Horse Randomly Broncs For No Reason & Plants when mounted

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Dances_with_horses

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I am wanting to get opinions on this behaviour in a horse ...

When you mount the horse , it tenses up and plants , will refuse to move for a few minutes, but if you talk to them , give them a scratch and wait patiently they will eventually move off and be fine.

Horse throws a random bronc to unseat rider , for no apparant reason , and can go months inbetween broncing .

Between these random broncs, the horse is a super bombproof snaffle ride , that works off the leg and in a outline.

Not an inch of malice in the horse, lovely to do and brilliant on the ground etc. never nasty , or bolshy , however is very timid and takes time to trust new people , has serious trust issues due to past abuse.

If you had a horse with these issues , what would your thoughts be about the behavour etc ?
 
I treated mine for ulcers - she had them but behaviour didn't really improve. The diagnosis of PSSM & diet changes helped, but I'm back at the vet next week for more investigations.

I've had the saddler out numerous times - 4 saddles in 2 years - & it's definitely the weight of the rider that causes the issue.

Hard one. Hope you get clearer answers than me!
 
Could be kissing spines. Which also cause ulcers. I would start be asking for back x rays and testing for ulcers with some omeprazole.

Is the horse freezing every time you mount? If so, the horse sounds in pain and I wouldn't ride it again until you have had a vet see it.
 
SEL said:
I treated mine for ulcers - she had them but behaviour didn't really improve. The diagnosis of PSSM & diet changes helped, but I'm back at the vet next week for more investigations.

I've had the saddler out numerous times - 4 saddles in 2 years - & it's definitely the weight of the rider that causes the issue.

Hard one. Hope you get clearer answers than me!
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SEL, I can't remember if you've had back x rays, but if you have and they are clear, has damage to the spine ligaments (that can't be seen on an x ray), been considered?
 
I bred a horse who did exactly this she was kind and sweet never put a foot wrong .
It was in the days before vets could X-ray backs and do bone scans .
Other things did develop in time ,she did not like walking down hills and could not adjust her stride when jumping.
She was PTS and was found to have KS .
 
Ditto above, a friend's young mare used to randomly explode, usually in the school. After consultation with vet it was uneasily put down to young horse antics and a new saddle was suggested....it didn't go away and gradually became more frequent so the vet came back out and X rayed. To say she had kissing spine does not describe the utter mess her back was in :(
Presumably because she'd always been like that she had largely learnt to cope, but occasionally it all became a bit much
 
Arthritis of the spine also, can't be seen on normal back X-rays due to the depth of the structure so you need a bone scan and then deep ultrasound to confirm
 
My friend's horse exhibited the same behaviour and it turned out to be gastric ulcers.

Definitely a job for the vet.
 
My horse never froze at the mounting block but would throw enormous broncing fits from time to time. He was easily schooling and competing Medium so would work in an outline too. He was retired at 11 due to severe kissing spine.

To this day he still has ulcer symptoms which I have treated numerous times with minimal improvement, so I suspect the two are linked somehow.
 
JustMe22 said:
My horse never froze at the mounting block but would throw enormous broncing fits from time to time. He was easily schooling and competing Medium so would work in an outline too. He was retired at 11 due to severe kissing spine.

To this day he still has ulcer symptoms which I have treated numerous times with minimal improvement, so I suspect the two are linked somehow.
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Yes , to my knowledge, ulcers are in fact usually a symptom of pain and stress from another condition, so I think your right.
 
Dances_with_horses said:
I am wanting to get opinions on this behaviour in a horse ...

When you mount the horse , it tenses up and plants , will refuse to move for a few minutes, but if you talk to them , give them a scratch and wait patiently they will eventually move off and be fine.

Horse throws a random bronc to unseat rider , for no apparant reason , and can go months inbetween broncing .

Between these random broncs, the horse is a super bombproof snaffle ride , that works off the leg and in a outline.

Not an inch of malice in the horse, lovely to do and brilliant on the ground etc. never nasty , or bolshy , however is very timid and takes time to trust new people , has serious trust issues due to past abuse.

If you had a horse with these issues , what would your thoughts be about the behavour etc ?
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Really depends on the horse and how well i knew the horse, my gelding broncs when exited or when his back was inflamed and when it went out.
 
Sukistokes2 said:
Yes , to my knowledge, ulcers are in fact usually a symptom of pain and stress from another condition, so I think your right.
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Yes, I think it is widely accepted now that ulcers are often a symptom of an underlying cause. e.g. a horse on my yard was being treated for ulcers, not showing much improvement until she was diagnosed with PSD. Had the op and now looks like a different horse, ulcers no longers a problem.
 
AandK said:
Yes, I think it is widely accepted now that ulcers are often a symptom of an underlying cause. e.g. a horse on my yard was being treated for ulcers, not showing much improvement until she was diagnosed with PSD. Had the op and now looks like a different horse, ulcers no longers a problem.
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Please excuse my ignorance, what is PSD?
 
I rode a horse like this. Very kind lovely boy who was found to have kissing spines. I found it flared up worse in colder weather but through summer last year he was fine, out jumping 1m+ x country fences and you wouldn't have suspected a problem. Roll on a few months and he started shooting off when I mounted which then worsened to broncing. He would then plant and not want to move. Someone would then lead him and he would be completely fine. Checked by a osteo and then vet who xrayed and he unfortunately got put to sleep.
 
my horse did similar! planting and lead to rearing, would buck on occasions, he turned out to be trying to tell me he was lame! front and rear, so wasn't easy to see. but after treatment he's much better!
 
exactly the same description of my friends mums youngster. was backed ok then when he came home shortly after he started doing the same thing which rapidly progressed to her narrowly avoiding serious injury and he went to the hospital and was scanned and put down the same day the vet said it was the worst KS he had ever seen. scans would be my first port of call
 
ycbm said:
SEL, I can't remember if you've had back x rays, but if you have and they are clear, has damage to the spine ligaments (that can't be seen on an x ray), been considered?
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We're off for 2nd opinion on Monday and I've asked for x-rays, so I'll add ligament damage onto my list of questions as well. Tbh - good news or bad - I just want to get to the bottom of what's going on now. I am probably the only person in the UK wishing the warm weather would head off back to Spain, because cold and wet definitely brings out the worst in S and the worst is what I want the vets to see!
 
SEL said:
We're off for 2nd opinion on Monday and I've asked for x-rays, so I'll add ligament damage onto my list of questions as well. Tbh - good news or bad - I just want to get to the bottom of what's going on now. I am probably the only person in the UK wishing the warm weather would head off back to Spain, because cold and wet definitely brings out the worst in S and the worst is what I want the vets to see!
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I echo what everyone else has said it does sound pain related, good luck for Monday I hope you get some answers and I hope it's nothing too nasty please let us know how you got on.
 
SEL said:
We're off for 2nd opinion on Monday and I've asked for x-rays, so I'll add ligament damage onto my list of questions as well. Tbh - good news or bad - I just want to get to the bottom of what's going on now. I am probably the only person in the UK wishing the warm weather would head off back to Spain, because cold and wet definitely brings out the worst in S and the worst is what I want the vets to see!
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Then I would guess Kissing Spines - perhaps with arthritis at the vertebrae affected. I've had 2 - fuil siblings - and the filly started bucking at 5 - had surgery when they found the arthritis (doesn't show on a normal x-ray.) And she started bucking in winter which suggests the arthritis was more painful then.
 
My mare was behaving like this,was cleared for kissing spines by original vets,despite close spinous processes,a 2nd opinion & subsequent referral for a proper work up revealed damaged ligament in the back where the processes are close,soft tissue damage to the front feet & hind hoof imbalance,she was scoped clear for ulcers though. The original vets were happy to quickly write it all off as behavioural!!!!
 
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