Out of her mind with anxiety

[Sugar Plum]

I am at my wits ends. After moving yards, everything seemed fine, then progressively over 2 weeks, my horse has become scared of anything other than her stable, walking to her paddock and being in her paddock. Riding to the arena alone has become impossible after her having no problems for 2 weeks. Hand walking her to fields we are allowed to ride in results in her having what I can only call a panic attack, even though I am right there which has always been enough for her to be calm. In her panic cantering on the lunge rope, she stopped once, got near me and kicked out with one back leg in my direction, this is very out of character.
Back story, she was at one yard for a few years and mostly settled, but sensitive to some feeds, narrowed down to what I think it is, a sensitivity to anything with oats in it. I found a feed that really suited her, but she went off that after a year. She is on another feed now with no oats. Moving yards seems to be the trigger, I have given her time, I have reduced her feed, I have done groundwork instead of ridden work, nothing is helping. There is nothing wrong with her medically, although I am considering phoning my vet to ask if there can be a medical reason for such extreme anxiety.
Has anyone been faced with this before? I do not want to dope her as that won't help her long term.

 

[AmyMay]

How is she in the field with her mates? And how long have you been there??

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Sounds like it could be ulcers they can definitely come on by simply moving yards, sounds like she has been fussy with feed in the past which can also be a symptom.

 

[Sugar Plum]

Amyway, have been there for 2 months, she is really happy with the horses next to her in her paddock, she likes her stable companion next to her.
Pinkvboots - I will ask the vet when I phone, my horse was scoped for ulcers around 3 years ago and was negative, but it was a while ago so will see what they say.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I am at my wits ends. After moving yards, everything seemed fine, then progressively over 2 weeks, my horse has become scared of anything other than her stable, walking to her paddock and being in her paddock. Riding to the arena alone has become impossible after her having no problems for 2 weeks. Hand walking her to fields we are allowed to ride in results in her having what I can only call a panic attack, even though I am right there which has always been enough for her to be calm. In her panic cantering on the lunge rope, she stopped once, got near me and kicked out with one back leg in my direction, this is very out of character.
Back story, she was at one yard for a few years and mostly settled, but sensitive to some feeds, narrowed down to what I think it is, a sensitivity to anything with oats in it. I found a feed that really suited her, but she went off that after a year. She is on another feed now with no oats. Moving yards seems to be the trigger, I have given her time, I have reduced her feed, I have done groundwork instead of ridden work, nothing is helping. There is nothing wrong with her medically, although I am considering phoning my vet to ask if there can be a medical reason for such extreme anxiety.
Has anyone been faced with this before? I do not want to dope her as that won't help her long term.

I had a WelshDxTB mare who we eventually found out was sensitive to the feed we were giving her. We stopped the feed and she went into a period of withdrawal during which she appeared to become agrophobic. She did come through it and went out normally afterwards. I would analyse your feeds very carefully and see what she was having previously that she isn't having now, although I doubt that I would put her back on the old feed, if you can get her back on an even keel after a short time. Take care while you work through this period though.

 

[Birker2020]

I would think the change of grass might be the most likely culprit if its very rich grazing. You've been there two months but its probably only the last two or three weeks that the grass has started to come through.

Maybe strip graze for a while and see if it makes a difference.

 

[sassandbells]

Just a thought, what are the paddocks like in comparison to your last yard? Just thinking if she’s that sensitive to feed then the the grass at the new yard + all the spring growth could be making her a bit reactive?

 

[asmp]

Haven’t ever owned a mare but could she be in season? A mare next to my boys is acting totally out of character but is in season. Acting as though very stressed.

 

[Sugar Plum]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I am especially interested in your view Pearlsasinger. I have made changes to feed, trying to do the right thing but might be causing a parallel new problem. Paddock and grass is a consideration, going from 4 hours a day to 8 hours a day grazing is having an impact (I thought it would be positive for her brain, but maybe not). The current grazing is not great, but perhaps this spring grass in its current state is feeding into the parallel problem I may have caused whilst trying to find the right feed. I don't believe hormones are the issue, she hasn't displayed mareish behaviour before and doesn't act differently in the stable which is where some of the behaviour would become obvious.
Aaaarrrggghh, horses! I am going to have a think about all of this and then contact my vet in a few weeks time if I am still faced with the same issues.

 

[FestiveG]

If you possibly can, stop all feed that is not forage. Also ensure that no one else is feeding your horse anything at all. The previous appy went nuts if fed anything with alfalfa, or carrot. She would go from absolutely safe on the road to a rocking mess if there was any stress added in. It was such fun (not) when some utter idiot gave her some cattle creep feed, in the field!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Might possibly be worth having her eyes examined, just to make sure she has good vision.

 

[SEL]

I am having to give my Appy a decent dose of magnesium at the moment or she just can't keep a lid on her anxiety. Normally she gets straight Mag Ox but due to feed shop supply she's on Equimins magnesium calmer and it's working well. She's another who needs incredibly basic feed and normally doesn't get much grass - but I have flooded fields so they're still on the winter paddock and there's bright green shoots amongst the mud. I don't think the weather is helping either with the temperature fluctuations - they just don't know if spring is here or not.

But - I spent 2 years at a yard which on paper should have suited her and the only place she liked was her field. It got so bad I was tacking her up in the field that final summer and riding from it. We had to move due to house building and I offloaded her at the new place, went back for the big boy expecting her to be climbing the walls at new place without him - she was calmly eating hay. It was like she'd breathed a sigh of relief. I don't think she likes a lot of horse moves and changes. My farrier says she's a changed horse at my own yard with a stable herd.

Sorry - waffled - but trying to say that sometimes we try to make all the right choices and it just doesn't work for our horse