Lazy Horse? Any Ideas?

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Red_Diesel

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My horse is an TB ex racehorse, and has been out of racing for some time, I have ridden him for the last 4 years, but owned him for the last 2. He has always been a slow horse if he can, trying to get away with doing as little as possible, but would always work hard if I really asked him to or when we started jumping 70cm + and he started to enjoy himself.

Over the summer I was out 5 days a week, working on both flat work and jumping and he loved it, he is now in the best condition he has ever been in. but now that I am back at university, I only get to ride him at the weekends. He was still doing fine with this amount of riding, until last week he has started being funny about jumping on his own.

This horse loves to jump, and when I was warming up and took him over the jump with a lead he was his usual self, but once in the arena to jump, he refused every time and just didnt want to jump ( we maybe thought he would be sore and have checked his legs for inflamation, he seems to be fine).

I then took him to a cross country area with about 10 others, hoping it would open him up a bit, and I had the same problem, when we were behind other horses he would jump no problem, not even being nervous about new jumps, but as soon as i took him in to the jump on his own it was instant refusal, no matter how hard i tried. (I was not riding any differently on his own, other than keeping my legs on tighter and encouraging him more)

He was fine on the flat and behind other horses, but I don't know what is wrong with him when jumping alone, he is an experienced horse and has always loved jumping, never doing this before...

Sorry for the long winded explaination, but has anyone had any similar problems or advice?
 
Sounds nappy. How often is he being jumped?

Have you had all the usual checks, teeth, back saddle etc? If he was in great condition over the summer but you havent ridden him as much he may have lost muscle, and saddle fit could be reflected in that?

just because he's not going over the jumps doesn't mean he's lazy. How is his flatwork?
 
His legs are fine.

Over the summer he was jumped between 2-3 of the days per week and flat work the other 2-3

At the moment he is ridden in a school lesson on a Wednesday, which is varied between jumping and flat work. and then jumped on the Saturday in the riding school's league. (where im having the problems)

I have started going to a local indoor competition with my riding instructor on some Wednesdays. and other than having a good look at the "new" jumps, he was going fine there.

Usually Sunday is then some flat work, except the xcountry yesterday.

His legs are fine, and he was racing the other horses no problem along the flat yesterday (mostly his choice, not mine about the racing)

Edit:

His teeth were done in August.

He still has the good condition, He has high withers, so I constantly check his saddle for fit as I know he is prone to weight loss in winter and the muscle around his withers is first to go. So I know his saddle still fits fine.

Im saying that he can normally be quite lazy, relaxed if he can get away with it, not that him not going over the jumps makes him lazy

His Flatwork is the same as normal, although I havent had a chance to ride him in the arena on his own for flat work recently
 
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I'd have his back and saddle checked just for safe measure.

It could be that he jumped the jumps because he was following, yet he still could of been in some discomfort, horses will bare a bit of discomfort if it's for their gain.

If he used seem as if he enjoyed his jumping and suddenly there is a change to his character when being asked to jump, then I'd presume something was wrong, despite him seeming ok with his flat work otherwise wouldn't he be nappy with his flat work as well but if he's starting to get lazy, then perhaps that's a sign that something is not quite as it should be.

Perhaps give him a few weeks rest, see if there is a change just incase he's a bit sore somewhere.

Has he had any problems with his feet ever?

Any change to his diet?

When jumping they use differnt muscles and there will be differnt strains on different parts, even if it's just a slight twinge, could be niggling him and he's just saying no thank you I'd rather not.
 
I'm with jenbleep on this one. If he is following others over jumps and is fine it would suggest no physical discomfort. Sounds like he's just becomming a bit nappy. Could be fitness, or borebom, understimulation or anything really. Time for a bit of tough love I think! :(
 
amymay said:
Get a couple of checks just to make sure.

But it sounds as if you're simply jumping him too much.
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Agree - if he's working well on the flat maybe just concentrate on that for a few weeks, not forgetting to mix it up with some good hacking. Don't want him getting bored with flatwork as well.

Even if you think the saddle fits I'd still be inclined to get a professional out, but thats just me!
 
Just a thought, but has he ever been checked out for gastric ulcers?? Being an ex racer - over 90% have them. As someone who suffers from gastric problems myself, when i'm in pain the last thing I want to do is move let along run around, i'm stroppy and uncooperative! Physical condition is not always indicative. May be speak to your vet about it??
 
Given he'll happily follow others to me would suggest he is physically fine. Sounds bored to me. Maybe the reason he is an ex-racer is he would follow others but couldn't be bothered to go past them? You say he jumps better over a certain height, was your issue when facing him with smaller jumps? Also agree with hunting him a season, maybe he's just fed up with the same routine. Bit of variety will spice things up, probably for both of you (working on the notion if you expect him to be lazy at something he'll pick up on your negative vibes & do exactly that).
 
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