MY ID mare battery not included

ILuvCowparsely

ILuvCowparsely

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 April 2010
Messages
15,062
Visit site
In her brain

I have spoken about her. Anyone found their horse stops enjoying hacking??
She started( in walk) to want to turn round and go home. Did a again tonight when a couple out walking passed us and she tried to turn and follow them home. Spooking is getting ridiculous, and also catching in running of scared, she will go out but is on edge the whole time when on her own, as no one else is hacking at the moment.

so trying
EquiNectar, so far things have improved a little.,
 
If she has always enjoyed hacking alone prior to this, I would suspect something is niggling and she is feeling a tiny bit sore and therefore vulnerable. I would trot up, triple check saddle, teeth, vet out if nothing obvious.

If she never enjoyed hacking alone (some don’t) then I would be less worried.
 
Sorting ulcers has made 2 of mine a lot nicer to hack. One likely has old worm damage so I have to keep an eye on her gut but the other had no obvious signs. After a month on omeprazole he was back to sane.
 
My ID mare can be like this, total nightmare when I first had her spooking/ spinning taking off with me over the slightest thing. I worked out she is very noise sensitive so now I use earplugs which have made an unbelievable difference. Now she can sometimes be passive resistant on the way out, stopping looking back etc but once we arrive at the farm I hack round she's fine. It's basically a lack of confidence being on her own but unfortunately I don't have anyone to hack with so she has to get on with it.
 
She has got worse the last few months, my share's and trainer now, she won't let them catch her and she can be funny with me.

New saddle
had chiro
had vet
had eyes checked (Minor nerve odd shape) Am thinking of checking again.
teeth done Feb
we do worm count
Had her since she was 5 now 15


She always had trust issues and spooking, she is grass reactive, and pain when you want to ride not knowing if you can catch her. Not wanting to canter now, partly because the tracks have been ruined with MOT type 1, but also sharp spooking in canter not much fun.

Never known a horse with this response, to magnesium, grass.

Vets done many many tests
 
It sounds like her confidence has taken a hit maybe a bad experience or just feeling more vulnerable alone. The EquiNectar seems to be helping a bit, which is good. Try short, positive hacks with a calm buddy if possible, even if just in-hand at first. Desensitization (quiet roads, gradual exposure) and patience will help rebuild her trust. If it doesn’t improve, a vet check for pain/vision issues might be worth it. Keep it low-pressure for now!
 
Alexanderevan145 said:
It sounds like her confidence has taken a hit maybe a bad experience or just feeling more vulnerable alone. The EquiNectar seems to be helping a bit, which is good. Try short, positive hacks with a calm buddy if possible, even if just in-hand at first. Desensitization (quiet roads, gradual exposure) and patience will help rebuild her trust. If it doesn’t improve, a vet check for pain/vision issues might be worth it. Keep it low-pressure for now!
Click to expand...
That is what I do now short hacks as it is too monotonous and annoying her jerking spooking and snorting all the time. She has always been a spooking horse but worst now in last few months. We have tried most calmers and diet vet, checks and chiro.


I think something happened in her first two years in Ireland, as she was VERY head shy when i got her, she has also go a scar dent on the front of her face, I think it was accident or blow to the head. I could never sell her as too be honest, no one would want her. She has ear muffs to go out in the quiet ride which helps a little, but she is always on the look out for strange colours in trees, movements etc.

We have also done DNA test to see if things are working well, and have dealt with the results.

Trouble is there is no one hacking from here at the moment

retired horses,
kids ponies hardly ridden
retired mare
2 year old mare etc
Or owner too scared to ride her horse

Also since the old guy and his lovely boy was pts last year through colic


No company:(
 
Last edited:
ILuvCowparsely said:
She has got worse the last few months, my share's and trainer now, she won't let them catch her and she can be funny with me.

New saddle
had chiro
had vet
had eyes checked (Minor nerve odd shape) Am thinking of checking again.
teeth done Feb
we do worm count
Had her since she was 5 now 15


She always had trust issues and spooking, she is grass reactive, and pain when you want to ride not knowing if you can catch her. Not wanting to canter now, partly because the tracks have been ruined with MOT type 1, but also sharp spooking in canter not much fun.

Never known a horse with this response, to magnesium, grass.

Vets done many many tests
Click to expand...
I have had one horse, a mare, who got sharper on magnesium. Which was quite unnecessary.
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
She has got worse the last few months, my share's and trainer now, she won't let them catch her and she can be funny with me.

New saddle
had chiro
had vet
had eyes checked (Minor nerve odd shape) Am thinking of checking again.
teeth done Feb
we do worm count
Had her since she was 5 now 15


She always had trust issues and spooking, she is grass reactive, and pain when you want to ride not knowing if you can catch her. Not wanting to canter now, partly because the tracks have been ruined with MOT type 1, but also sharp spooking in canter not much fun.

Never known a horse with this response, to magnesium, grass.

Vets done many many tests
Click to expand...
Have you tried trialling with managing her as if she has a muscle myopathy ?
 
  • Like
Reactions: SEL
NO I haven't my late mare had myopathy through her diet of mixes, now I won't feed any of my any sort of mix with barley peas and maize
 
This might sound daft, but are you able to try taking her off grass completely? Appreciate this isn't always doable due to field buddies, turn out availability and not many Y/Os are happy for bits of their fields to be turned into dirt pens 😬

Tris had low grade laminitis for years. I kept saying that he was footy on stones and had hot feet but got dismissed by everyone as he didn't look obviously laminitic. He was also spooky/stressy as hell.

He's been off grass for about a year now and is fed good quality haylage. The improvement in behaviour has been massive. He's still a bit of a stress head and can be quite sharp and reactive, but nothing like he was on grass.

The above could all be totally irrelevant in your situation and you may find the root cause through your other investigations. But I thought it was worth mentioning, just in case x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top