KatieDiago
New User
So, last September i bought a 14.2 pony from a friend of mine. He is a 16 year old registered Irish jumping pony and was known to be a bit of a 'nutter'. His craziness consisted of him not being able to walk anywhere; it was jig jog or nothing. He would also get VERY excitable when cantering or jumping and would leap around, and if you pointed him at something, he would lock on to it and if this happened, you were jumping it. I rode him many times before buying him and he was my perfect pony. I absolutely adored him. I rode him happily throughout the whole of winter with no problems at all. i was jumping him in the field, hacking him out for hours on end and everything was fine. However, one day at the beginning of this year, he randomly started napping whilst out hacking. He would rear up and spin around on his hind quarters. I learnt quickly how to control this and it became less of an issue, but this napping suddenly evolved one day into a bucking and rearing frenzy. All you could do was sit there and hold on. This is when i started to realise something was really wrong. How could he have gone from being a brilliant, fun pony one day, to being a total psycho the next?
After this i gave him a couple of weeks rest but it made no difference to his strange behavior, so i decided to have another saddle fitted for him. I rode him in this saddle with the saddle fitter watching and he was back to being good as gold. I thought the problem had been resolved, but the next time i rode him he was back to bucking and rearing and leaping again. He was gradually getting worse and worse everytime he was ridden and was becoming incredibly dangerous. I couldn't even take him around the block without having to dismount and walk him back. He was the absolute sweetest pony on the ground and would never hurt a fly. Anyone would think he was a lazy pony. When i stopped riding him i started lunging him and taking him over some jumps and he is absolutely amazing! He jumps 4ft2 without even hesitating. His crazy behavior only seems to happen with a rider. He could be going absolutely WILD, but the second your feet touch the floor he is cool as a cucumber. Recently he has had his back checked by a specialist chiropractor and we found out one of his vertebrae was out of alignment. I thought that this would almost definitely be his problem, he had 3 days off afterwards and i got back on. At first he was good as gold and I was starting to think that i had my perfect pony back. But no. The second we turned for home, he started leaping and going crazy! his head came up so high that he smacked into the side of my head and nearly knocked me out. I screamed at him and he stood still long enough for me to get off. That was the last time I sat on him. I've also noticed recently that his behavior on the ground has become slightly more agressive. He has never kicked out, but he has started pinning his ears back and just seems incredibly stressed out all the time and i don't know what to do? I'm now desperately trying to find a solution to his behavior as I'm very attached to him and it would not be possible to sell him. I have two other horses and he is not a cheap animal to keep, and I am starting to question whether my only option is to have him shot... This has made me even more determined to sort him out as he is a very talented pony and it would not be fair to him. We are looking to have his teeth checked ASAP incase it is a dental problem. I have been told by many people that he is just being naughty? but i'm really not convinced. He is not a young horse and has done everything throughout his life. He has even done point to point. I thought maybe it is a seasonal thing and he is just very wound up as it is spring time? But his behavior on the ground is starting to make me wonder whether it is all in his head. could he have a mental disorder? He is so stressed all the time and never seems to be very happy. I have thought about maybe ponying him with my other horse out on a ride, would this help calm him down? I don't really want to feed him calming supplements as i can't see them working at all. I also don't know much about his past life, only that he has been thrown around a lot and has just been chucked from dealer to dealer which suggests that others may have had problems with him. The chiropractor suggested trying some parelli with him, would this work? I am really stuck with what to do with him now, so if anyone has any suggestions or knows something or someone that may be able to help, please let me know. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
After this i gave him a couple of weeks rest but it made no difference to his strange behavior, so i decided to have another saddle fitted for him. I rode him in this saddle with the saddle fitter watching and he was back to being good as gold. I thought the problem had been resolved, but the next time i rode him he was back to bucking and rearing and leaping again. He was gradually getting worse and worse everytime he was ridden and was becoming incredibly dangerous. I couldn't even take him around the block without having to dismount and walk him back. He was the absolute sweetest pony on the ground and would never hurt a fly. Anyone would think he was a lazy pony. When i stopped riding him i started lunging him and taking him over some jumps and he is absolutely amazing! He jumps 4ft2 without even hesitating. His crazy behavior only seems to happen with a rider. He could be going absolutely WILD, but the second your feet touch the floor he is cool as a cucumber. Recently he has had his back checked by a specialist chiropractor and we found out one of his vertebrae was out of alignment. I thought that this would almost definitely be his problem, he had 3 days off afterwards and i got back on. At first he was good as gold and I was starting to think that i had my perfect pony back. But no. The second we turned for home, he started leaping and going crazy! his head came up so high that he smacked into the side of my head and nearly knocked me out. I screamed at him and he stood still long enough for me to get off. That was the last time I sat on him. I've also noticed recently that his behavior on the ground has become slightly more agressive. He has never kicked out, but he has started pinning his ears back and just seems incredibly stressed out all the time and i don't know what to do? I'm now desperately trying to find a solution to his behavior as I'm very attached to him and it would not be possible to sell him. I have two other horses and he is not a cheap animal to keep, and I am starting to question whether my only option is to have him shot... This has made me even more determined to sort him out as he is a very talented pony and it would not be fair to him. We are looking to have his teeth checked ASAP incase it is a dental problem. I have been told by many people that he is just being naughty? but i'm really not convinced. He is not a young horse and has done everything throughout his life. He has even done point to point. I thought maybe it is a seasonal thing and he is just very wound up as it is spring time? But his behavior on the ground is starting to make me wonder whether it is all in his head. could he have a mental disorder? He is so stressed all the time and never seems to be very happy. I have thought about maybe ponying him with my other horse out on a ride, would this help calm him down? I don't really want to feed him calming supplements as i can't see them working at all. I also don't know much about his past life, only that he has been thrown around a lot and has just been chucked from dealer to dealer which suggests that others may have had problems with him. The chiropractor suggested trying some parelli with him, would this work? I am really stuck with what to do with him now, so if anyone has any suggestions or knows something or someone that may be able to help, please let me know. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
