Horse Refusing to Move

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kate12

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I recently purchased a 7 year old ottb gelding that has been off the track for a year and has had minimal retraining. I have owned him for two months and spent the entire first month lungeing him and doing ground work to the point where he has become voice trained. I have now been riding him for a month and he has been going very well with no problems. He does not buck/ rear, he does not take off or spook and he is very laid back and easy going. He is 100% sound. The other day in the middle of our ride (that was going great) he stopped, pinned his ears and refused to move in any direction. I would get him walking again only for him to stop again in a few strides. When I tapped him with the crop he bucked which he has never done before. I got him to trot and ended up ending the ride on a positive note. I thought he may be getting frustrated or sick of me riding him so I decided to free lunge him (something he has done many times) the next day to change things up. He lunged for a few minutes in trot and canter before stopping and facing the wall with his bum to me and refusing to move again. All the waving of the lunge whip and asking him to walk on or trot could not make him move. He has recently been changed to a lower energy feed (not sure if this could be a possible cause). I usually work him by himself in the arena so I'm wondering if riding with other horses might help. I also thought of giving him a few days off if he is getting annoyed at working. I am just looking for advice on how to stop him from doing this or maybe some possible causes as to why this has occurred all of a sudden after he has been so good and never done this for the two months I've owned him.
 
There could be lots of reasons he's acting like he is.

First thing I always believe you should do if your horse has all of a sudden started acting out of the ordinary (and it's HHO law :p) is get back/tack/teeth checked for any physical problems. If he had a bit of time off riding and you've just started riding him again, he might be gaining more muscle which could be causing his saddle to not fit as well. Always worth a check to rule out anything pain related.

If all that is fine... It could be that he is testing his boundaries a bit. Sometimes when you buy a new horse, after the horse has settled in and is feeling more confident in his surroundings, they will try and push the boundaries a little bit.

It's difficult to say what might be causing it without seeing the behaviour itself. Was there anything on the ride that could have upset him or spooked him? It could be nappy behaviour that he was displaying. How varied is his workload? So long as he has varied work I'm not sure he'll be 'fed up'.

What was the reason for changing feed? Have you considered changing it back to see if this makes any difference? Otherwise I would be looking for a good instructor to help you.
 
This behaviour sounds like a pain response, pinning his ears back when being asked to move forward and the turning his bum into you are both signs that he is trying to tell you something, it is not him being dominant or testing you if he was fine until you increased his workload, it is common in ex racehorses that they get away with coping while carrying an old injury until asked to do more or are ridden more regularly.
I would do all the normal checks, saddle, teeth, vet check and physio, I would also see what is in the new feed, it may not agree with him in some way and not just because it is lower energy the ingredients will be different, if nothing is found I would go back a step and instead of lunging I would long rein to get him going, riding out with others may help as not many racehorses will be used to hacking alone regularly.
 
Check for ulcers too. The not moving being out of character sounds like a pain response. Refusing to move is one of the signs of ulcers.
 
Symptoms point to ulcers. They are extremely painful and a very high percentage of horses have them. Don't just get an off the shelf supplement - he needs scoping and diagnosing by the vet. Having just had my horse treated for ulcers, this is what my money is on. Once diagnosed they are easy to treat and unless there are any other issues, you will get your happy pony back again .
 
I am having a similar problem, although I have had him for around 6 months. I spent alot of time on groundwork, was working nicely, had a vary varied work routine with breaks now very recently wont go forward under saddle and has started nipping round at his belly when I take rugs off and tack up, and kicks out with back legs. Hes due teeth/back etc but the only recent change I can think of is his diet, to keep him in decent condition hes needed alot more food (conc.) so I am nipping it in the bud now, only fun hacks and a change of diet. Worth mentioning he crib bites, but is turned out 10 hours a day with ad-lib hay/haylage!
 
I had the exact same issue with my youngster last year. Sweet girl, all going well, then suddenly refused to move in the arena.
I had her checked over, she had very sore back / pelvis area. Had her xrayed and all clear. So she had osteo out, who confirmed that she was sore in areas that could have come from a fall. ( she had a fall so it all tied in ) After a few treatments, and being turned away over the winter shes now had the all clear to come back into work.

So in your position I would get a good osteo out. He could be aching from the work, or may have slipped in a field and pulled something.
 
Ulcers ulcers ulcers!!!!

Reluctance to go forward is one of the most common symptoms. As is pinning ears, and small bucks/kicking with a back leg when ridden.

Rupertthebear - so is kicking when their rug is put on, chest biting, girthiness, sore back etc.

Make sure you are insured before you investigate, because it's flippin expensive. My horse was like a different animal after treatment and his symptoms hadn't even been that severe. He needed two rounds of treatment - unfortunately the second one wasn't covered (even though it was only a couple of months later) because the claim had been opened ages ago as "general discomfort" which we thought was his back.
 
Sounds very much like he has ulcers. Definitely wouldn't push him through it until you've had a vet out - you could do real damage to his confidence. Look up an ulcer prevention diet and try to get him on that to start.
 
just to add definition - definitely get him fully checked out ... teeth / back / saddle etc

if his is an OTTB he has likely had ulcers if not still has them. so maybe worth feeding him like he has them see if it makes a difference - i beleive there is an oil and bicarb diet thats worth looking at.

its also possible that all the work he has done in the last 2 months has made him sore. Even though he was fit and racing and then let come down he will have muscle memory and they wont be the same muscles that he was using before (they pull rather than push with hind end / jockeys are tiny etc) so saddle / back check well worth it.

Horses pain memory is awful to work through so lots of patience :) good luck
 
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