My horse is scaring me to death...

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Cuddly Connemara

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I'm really at a loose end. My horse suffered a neck injury about 4 months ago; which caused him to bolt dangerously. I'm trying not to sound like an utter wimp here but, I have a huge Phobia of bolting. Bucking, rearing and spooking doesn't phase me at all but bolting is my absolute pet hate.
I bought him about 2 years ago and re-broke him, his saddle has been hurting him so that has recently been changed aswell.
After his injury he did not want to be brought back into work and threw me all the time. I had to send him away for re-schooling, they said he was fine but needed a firm hand and was a bit of a ****** to mount especially from a block.
I took him back to a different yard because of the bad memories there.
At this new yard, he seems ok but I've lost a lot of confidence and I'm really scared of him; he puts his head up like he's going to bolt and I think he would try if someone wasn't stood in front of him with a tight grip on him when I mount him from a block he would go.
Also when I try to give him a long rein his head shoots up again and he might jump forwards a bit before I tighten up my reins again.

Everyone looks at me like I'm a paranoid idiot , and it's not doing anything for my confidence around people either.


I don't really want to sell him because he's already been past from pillar to post and I would want it to be a forever where he would be loved and looked after.

Any advice much appreciated X
 
It sounds like he is still in pain and shouldn't be ridden yet. He needs a full physical investigation. I've never got it done but maybe thermal imaging would help show up his sore area.
 
Oh dear, think positively, you have acknowledged the fear and want to deal with it. A really good instructor would be able to help you but finding the right one may be difficult.

Perhaps if you say roughly where you are based in the UK someone will be along to recommend a good trainer for you.
 
First of all, you are not being a wimp, true bolting is not fun at all.

I think I might contact someone like Jason Webb that might think a bit outside the box.
 
Cuddly Connemara said:
I'm really at a loose end. My horse suffered a neck injury about 4 months ago; which caused him to bolt dangerously.
Any advice much appreciated X
Click to expand...

I think your horse may be suffering from neck pain and this is causing him to bolt. My previous horse suffered a nasty neck injury when he reared and went over backwards in the field. He bolted once with me on a ride and was incredibly strong through the neck, whilst being ridden and in hand.

Sadly it didn't work for my fella. He was eventually referred to Liverpool where extensive xrays showed that he had narrowing of his spinal column which was pressing onto the cord and associated nerves causing ataxia (loss of sensation of limbs). This was caused by the fall in the field, and the calcium deposits that had built up as in some circumstances the body lays down calcium deposits when there is a site of trauma.

I am not suggesting for one minute that this is the case with your horse but I would strongly suggest you get extensive xrays of his neck at an equine hospital if your vet believes this is what is wrong with your horse.

Personally I would not under any circumstances sit on this horse again until this situation is sorted out and a diagnosis made. He may have been resent away for schooling, but he sounds like he is a powder keg and they were fortunate that nothing happened whilst they were riding him. Them giving him a 'firm hand' sends a shiver down my neck. If he was in pain, I am sure this is why he played up and was 'a handful'.

The reason his back may have been (and most probably is still) hurting him could be due to overcompensation from the neck injury - he may be holding himself differently because he is still in pain from his neck.

Of course I am not a vet, and this is all supposition, but it seems to me like the horse is in pain and is dangerous to be ridden in this condition. Therefore please call your vet asap. Palpatation and manipulation of your horses neck may be all that is needed initially to enable the vet to see if there is a problem as the horse will be unable to stretch its neck or move it appropriately if there is pain in this area.

Good luck.
 
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LJR said:
First of all, you are not being a wimp, true bolting is not fun at all.

I think I might contact someone like Jason Webb that might think a bit outside the box.
Click to expand...

I'm having lessons with Jason Webb at the moment and can certainly recommend him, but I do think your horse needs some physical attention first. Thermal imaging is a great idea. Any good behaviourist/trainer would want all physical and tack issues sorted before they do anything anyway.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info about JW lessons.
 
applecart14 said:
I think your horse may be suffering from neck pain and this is causing him to bolt.

Personally I would not under any circumstances sit on this horse again until this situation is sorted out and a diagnosis made. He may have been resent away for schooling, but he sounds like he is a powder keg and they were fortunate that nothing happened whilst they were riding him. Them giving him a 'firm hand' sends a shiver down my neck. If he was in pain, I am sure this is why he played up and was 'a handful'.

The reason his back may have been (and most probably is still) hurting him could be due to overcompensation from the neck injury - he may be holding himself differently because he is still in pain from his neck.

Of course I am not a vet, and this is all supposition, but it seems to me like the horse is in pain and is dangerous to be ridden in this condition. Therefore please call your vet asap. Palpatation and manipulation of your horses neck may be all that is needed initially to enable the vet to see if there is a problem as the horse will be unable to stretch its neck or move it appropriately if there is pain in this area.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this - if he was mine I would not be getting on him unless I knew the neck injury wasn't causing him further pain.
 
Agree with others that this horse needs physical/veterinary investigations: I would add this should include teeth & saddle/back checks as well.

Plus I would also investigate whether he may be a false rig? If you've eliminated this, then fine, but it might be worth checking as well as the other issues.

Personally I would do one of two things: (1) get every vet, physio, back & teeth checks done that exist basically, and see what that throws up. Or (2) turn him away completely for a few months and see how he comes back in the Spring, say.........

Option (1) would be the sensible option IMO, then at least you'd know what's what.

But PLEASE OP for your own safety and that of others, and also not forgetting the welfare of this horse, DO NOT RIDE IT until you've investigated further.
 
First thing to do: get him fully vetted and all his tack checked, just to make doubly sure that there's nothing wrong with him. Often even the best of riders fail to notice their horse is telling them something hurts, I've missed a signal once before and never done it again.
Get every single vet/teeth/back check you possibly can and just see if even the tiniest problem comes up. With such a recent neck injury, personally I would be very paranoid about something being wrong in that area. A sore neck can be a real agony for horses, especially with a rider on board.

But I do have to say that you are not being pathetic at all, bolting can be very frightening as it is that feeling of completely losing control, which is never fun no matter how it happens.

However, if it does turn out nothing is physically wrong, and the problem continues, then I would advise putting him in a martingale, if you haven't already, just to give you that little bit extra control. Don't tighten it so much that it restricts his head, as that'll only worsen the problem, but have it there as a passive aid and as a reminder to your horse that he mustn't throw his head all about the place.

My view is that, if you're having problems with mounting then you shouldn't be riding just now. I'd go back to basics and train him to stand at a mounting block first. A horse I trained had the opposite problem, he would back away when someone tried to mount him rather that bolting away, but the latter is far much more dangerous and definitely needs to be sorted out.
 
Four months is a very short period of time. One of mine injured himself in the field and we suspected a neck injury, though x-rays never showed anything and vets couldn't put their finger on it (this was in Spain and physios / chiros are hard to come by). We turned the horse away for 6 months then he hacked in straight lines on a long rein for the next year, before we finally found a chiro to treat him. The chiro helped a lot but we still just hacked him in all paces for another 6 months before attempting arena work with him.

As others have said, get the problem thoroughly checked and treated and above all take things slowly, give him time. Neck injuries are horrible things for horses and can cause a lot of secondary weaknesses / asymmetries. Thermal imaging may be useful but is also likely to throw up a few 'red herrings' in terms of secondary problems.
 
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