an idea anyway
 
Funny you should mention that my horse has just had surgery for hock fusion.The bucking could all be related to pain its worth checking out.I think tbs do have more wear and tear than other horses because they starrt them so early.
 
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Funny you should mention that my horse has just had surgery for hock fusion.The bucking could all be related to pain its worth checking out.I think tbs do have more wear and tear than other horses because they starrt them so early.

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I would put money on it......I stuck Ty on Cortaflex HA and it worked wonders....then put him on a cheaper one for a maintainer.....
 
I have Ollie on njs vet told me to keep him on it as he has been a walking disaster.Ligament tendon cannon bone overreach injuries and now surgery for hock fusion.God I hope i turn a corner soon only had him 2 years and he has been in and out of work like a yoyo.
 
Take away the hard feed for starters. Put him on a lunge before you ride; get his back rechecked and look again at the saddle. I'd be tempted to take away the aids if there are any and try to make you and the riding expereince a pleasurable one, it would appear horses are like elephants they have long memories so it'll take time...good luck
 
Our exracer was doing pretty much the same. Vet checked him out and origianlly thought it could be spavins or possibly old pelvis injury (stress fracture). Lots of tests later we discovered he had damaged his cruciate ligament. He was only 3/10ths lame but vet says he is a total drama queen in his reaction to pain.
Our boy also gets tense in his back and his muscles spasm. We have put him on a sugar & starch free diet which makes a huge difference.
 
hey everyone.
i had him checked by the vet recently and there doesn't seem to be any problems, he was sound as a pound but i'll go pester the vet and see what he thinks again.
His back was done last wednesday so i don't think its that, she was really pleased with his progress.
his hard feed is gonna basically go (hes gonna take about 4 hours to eat dinner and breakfast now but never mind lol)
i think its a combination of everything, i'm a bit nervy after a bad fall a few weeks ago, hes feeling a bit fit and hyper and really wants to go, at the moment we haven't got anywhere to ride other then fields. YO isn't helpful in the slightest so we're probably moving soon to a better place.
oooo theres a lot going on.
gonna try lunging him, hes a bugger to lunge sometimes lol. He is actually lovely most of the time
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what are you feeding him on as i use to work with racehorses and one day someone overdose him on oats this made him go mad he reared up coming back down and nearly hitting me maybe you are feeding him something he goes mad on or you are feeding him to much thoughbred are abit nutty any way but there must be something wrong somewhere my friend has a thoughbred and she feeds him on ecomany mix and chaff 2 times a day
 
thats all my horse has, economy mix and chaff, with some garlic, apples and about 3 carrots to do stretches with
he lives out on very fertile ground so that could be it, but he won't stay in, he stresses and gets upset. And then turns into a git to handle
 
I feel for you...I have been through the bronco bit with my ex-racer tb mare...she was raced 2-5 yr old on the flat, ill-treated and was 9 yrs old when I got her 11 yrs ago. Handling was our main issue and then bronco-ing and me falling off regularly!!
I looked at everything - routine, workload, feed, general wellbeing, how I rode her etc.
I felt she was working to much in the school (dressage as she was very good) with myself and YO who rode and wanted to compete on her. Boredom is a factor to think about - they are quick, smart and intelligent but I think we pushed the workload a bit for her and she got stale. So just hacked her for a couple of months (took her to a friends where hacking was brill, wasnt where i was), ended up staying there as the improvement was amazing. Had regular physio with her as she had a tendency to tighten in neck/shoulders. Had lessons in school and out hacking - as the bronco-ing happened in both. Kept lessons pretty light and also taught her to jump which she loved.
Also, addressed my riding!!! I was holding too much, especially going in to canter. So she was struggling with actually being able to stride in to canter and got frustrated so bucked her way out of it!!! Also, taught how to sit to the bucks ie. sit up and kick on!! More forward going momentum = harder for bronco-ing - simple but difficult to do when they start, luckily intructor rode out with me and would shout 'sit up and kick on' until it sunk in and I reacted quick enough!!!! Sometimes I would also hear her say in the background 'too late'!!!
My previous horse had been a speed machine so hanging on was important..with my tb I had to learn to let go!!!
 
your ares history is exactly the same as mine except mine was raced when he was 18 months old cause his birthday was in june!..someone didn't plan it well. Makes me think he as never meant to be a race horse but someone tried him anyway.
i'm going to lunge him and go straight back to basics with him, just walk, trot, some canter and take him SJ in may...well a round of 2foot6 cause he loves to jump and i'm going to go find myself a very good instructor who can get on bored as well.
nd yes....i can sit to bucks now! don't fall off as much as i used too
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