Really lazy horse results in leaning

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JadeyyBabeyy

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When I say lazy I mean he tires quickly, resulting in him leaning and becoming very strong / difficult to manoeuvre.
Weve tried transitions/poled/forwards thinking etc... just seriously struggling.
I've got a lesson tomorrow anyway but wondered what others done.
Thanks
 
JadeyyBabeyy said:
When I say lazy I mean he tires quickly, resulting in him leaning and becoming very strong / difficult to manoeuvre.
Weve tried transitions/poled/forwards thinking etc... just seriously struggling.
I've got a lesson tomorrow anyway but wondered what others done.
Thanks
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Lots of give & take, bounces or short distances to get him sitting back, dropping one rein then the other alternatively - basically anything to stop him leaning (he's got to have something to lean on it order to do it!).

Really opening him up down the long sides then getting him right back down the short sides etc. etc.
 
Is he lazy, or is he tired, the two are not the same?


How old? Is he old and fit enough for the amount of work he is being asked to do?
What breeding? Heavy horse breeding and quarter horse breeding often has EPSM, which causes them to tire very quickly.
How fat? EMS can make them 'lazy'
Has he always been like this? Sore feet can appear as laziness.
 
He's a 6 yr old warm blood.
He does about 30 mins 6 times a week so should be able to cope with it. But by 20 mins he is tiring.
No energy feed works, nothing touches him... He never gets fizzy or hot headed.
 
JadeyyBabeyy said:
He's a 6 yr old warm blood.
He does about 30 mins 6 times a week so should be able to cope with it. But by 20 mins he is tiring.
No energy feed works, nothing touches him... He never gets fizzy or hot headed.
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I would either put him on the epsm diet and see if that helps, or alcar plus vitamin e and selenium if you don't want him to have a lot of oil. I would also consider a blood test to see if he's showing signs of a viral infection. DSLD/EPSA will also produce fatigue but that's a lot more rare and the test is a nuchal ligament biopsy.

He doesn't sound as if he is lazy, he sounds as if he is genuinely lacking energy, not that he has enough energy but won't use it for you. On the other hand, if he's schooling six days a week he could just be bored witless?
 
If he is doing 30 mins schooling 6 days a week he will be bored and not be building up any stamina, he needs to be getting out hacking for an hour or more to increase his fitness, I would be hacking more than schooling until he is more comfortable, can trot up steep hills and canter for a decent distance without getting tired and just do short schooling sessions a couple of times a week.
 
I agree with the others, after your lesson tomorrow forget about the school for at least a week.
If he is similar out hacking then do try the Epsom diet. I had the first horse in the UK diagnosed and he always seemed lazy, until we changed his diet
 
be positive said:
If he is doing 30 mins schooling 6 days a week he will be bored and not be building up any stamina, he needs to be getting out hacking for an hour or more to increase his fitness, I would be hacking more than schooling until he is more comfortable, can trot up steep hills and canter for a decent distance without getting tired and just do short schooling sessions a couple of times a week.
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This ^^^^^^^.

The horse is not fit for the work it is being asked to do.
 
ycbm said:
I would either put him on the epsm diet and see if that helps, or alcar plus vitamin e and selenium if you don't want him to have a lot of oil. I would also consider a blood test to see if he's showing signs of a viral infection. DSLD/EPSA will also produce fatigue but that's a lot more rare and the test is a nuchal ligament biopsy.

He doesn't sound as if he is lazy, he sounds as if he is genuinely lacking energy, not that he has enough energy but won't use it for you. On the other hand, if he's schooling six days a week he could just be bored witless?
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^^^^This - mine gets LGL if I let him over indulge and when it is brewing he begins to get less and less inclined to work, basically because his feet are uncomfortable. Check his diet and his mineral uptake - how old is he?
 
I'd get some blood tests done in case it's a deficiency of some kind first of all.

And then I'd also check tack. A saddle that doesn't fit well can cause a horse to be less enthusiastic about work - and especially after a while if it's cutting off blood supply. You can imagine how you might start leaning on something if you had something on your shoulders squeezing in and making them numb. You'd also be less inclined to move your arms...

If nothing shows up as a physical problem, changing feed to boost his energy a bit might help. But I'd me more inclined to go a training route and teach him to carry himself by riding everything in a long rein, including transitions, pole work etc etc. Horses that are inclined to lean can learn not to even try if you just don't provide them with something to lean on in the first place. You can then just collect the reins for a few minutes at a time before returning to a long rein. If you keep the energy going forwards, this should work over time and can also help build a really nice topline.
 
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