imbalances-change in behaviour. also in Vets

china

china

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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
 
No expert, but horses don't just suddenly change for no reason. Could he be in pain? You say saddle/physio etc but perhaps get the vet out to check him over? A blood test sounds like a good idea. Failing this, perhaps you could contact one of the many feed companies for advice on feeding him regarding allergies etc and see what they suggest?
 
he has been likes this for a while now but can be good one day and bad the next, he is a very highly strung horse generally but has been getting worse. she has reuglar lessons on him and some days he is fantastic and other days he is so silly and highly strung that he is about 4ft long! hes a 15.2 cobXtb and has the typical welshyness about him but were running out of ideas now. i dont think hes in pain because of how irregular his behaviour patterns are, he doesnt buck or rear (he would spin on a hack on a silly day) but anything is possible!
 
Has she had the liver checked, liver causes irrational change in temprement, amongst other things.

Our mare started being more erratic than normal and it all came to a head about 2 years ago when she collapsed with me riding her on the road! We had her blood tested and then scanned (it left a very interesting bald patch on one side that took ages to grow back) but clarified enough so that we didn't need a biopsy. If it is liver then there are common causes like ragwort and infection, of which the former is obviously irreversible.

Otherwise, yes some horses suffer with food, but then its generally a slow case of taking different food groups out and seeing whether there is an improvement, alfaalfa or cereals might be a start- but there are tests that you can also do, I dont' know enough about them. A nutritionist (most of the large feed companies have lots!) would probably be a place to start.

However it seems to have reached a critical level and in that situation I would definatley be having a chat with my vet.
 
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