Pony has had a personality transplant

[Cloball]

I know this has been discussed at length before but I'm feeling a bit confused and overwhelmed.

I feel like I've been getting to know pony over the past 4 months. She's stubborn, she has opinions on what she will tolerate, she gets bored quickly, if she isn't sure she will plant but she's curious and will investigate and then usually try and eat it. In essence she's a native pony mare . She's not been spooky at all since she arrived, tractors, quads, dogs, helicopters, buses, my hat silk caught on a bramble floating in mid air, all weathers etc. no problem. She's not a robot she looks, snorts, shys but nothing explosive or overly reactive.

2 weeks ago we were marching out leading hacks out and doing some good ground work. This week she spooked at the letter h and span ditching me, she's run me over knocking me down because a dog barked, and trying to do ground work today she was on high alert spooked and bogged off every time the wind blew threw the trees. I'm sure I'm not imagining it. The only time she has been like this before was when we had snow so she didn't get out for a day or worked properly for a week. I know I've not had her long but I'm sure I'm not imagining it.

My thoughts are spring grass? Would trying some magnesium be worth a shot? If so where do I start with how much? I was thinking about trying a balancer as she also seems to be bleaching very quickly so I worry she might be deficient.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Is she in season?

 

[Barton Bounty]

If your trying magnesium, I have some unopened I can send you, I dont use it

 

[Cloball]

Oh that's a good thought, although I thought was was in season earlier in the month as she was quite clingy and squirty at the gelding she likes.

Is she in season?

 

[maya2008]

How old is she?

 

[Cloball]

@maya2008 she's 10.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I would possibly put it down to grass coming through, finding her feet etc.
Could be worth starting her on vit e?
Some fell pony lines do bleach out, despite supplements. Dont add too much, Magnesium in particular can actually cause issues if you overfeed it. One of mine a number of yrs ago was even worse when it was added on vets advice. If necessary, get bloods run 1st to see if anything lacking x

 

[smolmaus]

The weather has been weird, grass is coming through, they're coming into season. Could be anything. Its not a full moon though, I did have to check after the acrobatics display I got this evening. All 4 feet off the ground like something from the Spanish riding school. She is normally exactly how you describe yours too.

I don't think magnesium can hurt, the excess isn't absorbed so worth a shot.

 

[shortstuff99]

Sounds like probably in season. They cycle about every 3 weeks or so and I find the early spring ones are the worst, some can become right idiots .

I give mine Agnus Castus through the season as that helps the hormones!

 

[Cloball]

@smolmaus glad I'm not the only one couldn't get any sense out of her yesterday or today ended up going skiing.

@The Fuzzy Furry she's not on anything at the moment so I thought I might just try a balancer with magnesium in it to start with. Her coat is Uber shiny so I'm not too worried about the bleaching.

 

[Cloball]

Sounds like probably in season. They cycle about every 3 weeks or so and I find the early spring ones are the worst, some can become right idiots .

I give mine Agnus Castus through the season as that helps the hormones!

Is it possible to sync with your pony I'm horribly hormonal at the mo

I mainly jumped to the magnesium as she was previously on old pasture and very diverse fell side grazing and has now moved to lowland paddocks (although they've had horses on for years and aren't fertilised) our grass is pretty short but green ATM.

 

[smolmaus]

@smolmaus glad I'm not the only one couldn't get any sense out of her yesterday or today ended up going skiing.

We were working loose so I just quietly moved myself behind some chunky jump blocks until she was done

 

[planete]

We have a lot of mares at my new livery yard. They all seem to have gone a bit doollaley at the moment! Sunshine and growing grass plus hormones.

i gave my pony Hilton Herbs Calm and Collected prior to moving him to help him settle. It made a noticeable difference. I was impressed as I had never used a calmer before and was highly sceptical about their effectiveness. Hilton Herbs also make Easy Mare which might be more appropriate for yours.

 

[maya2008]

I would check saddle fit and bridle, assess soundness on the lunge and in a straight line. Then the easiest option is to up her workload. If more work fixes it, it was spring grass. If more work makes it worse, something hurts somewhere. Low level pain (from ovaries, muscle tweaks, whatever) or stress from herd situations or otherwise can make them more jumpy.

 

[Cloball]

I have the saddle fitter out next week as she has changed shaped a bit. If it's pain I'm not sure it would be the saddle though as she's been explosive and reactive in hand?

When she concentrates long enough she's actually moving lovely (as she disappears into the distance) and starting to use herself better.

 

[Snow Falcon]

My mare has been rather fresh for a few weeks. Our ride times have shortened by half as she's literally only walked for 2 mins! I've put it down to spring grass and the 1st season. Much more settled the past couple of days thankfully. My body was bouncing with her tickly toes.

 

[KJ94]

When I got my sensitive Welsh mare (a 14 year old pretty much feral rescue)

she went through many personality changes! She was feral and refused to be caught for a while, then she was curious but terrified, we had some attachment issues with her field friends for a bit, some napping, got a bit over confident and started to test me and be cheeky, was flighty and spooked at everything for a bit despite being bombproof now, had a no manners late ‘baby stage’ Is absolutely perfect in every way now.

Long story short I now believe some ponies do just take a bit longer to bond and settle somewhere new than others do, especially the cheeky more quirky ones.

I never really did much other than give her everything she needed and spend way too much time with her. Don’t think she fully trusted me for about 2 years (she was in a bad place when I got her doubt it would take you anywhere near that time)

But if you’ve looked into health/tack fit/feet and feel there’s nothing wrong it could simply be a time/trust thing that goes away once a deeper bond is made. Or maybe she’s just taking longer to settle into her new routine I know that took a while for mine to get used to things.

 

[ycbm]

In season and spring grass. Lethal combination.

If she's bleaching she probably needs copper and zinc for that, not magnesium. Is she on a high copper supplement like Forageplus?

Magnesium wouldn't hurt to try either.
.

 

[SEL]

I'm loading the Appy with magnesium. I know the grass is sweet because we might not have much but her muscles have gone tight over the past 48 hours. She gets this vacant "listening to something in the distance" look just before she explodes and we've had that too. Tail was up yesterday too - so grass, seasons and volatile weather have all delightfully turned up at once.

Mg is always my go-to with her at this time of year and she gets led everywhere in her bridle until her brain reconnects.

 

[Red-1]

I think that sometimes at coat change time, they can be do-lally, even if a gelding and not on grass.

I also think that often a horse will have a honeymoon period with a new owner, then test the new boundaries.

I would get someone in to have a look and help you.

 

[SantaVera]

Spring has sprung

 

[Auslander]

One of my lot jumped out of her field over this last weekend, because one of the others was taken out (like she is every other day). You can just see the gate behind the saplings. Cleared the gate by miles, landed in the raised bed, and bounced out onto the driveway, then galloped up our drive and appeared round the corner we were just driving towards in the lorry! The neighbour, whose field, gate, plants, raised bed and driveway it is saw the funny side, thankfully!
She gets weird when she's in season...

 

[Cloball]

Thank you for all the replies she was certainly Uber quiet for the first month didn't even get dirty despite unrugged then she started expressing her opinions rather strongly in that native pony way. Just the sudden spookiness took me by surprise as she seems genuinely tense @SEL vacant staring into the distance .

In season and spring grass. Lethal combination.

If she's bleaching she probably needs copper and zinc for that, not magnesium. Is she on a high copper supplement like Forageplus?

Magnesium wouldn't hurt to try either.
.

She's currently not on anything other than grass, hay, hedgerow herbs and a salt lick. I was thinking of trying forage plus. I had a look at the soil observatory and our soil appears to be mid centile for zinc, copper, selenium, mag but low in calcium. Not that I'm entirely sure what this'll means.

I'll have another chat to my instructor today she is very good at chilling us both out.

 

[Highmileagecob]

I have only known two Fell ponies, so not a representative sample, but both were like this. Both were worse when hacking alone, and one put his owner in hospital intensive care. We wondered whether Fells have a strong herd instinct, that made them good pack ponies, much as Border Collies always retain their herding instinct. The two I knew certainly made it clear why they are a dying breed. Are certain blood lines more co-operative than others?

 

[maya2008]

I have only known two Fell ponies, so not a representative sample, but both were like this. Both were worse when hacking alone, and one put his owner in hospital intensive care. We wondered whether Fells have a strong herd instinct, that made them good pack ponies, much as Border Collies always retain their herding instinct. The two I knew certainly made it clear why they are a dying breed. Are certain blood lines more co-operative than others?

Now you mention it, I’ve seen a fair few advertised as too much for their child riders.

 

[Cloball]

I've ridden fell ponies from a teen and they come in all types but they can be stubborn and most I wouldn't all child friendly as they are opinionated and clever but many are ridden by kids.
She comes from a well regarded fell person who really rates her. She, prior to arriving, hacked alone and in company usually in front. When I tried her we hacked out in a gale past a building site and a high speed train line and she has up until this week been bold and independent. I do appreciate new circumstances and change can change things considerably.

It could of course be me as a new owner having a melt down a out buying the right pony and messing it all up.