New horse gone fizzy

[Lucykelsall]

I have had my new horse 4 weeks now, he has settled in well and was putting on weight (a little Ribby and high withers). Anyway he has been on a baileys balancer, chaff and a scoop of sugar beet, he has been on very short grass since being at his new yard, but recently moved him to one of the top fields with much more grass, I have noticed a real change in his behaviour. He moved to the grass rich field last Friday, I rode him on Monday after a weekend away, and he freaked out when I asked I to go into canter, bucked and I came off him, then whilst walking down the track to he stables on Tuesday he spooked and ran into me, knocking me off my feet, I then tried to lunge him in the school today and he was messing around and not listening to me, I then tried some join up with him, which nearly resulted in him jumping the gate. He is spooking at everything and listening to everything but me. He has been very calm and easy to ride until recently. I'm a new horse rider and feel my confidence has hit rock bottom. Any ideas on what to do or what could be wrong? He is a dutc warm blood and 12 years old. Thanks

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Do you have an instructor who can come and give you some help with both groundwork and ridden lessons? It sounds like you need someone calm and experienced to come and help you and your horse in person.

 

[Lucykelsall]

Do you have an instructor who can come and give you some help with both groundwork and ridden lessons? It sounds like you need someone calm and experienced to come and help you and your horse in person.

Yes I have been having lessons on him on a regular basis & the owner of the yard is very helpful, but wanted to get a few opinions. I felt very confident with him, until the past few days and me falling off him, now I feel really nervous.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Talk to your helpful YO, if it's the rich grass then maybe you can put him back on less rich grazing?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Whilst I agree with Faracat about the value of an instructor, I think perhaps the horse is reacting to all the extra feed his is getting, in relation to what he had before coming to you. Now that he is on good grass, I would scale back the bucket feed. He probably just has more energy than he knows what to do with.

 

[NeilM]

Not knowing the height and breed of your horse means this is very general advice, but I would agree with Pearl, he is fizzy because he is full of energy and has no other way of burning it off, he is like a five year old child full of sweets and E numbers.

I would cut the sugar beet out completely and up his exercise, if your confidence will let you.

 

[Shay]

Agree with the last 2 posts - sounds like he has too much feed in him right now. Do you know why he was ribby when you got him? Might it be that he reacts badly to too much feed? My personal experience with sugar beet has not been good as I have found it heats the horses up too much. A&P have a cereal / sugar free feed range which is good for horses that fizz up on some types of feed. It might also be worth getting someone experienced to lunge him before you ride - and don't do join up outside a pen as that is a recepie for jumping gates etc!

 

[ameeyal]

He also could be testing out his bounderys with you, now that he is feeling better in himself.
Have you a friend that could ride him for you, or walk with you whilst you ride him

 

[casspow]

I agree, the value of an good instructor is invaluable. BUT feed is also important I had similar problems with my new to me 5yr old last winter, A mixture of the good grass and bucket feed was not for him. So a stripped the bucket feed to just chaff and a vit&min supplement, and hey presto sorted our fizziness!

Hope you get it sorted and you start enjoying your new horse

 

[_GG_]

I agree, the value of an good instructor is invaluable. BUT feed is also important I had similar problems with my new to me 5yr old last winter, A mixture of the good grass and bucket feed was not for him. So a stripped the bucket feed to just chaff and a vit&min supplement, and hey presto sorted our fizziness!

Hope you get it sorted and you start enjoying your new horse

This sums all posts up really well. Standard chaff and sugar beet can be like rocket fuel to some horses. I'd firstly cut the bucket feed, or at least switch to just feeding a molasses free chaff with the balancer of he really needs it.
It's highly likely that he's just feeling very good in himself and has too much excess energy. If he's stabled at night, think about doing things like making sure he has some time in the field before you ride. I never advise lunging the energy out of horses because they can be likely to go too fast, buck, leap about and all on a small circle before they've warmed up, so it's too risky for my liking, but if he's good to hack, a ride down the road and back for 30 minutes before going in the school, with lots of trotting on the way back can be a safe way of taking the edge off before schooling.

Don't beat yourself up though. This is probably the number one issue new horse owners have. It's perfectly understandable, you love your new horse and want to give him the best of everything and If I had a pound for every horse I've seen who was a saint when viewed and a monster a month after getting to a new home, I'd be loaded. They don't need lickits or treats that are full of sugar, They don't need big buckets of feed...and when they get all that in one go, they can very quickly feel very good in themselves and it comes out usually under saddle, just when a new owner is trying to get to know them. Your horse isn't a monster and I really wouldn't worry too much about this. It's just a case of tweaking his management to make sure he's not on too much of a good thing. As a guide, my TB mare could go all winter with just ad lib hay, poor grazing and bucket feeds twice a day of 1 scoop hi fi lite, 1/2 scoop speedi beet (much safer for fizzy horses) and a few apples or carrots and that was in full work. She didn't need any more and if she was given more, I'd be riding a ticking time bomb, waiting for the explosion.

A good instructor will be invaluable to you, but do remember about the feed and that all he really needs is good quality roughage, grazing and your love and attention xx

 

[Jenny Wrenny]

Halve the feed and double the workload! I would cut the hard feed out completely, let him calm down and regain your confidence on him and only if you feel he then needs it, slowly introduce some feed bit by bit and see how he goes.