Horse stops when led up stony track

I

Iwantakitten

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 December 2012
Messages
531
Visit site
Just a little ponder and looking for some input on an "issue".

Horse at my yard lives out 24/7 at the moment on a large moorland/scrub field with one other horse, who they have a good bond with. Access to this field is via a steep track which has some large and some small stony sections but generally is like a typical bridle path track although it is important (I think) to remember the steepness. Coming down there are no issues, horse walks down fine. Horse is brought in generally once a day to ride, groom, feed etc and there appears to be no current issues with lameness or similar.

Turning back out again the horse seems reluctant to walk back up the hill. He will take a few paces and then stand for a few seconds, moving on when asked for a few more paces before stopping again. Horse has been observed to sigh occasionally when stopping. If the horse is led up and the leader carries a schooling whip, using this to tap the horse to encourage forwards the horse will walk to the top of the hill without stopping although generally the leader will use the stick to encourage forward (not hitting I might add) and ask the horse to stand a few times up the hill on the leaders terms and not when the horse decides.

Owner believes the horse is being nappy but I think there may be something else going on here as horse is generally very honest. Another point to note is this behaviour may have begun this summer when the horse had no shoes on (had been barefoot since December as out of work) and feet were allowed to get a bit too long. It has now been back in work since July and has front shoes back on but still continues to stop on the track.
 
If it is the only place the horse "naps" then it is unlikely be be due to behaviour and far more likely it is due to pain, the sighing is probably a sign that it is hurting to push up the hill and stopping gives relief. It is possibly something wrong behind, maybe the feet having to push rather than just drop down may be enough to make it sore, I would expect if it was the front feet it would be equally reluctant to walk down hill, just because it appears sound does not mean it is not bilaterally lame and the steepness of the walk is just too much to really cope with, it is trying to let the owner know something and she needs to listen a bit more carefully as this is not normal behaviour for a horse to not want to get back to it's field.
 
I don't see nappy here. Nappy would be planting or trying to pull away and refusing to negotiate the hill at all. Plus the horse is walking up the hill, which would suggest to me a polite, honest horse. The natural tendency would be to trot or similar to use impulsion to get up the hill, sort of barge on through to make the task quicker and easier.

I get what the leader is doing with asking the horse to stand at times, but I don't think it's a good idea in this situation. Just let the poor thing get up the hill! He needs encouragement to go forward; I think the halting on the hill is sending mixed messages. (Different story in school or in-hand work because it's a totally different situation.)

Second, I think you're on to something with the feet. He's going to have a lot of weight on his hindquarters going up a steep hill, and if his hind feet are still unshod and the ground is quite rocky, it could be unpleasant on his feet. The sighing could indicate discomfort. The halting and standing is stopping him from effectively picking his own path up the hill, which is perfectly acceptable for the horse to do. Don't let him choose the pace, sure, but let him choose the path.

Short answer: it's obviously unpleasant for him for some reason. Owner should stop making this onerous thing worse for him with the halting, keep up the encouragement and just let him get on with getting up the dang hill.
 
Thank you be positive, this is what I was thinking as well but everyone else on the yard thinks it is behavioural. Horse has no problem walking to any of the other fields which do not have steep or stony tracks. I could offer to swap fields with her if she wants to investigate.
 
LadySam you have confirmed my thoughts about the feet. The back feet are also due a trim at the moment, I believe farrier is booked for next week so could suggest she has him shod all round although if it is a lameness issue would this just be masking the symptoms? Owner has asked me for advice and I said I would post here to see what people say so it seems she is keen to help the horse.
 
Iwantakitten said:
Thank you be positive, this is what I was thinking as well but everyone else on the yard thinks it is behavioural. Horse has no problem walking to any of the other fields which do not have steep or stony tracks. I could offer to swap fields with her if she wants to investigate.
Click to expand...

Most unwanted behaviour that gets classed as behavioural stems from pain, discomfort or the horse simply not understanding what is being asked, they very rarely decide to do something for no good reason, it is the easy answer when a horse is doing something undesirable but any changes to how they behave or any real inconsistencies will have a reason even if it is not obvious to us it will be to the horse.
With this horse it obviously understands it is going back to the place he lives so cannot be due to lack of understanding so it comes down to pain or discomfort especially if it never naps or shows reluctance to go forward at any other time.
 
Are the hind suspensories sore at all? My horse had similar attitude to going up hills under similar circumstances to those you describe (bare and not in enough work to self trim). Puffiness and reluctance to lift hind feet up for picking out were additional signs. Good for you for not going along with the "nappy horse" mentality, it always pays to listen to the horse I think.
 
Iwantakitten said:
LadySam you have confirmed my thoughts about the feet. The back feet are also due a trim at the moment, I believe farrier is booked for next week so could suggest she has him shod all round although if it is a lameness issue would this just be masking the symptoms?
Click to expand...

You said he has no current lameness issues, so I wasn't thinking a lameness issue as such. Just sensitive feet on pointy rocks. If he was shod it would at least give him a little bit of elevation off the ground. It's certainly worth talking to the farrier about it.
 
be positive said:
Most unwanted behaviour that gets classed as behavioural stems from pain, discomfort or the horse simply not understanding what is being asked, they very rarely decide to do something for no good reason, it is the easy answer when a horse is doing something undesirable but any changes to how they behave or any real inconsistencies will have a reason even if it is not obvious to us it will be to the horse.
With this horse it obviously understands it is going back to the place he lives so cannot be due to lack of understanding so it comes down to pain or discomfort especially if it never naps or shows reluctance to go forward at any other time.
Click to expand...

This is my belief as well. My pony for example is very sensitive and will tell me when he is not happy with something. Most recently his saddle needed a flocking adjustment and the last time I rode before I realised and booked it in he was just stuffy in the school and reluctant to move forward properly. No extreme reactions just not quite right. Since it has been done he has been back to his normal self.

Back to the horse in question and RE: suspensories, I'm not sure, I don't see enough of the horse in work or to handle to make a judgement. I'll have a chat with the owner about what has been said here and hopefully she can have a word with her vet.
 
LadySam said:
You said he has no current lameness issues, so I wasn't thinking a lameness issue as such. Just sensitive feet on pointy rocks. If he was shod it would at least give him a little bit of elevation off the ground. It's certainly worth talking to the farrier about it.
Click to expand...

I'll suggest her to discuss with farrier next week as to me I think he has slightly under run heels and long toes, he looks to have a fair bit of flare going on as well which will be putting pressure on the walls.
 
I think you are right - if he says no to a stoney track its because he knows it hurts. Perhaps put boots on his hinds for walking this particular track until his feet toughen up enough through a new diet or any underlying issues are sorted - I did this with mine for his fronts when he came out of shoes initially. I wouldn't say the track to the field was particularly stoney, but it did have stones. He planted when he arrived at the edge of the concrete. He also planted coming in and out over the gravelly un concreted area from his stable to the concrete - I just put front boots on to collect/put him out to the field - planting over. He now walks over both those areas with no planting with no boots - mine is also opinionated, and I am actually quite happy that he says rather than being stoic and it causing further issues!!

He might have thrush as opposed to anything else - checking out the frog and any cracks would by my first stop.
 
If it were the feet I would expect as much issue going downhill than up, possibly more downhill because it forces the foot to land heel first which is often where they struggle. If it is feet it is toes. If anyone has some spare boots you could fairly easily check if feet or something else physical but from your description I am inclined towards the something else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top