Jumping to the right of fences..

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showjump

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.. bad back?

My mare seemed to be doing this on sat at a show. The only time she stopped was when she jumped in the ring. In the collecting ring i tried everything i could, and she would not stop.

Do you think its her back?

Also a month ago she acted very odd when i went to put her head collar on in the stable. She kept dodging me, in the end when i put it on she reared up.
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Not like her at all. Had vet out as she was the same the next day. He said there was nothing wrong with her, and was just head shy.
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The only thing we could find was the plastic window slats on the floor, as if she'd knocked them out and hit her head.
Since then she has been abit odd, sometimes wont let you put head collar on in stable ect.

Do you think that these are related? Or she did do something when she hit her head?
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I dont know if she's being a typical mare with her moods, or somethings wrong. However sometimes shes normal.
 
It wouldn't hurt to have her back looked at, would it? just in case? It sounds as though something is wrong, as you know the horse and you don't think she's behaving normally. IME your gut instinct is usually right when it comes to things like this...
 
There is a good possibility that it will be her back. I normally get my lad's back checked every 6 months, sooner if I believe there is a problem.

Sometimes a horse will jump to one side or the other if you put her in wrong & she needs a little more space. They tend to make the extra space by making an angle to give themselves more room.

Your first port of call though should be a chiroprctor/osteopath person, once that's done if the problem persists at least you've ruled out that. Good Luck.
 
Yes, i will get her back looked at. Does anyone one know of a good one in the North West?
She is owned half my me, and the other half my friend. We both think shes changed since the incident with her head. Although she seems to act strange with me rather than my friend. I dont know whether that might be because i was the first person to see her once she'd banged it?
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Or maybe she takes a dislike to me?
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Ask specifically to have her neck checked carefully, too, especially if there is any chance she caught her head or wrenched her neck in anyway. Personally, I've found neck pain to be a very underestimated cause of problems.

Might be shoulder/pelvis as she could be leaving herself more space, as suggested, or is not pushing off properly. I had a horse that started to jump slightly crooked out of the blue turn out to have a rib injury. Unfortunately it's not just the easy to check places that get hurt!

It's not unusual for a horse to not show a relatively problem in the ring for all sorts of reasons - more space/less repeated turning, adrenaline, rising to the occasion etc.
 
is she taking off okay and veering to the right as she jumps?
get her eyes checked too. my mare lost the sight in her right eye progressively, and she used to veered right in the air - so that she could see more of the landing, i think. she didn't seem to think to turn her head...
just out of interest, do you use a girth with elastic just on one side? that can make them veer in mid-air as well, as that side gives as the horse's chest expands, and the tree can be felt all down one side of their spine.
 
Yes i do use that type of girth, never gave that a thought.
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She seems to take off ok and move over in mid air.
I tried to place her well over to the left, that failed. Tried to keep my left rein out and right leg on to push her over, that failed two. She didnt do it in the ring but like you say, could be lots of reason for that. The day before we had a lesson and again she didnt do it? Could it be my poor riding?
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no, i doubt it's your riding, they have a reason for this kind of thing. i'd swap for a girth with no elastic/central elastic/elastic both ends first, that's the simplest thing.
i'd have a good look in her eyes with a handtorch, see if there's any cloudy areas.
i'd get her checked by a mctimoney chiro. she may well have done some damage when she hit her head, put her atlas/axis joint out, for instance. i'd go lightly till you get her checked over by a really good gentle back person. best of luck.

out of interest, which side do you have the elastic of the girth? if she veers to the right, i'd guess you have it on the right? just wondered. thanks!
 
She could have tweaked herself in the lesson/lorry/collecting ring - all sorts of options for her to get in trouble overnight. It does suggest something acute but even then, chronic issues sometimes looks like bouts of acute problems (sometimes apparently unrelated) at first. Some horses get tight in the collecting ring and tweak themselves because they are trying too hard!

Another possible concern might be hocks. I've seen quite few horses have oh so subtle intermittent issues in canter and jumping years before anything else shows up.

Sorry - all sounding doom and gloom but not my intention! it seems if there is anything you've caught it early and you're clearly a good observer. Odds are if there is a problem you can fix it or manage it easily at this stage. I always like knowing if my horses have a "weak link" because that allows me to monitor and manage it - pretending nothing will ever go wrong is just fantasy! Good horsemanship is a constant process of care and improvement.

The girth comment is a very good one. There was a study using thermoradiography a few years ago comparing single sided elastics girths with double sided ones and the results were quite startling. Effects, both immediate and over time, on the horse and the saddle were often surprisingly awful. Makes you wonder how many "sidedness" problems (which we accept as part of the deal) start there. Interesting since we all worry so much about symmetry with our horses but accept uneven girth pressure as "normal". I read the study and immediately tossed my single elastic end girths!
 
Cruiser, couldn't agree more with you on that one! single-elastic girths are the invention of someone who HATED horses, imho.
as the horse jumps in one and expands his chest, they jack-knife the saddle against the spine. horrible things.
 
Andrea Townson is in the Northwest, I have always found her to be excellent. PM me if you want her phone numbers. Sortred mine out when he was jumping to the left.
 
Have pm'd you.

Thank you for all your replies, will get someone out to look at her. I will let you know what they say. Hopefully its an easy fix if there is something wrong. She was jumping to the right at another show just before xmas but we didnt think much of it, untill she did it again at the weekend.
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Have you checked her saddle lately.We have a horse on loan who has changed so much in the last 6 months now she is in regular work that her saddle didnt fit her .It was bruising her back it never showed up before because she wasnt being ridden on a regular basis and had never jumped.She now has a new saddle and is jumping straight again and doesnt pull a face everytime we tack her up.The mc Timoney lady sorted her back out and checked her saddle for me.
 
Obviously get her back checked out, especially as this is not her usual behaviour.
However my old SJ always jumped to the left in the practise arena. There was nothing wrong with him, it was just all the other horses. He favoured the left lead and therefore always went to the left and landed on that one. Never did it at any other time. I think he just wanted to repared incase some idiot rode infront of the fence (which did happen occassionally).
Hope she is ok
 
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