New horse and really upset - please tell me i'm over-reacting?!

popsdosh said:
Word of advice ,before you mention anything to the vet this week make sure they wont note it ! You really need to wait until the 14 days are up and ideally well after it before officially getting the vet to look.
I would be sending it back sooner rather than later if she is going to be an issue.
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OP - please don't do this. This is insurance fraud and if found out they can cancel your insurance. You may then need to advise as being refused insurance when trying to take out insurance for anything else.

Muckyboots said:
So, what would people do if you were me? Ask for a refund (which I might not get) , or wait until the 14 days is up on the insurance?
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The first 14 days isn't just for when you can make a claim. You won't be able to claim for any conditions which began in the first 14 days. Regardless of when the vet comes out, it will be for a problem that started within the first 14 days and insurers won't cover it
 
When I tried Jazz out, he lifted his feet beautifully. When I got him home, it was about a month of doing it every day before I could get him to lift all 4 without trying to snatch them away or refusing to stand still.

I'd definitely get her back, teeth, saddle and feet checked ASAP to rule out any physical issues that might be causing the tripping, but I think the foot lifting is just her trying it on I'm afraid!
 
Do you know how much work she has done in the past? When you look at her feet are there any signs of her being shod previously to the set she currently has on? Could it be that the dealer has simply bought this mare in unbroken and given her a few weeks training to sell. If she had a placid temperament it wouldn't have taken them long to get her quiet to hack out but it could explain her tripping and being unbalanced and not experienced at picking her feet up for you. If she has come from a dubious background which it sounds like with her being underweight and with mites, when you get the vet out get him to do a pregnancy test on her.
 
For someone that has been stung a lot and sounds pretty inexperienced why on earth did you not get the horse vetted?!!!

I'd get your farrier out. See what he/she is like with the farrier and then decide if you need to man up with your handling or if you have actually bought a problem.
 
ihatework said:
For someone that has been stung a lot and sounds pretty inexperienced why on earth did you not get the horse vetted?!!!

I'd get your farrier out. See what he/she is like with the farrier and then decide if you need to man up with your handling or if you have actually bought a problem.
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completely agree with this.

Have her checked before it's too late to return.. but I do imagine it's just her being stubborn/lazy!

You could ask the dealer to come and try her.. see if she is good for him again?
 
I would agree with last poster. If this horse is tripping and refusing to lift feet, get the farrier out and then consider returning to dealer.

Years ago a young friend purchased her first horse not vetted. I suggested she get the mare vetted but another friend told her she could tell if a horse had lameness issues. So she did not bother.

Said mare arrived with a cut on her fetlock. A year later and many vet bills, the mare was pts.
 
What age is she? The reluctance to canter may be a balance thing, and she can tell your not going to make her if she really doesn't fancy it anyway ;) Some unbalanced horses just find it hard, and a fast trot is much easier for them.

As for the leg lifting, feather mites make the legs really itchy. I had a horse with them who would snatch his legs up if you tried to lift them, it could be that she doesn't want to as they are just sore and itchy. Does she have mellanders/sellanders? This makes it quite sore to lift the legs.

Both things she could be made to do, is testing whether you will make her and maybe has underlying reasons for not wanting to doing so. Id treat the mites/skin conditions, set the boundaries and rules, and get her schooling to a nice balanced walk and trot before going on to canter.
 
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As other posters said it could be mites/soreness or just rudeness that is stopping her lifting leg. Vet can easily check it.

You would be happier if you can break out of the mindset that you are cursed or unlucky with horses as it is impacting you negatively going forward. You haven't had a run of bad luck, you took chances on horses that were higher risk (bar the wasp sting one, that can happen to any horse).

If you take on a rescue you inevitably end up with vets bills and often the outcome isn't positive if those issues are too much. So you took a gamble on a high risk pony and it didn't pay off unfortunately. That's the risk with rescues. Same with the overweight pony getting laminitis - there was a very high risk of that happening. So none of those things mean you are cursed or unlucky, they just mean you take riskier option where the probability is going to be you have trouble. The wasp one is just extremely unlucky and could happen to anyone, it's just pure bad luck you landed badly and broke something.

Fingers crossed the cob works out! I'm sure a vet can rule out any mites or soreness issues and you can get back on track..
 
ihatework said:
For someone that has been stung a lot and sounds pretty inexperienced why on earth did you not get the horse vetted?!!!

I'd get your farrier out. See what he/she is like with the farrier and then decide if you need to man up with your handling or if you have actually bought a problem.
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Half term anyone?
 
ihatework said:
For someone that has been stung a lot and sounds pretty inexperienced why on earth did you not get the horse vetted?!!!

I'd get your farrier out. See what he/she is like with the farrier and then decide if you need to man up with your handling or if you have actually bought a problem.
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Exactly what I was about to say.

You're already admitted yourself that you're far too soft. I'll bet my bottom dollar that she's taking the P and you're badly loosing the battle for leadership. It starts with minor rudeness like not lifting feet when asked, and rubbing their heads on you but quickly becomes pushing, barging and shoving.

Get someone more experienced to come and look at her (pay an instructor if needs be). They'll quickly tell you if she's genuinely difficult or if you're just making a mountain out of a mole hill. The fact she happily lifted her feet at the dealers suggests the latter.

Thrush and mites will make her uncomfortable but I'd still expect her to lift her feet up when told!!! They both need treated but it's easily done.

I'd also get the farrier out asap to look at her feet as tripping is a common sign of overlong feet or poor shoeing.

And finally a vet visit because a) you should have had her vetted in the first place!!!! and b) tripping can be a symptom of arthritis (usually fetlock or knee). They'll also treat the mites with dectomax.
 
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Muckyboots, don't panic! I am hugely experienced and I bought a pony a couple of years ago who had clearly never had his feet picked out regularly and genuinely didn't know what I was asking him to do. We pick out hooves twice a day here, as a minimum, and it still took him a good six months to 'get it' and do it easily. He wasn't being awkward, he just genuinely struggled to understand. Get some help with teaching the horse what you want in a kind way that suits you. There's a useful technique with a lead-rope around the pastern that can help, but it needs demonstrating properly, and you need to reinforce everything with voice commands and reward when the horse co-operates.

Get the farrier out. It's an expense that you will need to incur pretty soon anyway. Tell the farrier the issues and ask him for an honest assessment of the horse's feet, inside and out, foot balance, toe length, condition of frogs, etc. A long toe could easily explain the tripping.

Get the vet out on a zone visit, or a shared visit with someone else. It's not an emergency, but it would be worth the expense for the reassurance to you and for the help with dealing with mites, which can be tricky on heavily feathered types. Ask the vet to assess whether it really is mites or whether it is more a dermatitis which can also be a problem for heavily feathered types and which requires different treatment.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes, and ignore negative comments. Even the most experienced people sometimes have doubts about newly bought horses and it can take a while for those doubts to go away. Hang in there!
 
I realise all horses/cases are different, but this sounds similar to my 6 yo cob mare when I bought her last Nov. I got her from a reputable cob dealer and had her fully vetted, the vet did remeark that she was stubborn lifting her back legs for the flexion tests, but she got a clean bill of health otherwise so I felt that was something I could work on. From day one I was able to lift her front legs with some coaxing, leaning on her shoulder also helped, as did rewards from my OH when she picked and held them up. Her back legs were a different story, she would allow me to run my hands down then and brush them, but kick out when I attempted to lift them (despite being lovely natured otherwise), I think it was just due to her being underhandled and feeling insecure in a new environment on three legs. I had the farrier come out and spend some time with us, within 30 mins we'd gotten her lifting them without kicking in the indoor arena, i'd previously been trying on the concrete surface of the yard which maybe didnt help. It took around three weeks of perseverance and lots of positive reinforcement (more treats from OH!) for her to become 100% with all four legs.

I do hope that it's just a similar case for your horse and not an underlying cause, I wanted to share my experience just to show that it sometime can be a trust issue and easily rectifiable with a bit of firm handling and patience. Good luck OP!
 
If you want her to lift her front feet, when you ask, squeeze her chestnuts at the same time, never failed yet. Have not tried it on the back legs.
 
Kallibear said:
You're already admitted yourself that you're far too soft. I'll bet my bottom dollar that she's taking the P and you're badly loosing the battle for leadership. It starts with minor rudeness like not lifting feet when asked, and rubbing their heads on you but quickly becomes pushing, barging and shoving.
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Totally agree and fat headed cobs are the worst for this in the world. Give them a fraction of an inch and they take a mile. I am extremely strict with all of mine and they behave impeccably. First sign of weakness and they will absolutely try everything on in the rudeness stakes.
 
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