Horse completely changed...

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Germolene

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Hi all, I bought my horse (Anglo Arab mare) nearly 12 months ago and she had hardly had anything done with her. I have trained her for the last 11 months and it has been hard hard work....finally we started getting somewhere and we've just started showing (green horse classes) and everything been hunky dorey.... Up until this last week... :-( it is like riding a completely different horse, I have no idea what is wrong with her but she is being horrendous to ride, not naughty at all in like bucking rearing etc, none of that but she's just all over the place, really choppy and sharp and trying to run away with me with her head in the air, which is just awful and I end up having to literally stand in my stirrups to pull her up!!! :-/ she is not lame in the slightest, she doesn't have a sore back, she's not in season, I'm really at a loss :-(. We were doing soooo well, I am really disheartened and I don't know where to go from here! Tonight, I feel like I could easily sell her (but I wouldn't as I do love her to pieces) or give her loads of time off, or send her to a professional which I don't really want to do as she's the kind of horse that gets really confused with more than one rider as she's still only a baby, just turned 6. I just don't know what to do....what would you all suggest?? What would you do?? I just feel like the massive progress we've made in 11 months has just been obliterated :-(
 
There is plenty that could be causing her to be uncomfortable, it sounds like a pain reaction, possibly teeth, something in her mouth, it could be back even though you cannot find a sore spot, saddle, something in the air, it is early to be panicking and thinking of selling, make a plan, list things to rule out and get them checked, take a step back and see how far you have come, it may be worth getting an instructor to give an opinion as well as all the other checks that need doing.
We all have set backs, don't take it personally, she may just need a break for a week or two if you have been doing a lot recently.
 
Yeah think I'll give her a week off, but worried in case that doesn't help and she's even worse after the week. Or maybe I should do no schooling for a couple of weeks, maybe just hack ?? It's just weird, not knowing why we have this set back... :(
 
I am no expert on schooling young horses, but the one thing that my young stallion has taught me is that smart young horses go through strange phases for no apparent reason. I think they may be trying new things or new evasions to see if they can get away with it. My horse was 5 when I bought him, is now 8 and there have been numerous times when I felt desperate and at the end of the road (despite him being a very well behaved and gentle horse generally). I am lucky that I have the support of my husband who is a riding instructor but it is down to me in the end to tackle any issues because he is intelligent enough to know who is riding and to test the boundaries. I just try to devise a way to overcome the latest evasion, we struggle and fight for a little while, I persevere, manage to win and everything becomes almost perfect until he thinks of a new fun game and we start again. This is the way with intelligent young horses and I don't think there is anything you can do but to sit it out (as long as you are sure that there are no medical issues)
 
Maybe that's what it is then.... I did change her bit because she's usually in a Wilkie (which is the only bit we've had success with). But I cannot do any dressage in that which is why I've tried weaning her into just a plain loose ring snaffle....I rode her yesterday in it, it was horrendous and I actually have blisters on my fingers...I couldn't find my riding gloves! And she was that strong in it!!! So we tried again tonight and I had to get off half way through and put the bloody Wilkie back on and thought that would crack it but she just wasn't the same again....I was actually nearly in tears!! Do you think that maybe it's just because I've changed the bit for them 2 rides and she thinks she can be a knob?? It's frustrating because people kept saying "she looks fine" but she felt absolutely terrible and not like what I'm used to at all. It did cross my mind that maybe she's just got loads of pent up energy which is why she just wants to run off, but she's been fine for the last 5ish months since we've gotten a bit more serious. It's just bewildering
 
If you are sure she is not on pain and have had all of the usually checks, I'd say she is just feeling insecure.
She is young, lacking life experience on going out and about in different situations, so will need reassuring and consistent instruction of how you want her to behave.
 
I agree with be positive, it sounds like a pain reaction. When you say her back is not sore, have you had it checked since her behaviour has changed? My horse has tweaked his back a couple of times doing handstands in the field, it's easily done, and usually easily fixed, but I would definitely get it checked out if I were you. My horse shows it by being heavy in front and not powering through from behind, but they are all different.

In terms of the bit, is it a different mouthpiece as well? If you changed to a single jointed snaffle from something that had a lozenge or similar then she may well not have liked it and left her mouth a little sensitive.

Hope you get to the bottom of it. xx
 
No they're both single joints as she hates any other mouthpiece. :-/ so it's not the mouthpiece!
Yeah she's has Physio twice in the last 11 months but obviously it's only been the last 2 times I've ride her that this has become apparent so I've not got her out yet but I deffo will do if it persists. Yeah, I hope I get to the bottom on it too :-/ cheers
 
Have you considered wolf teeth ?they can cause problems our mare started to evade the bit one of hers was broken,they are small and easy for the dentist to remove,made a massive difference to our horse .
 
If you've had her back, teeth and saddle checked, I'd suggest two things:
1) lunge her wearing all her normal tack and see how she moves/responds. There may be discomfort somewhere you can see when you lunge her. A problem wib her stifle or hocks for example wouldn't have been identified in a back check.
2) get a good instructor to give you a lesson. They might see something wrong that could be triggering the behaviour that you're not aware of. It always helps having another experienced set of eyes on you riding to give their advice.
Good luck!
 
I'd get her back, teeth and saddle checked personally. One of mine went very odd like you say - choppy feeling and very sharp etc. and it turned out his saddle had stopped fitting (well actually my new saddler told me that saddle never fitted even though it was professionally fitted!) and he had a slightly sore back as a result. 1 physio session and a new saddle - straight back to normal. Although he's gone weird again this week I've noticed so I'm wondering if he's due checks again...
 
If she was only 5 when you bought her she's probably changed shape over 11 months of training.

I would definitely get her checked out by a physio and saddler, and if they don't find anything amiss I would probably get someone else out for a second opinion just to make sure.
 
My mare has turned exactly the same. Though we've recently moved yards, and I suspect she may be in season too, so the combination has sent her slightly loopy. Spooking, excess energy, bolting, not willing to work can be signs of mares in season (same as mine). I've just put her onto Oestress (liquid)- this is a calmer as well as targeting seasons.
 
My mare just completely changed, and went doolalley, I had put her on haylage and it had blown her brain. She is back on hay, and back to her normal self now
 
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