imbalances-behaviour change? also in NL

[china]

hi there
im posting on behalf of a friend who is currently very frustrated and at the end of her tether with her horse who she has owned for many years.
his behaviour is like jeckl and hyde, he can be perfect to handle and ride one day and can be a complete pleb the next, doesnt matter what time of year it is. he has been at his current yard since april and is very settled there, i hack out regularly with them and he can be a saint one day and a spooking spoon the next. over the last few days he has become very irrational, they went to a fun ride sunday and he wouldn't load on the way home which is out of character and when he was loaded he threw a hissy fit in the trailor. he has started box walking and banging the door in his stable (he would normally love his stable) he has been seperated from the two mare in the summer as he was showing aggressive tendancies (more dominance than anything)
understandably friend is getting very frustrated with the behaviour as when hes good he is fantastic and she gets very down when he is like this. he is on grass all year round/hay and very little feed, usually just a balancer but i will check what he currently has.
i was wondering wether he has an imbalance of some kind causing this behaviour or is allergic to something in his food?
he has teeth/saddle/physio done regularly.
any info/advice much appreciated.
p.s were sure he isnt a rig but i dont think he has had blood tests to confirm this.
thanks again

 

[minmax]

The only thing that springs to mind is brain tumour? Sorry. I know a mare that was a bit odd, would have good and bad days. She had a massive tumour, which the vets thought was the reason for her behaviour.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

However much your friend thinks her horse's behaviour is him being a knob, it isn't. Horses don't think like that. There'll be something going on and your friend will need to be a regular Sherlock Holmes to try to pin down what it is. Could be anything from sheep moved into a field half a mile away to ulcers to poorly fitting tack. And anything and everything in between. If he was mine, I'd start keeping a diary, noting religiously feed, weather, exercise, turnout, company, timings etc etc etc. With luck, a pattern might start to emerge which would either help your friend to pin down the problem and deal with it or would provide detailed background information for a full work up by her vets. Good luck x

 

[Azmar]

How about eyesight?

 

[china]

However much your friend thinks her horse's behaviour is him being a knob, it isn't. Horses don't think like that. There'll be something going on and your friend will need to be a regular Sherlock Holmes to try to pin down what it is. Could be anything from sheep moved into a field half a mile away to ulcers to poorly fitting tack. And anything and everything in between. If he was mine, I'd start keeping a diary, noting religiously feed, weather, exercise, turnout, company, timings etc etc etc. With luck, a pattern might start to emerge which would either help your friend to pin down the problem and deal with it or would provide detailed background information for a full work up by her vets. Good luck x

this is a very good idea! thank you! we have recently had a drama as my field is next to theirs and the horse in mine fell in the ditch that ajoins their field which caused all of them to be very on edge for a few days as having the firebrigade pulling him out was ovbiously traumatic for them all so i can appreciate why hes abit tense at the moment but that doesnt excuse him for the previous years. i will mention all these suggestions to her.

 

[Puddles]

Hi,

I second the diary idea. I also have a horse that can be anything from an angel to a monster with every rung on the ladder inbetween. I bet that when you start to diary it with wevery little thing that you change then there will be a pattern. An intollerance or allergy is possible - obviously you need to move any pain issue that may be there will all the regukar checks. When I started to diary my horse which was only recently I have discovered that he appears to be very sensitive to sugar - even the addition of apples / carrots to his feed or a change in hay or make of chaff can be enough. When you start researching then allsorts of imbalances could be playing a part...I would start with a diary and then one at qa time rule out possible causes.

Good luck.