rearing help!

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hellywelly1

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hey,

after an eventful ride last night which really scared me i thought i would ask you kind people's help.

OK here we go and be nice!
last night i decided to school my 4yr old who really hasnt done much and we finished up with him napping and rearing.
He always seems to be worse on the left rein but the rearing think has happen twice now.
The first time he did this we found he was sore in his back so got the vet out to check him as was due bloods for another problem.
The vet checked him and said it was his saddle so we got an approved fitter out and got a replacement saddle. He was given two weeks off before restarting work but this napping is continuing.
He runs off when you mount, swishes his head in trot and also stops dead.
At first we put this down to babyness, then saddle however i feel something more is wrong. Now dont get me wrong im a curvy girl:rolleyes: but he does this with riders several stone lighter.
He also bronced to the left in canter out on a hack a few days ago. again i put this down to being green, but the more i think about it i feel it is the left side poss his shoulder as stands perfect to be mounted from the right and doesnt nap or swing his head and never threatens to rear on this rein.
So i have decided to get the vet out again but worryed she will say nothing is wrong when i really feel there is. im an average rider but still acts this way with more experienced riders.
He also trys to rear when the farrier makes him put weight on his left side

How i stayed on last night i dont know as he stopped dead in trot and then straight up.
Im really starting to loose my confidence in this horse and also my riding.

so we have checked saddle, back and teeth what else is left?
please help x

(please excuse spelling im dyslexic)
 
Who checked his back? If it's the vet then you need to get a qualified back person out for him.
The vet is a good alrounder, but they are not great at doing the indepth work a horse needs on his back.
I'd get this done asap before you try and ride him again. (if not already done this is).
 
It sounds like if it is not pain related - he is trying it on and everytime he gets away with it - he will get worse.

Maybe get someone to take him on for you, we have Jason Webb down this way who is fantastic at things like this, he would take your horse in for a week or two and work on him everyday, he then would show you how to deal with it. He is not expensive either.

Maybe you could have a look around for someone like this...I have sent a horse that was scaring me to Jason ... he is fine now :)
 
Have you stood behind him on a chair and looked at his shoulders?

My old horse did exactly this on the left side - every single day. I spoke to the vet, back and teeth checked - saddle checked, all OK. Spoke to farrier and he stood on a chair behind him and his left shoulder was almost twice the size of his right, where it was so swollen!!

We never knew why it was swollen, but with a Western saddle pad underneath his english saddle (western onces dont squash down) he went perfectly. His shoulder was normal size after a couple of months. But I kept the pad on forever, not wanting to jinx it!!!
 
Get a physio out, eliminate his back as being the problem. He behaves like my little mare did and she had a back problem. When it got too much she would bronk me off. When I mounted her she would dip her back, throw her head up, swish her tail and walk off. Every time.
 
Definitely pain related. Behaviour like this is nine times out of ten down to pain. I think that you know him best and should stick to your guns that there is something physically wrong with him. We had problems with a mare who just kept napping and rearing and all the vets, including specialists at AHT and Rossdales could find nothing and put it down to behaviour. It was really hard standing up to all these specialists and insisting that a horse is in pain when they can find nothing wrong as she passed all flexion tests etc and was fine for strangers to ride. In the end we sent her to the Royal Veterinary college who found bone spavin in her hocks and gastric ulcers.
 
It certainly sounds pain related to me, the fact that he is not keen on putting weight on his left side for the farrier just confirms it imho. As others have said, I would get a specialist back person out to take a look at him, they do often spot something that a vet might miss.

Good luck, I really hope you get this sorted out.
 
Have you had his teeth checked? And how long has he been in work? I brought a 9 year old ex-steeplechaser back into work after having the winter off to have a break as he had only just come off the track. He used to be leap about and rear, so we got his back and saddle checked and everything was fine. And the behaviour continued. I just worked him through it, and now he's perfectly behaved. He never did it in a nasty way, he just seemed to like to throw himself around. And then would be fine, until sometimes when something set him off. He now competes affiliated novice dressage and BSJA. And my 9 year old brother sometimes has a little walk and trot on him, and he's good as gold.
I also dont tend to believe in a horse being babyish and thats why they misbehave. They may push the boundries a little more, but I dont believe that bad behavour should be put down to age, more to training.
Does he nap from the moment you get on? Or some time into the ride? Another youngster I ride starts to nap and stop to refuse to move when she gets tired, which I got told is a "baby thing". Whereas, she seems to be quite stroppy and mareish, so I just give her a break then continue to work. I also try keep schooling sessions short and varied.
 
Hmmm does sound pain related I would eliminate everything and get the physio out

when you are happy that he is ok then get a neck strap for him before you get on again. The worst thing you can do with a rearer if he is trying it on is be afraid and get off ( Without sounding like a militant whip cracker ) Heels down and leg on, ride with a consistant leg contact and talk to him all the time. If you don't have the confidence to ride him through it then think about sending him away for schooling (once you know he is ok )
 
It could be a pain related memory issue because of the saddle you had before that your vet said to get changed. Or sometimes if they are sore in the back, it is secondary to something else going on i.e foot balance issues, hock or hind limb probs, or that the horse just cannot physically do what is being asked.

Until you can get more of a picture of what is going on i'd be very careful, as you wouldn;t want to get hurt or injured.

I would get a good equine vet out for a thorough workup/m.o.t- if they find something then it can be dealt with, i'd also then see about getting a physio too to do a full check up.

Assume the teeth, bit, girth, feed all ok- is your horse ever cold backed at all? does he do the rearing with other people or your trainer on board? new saddle fit/balance all ok as well? feet well shod and balanced?

Good luck hope you get to the bottom of what is going on.
 
hi yeah bit, girth,teeth,saddle and back all checked. got vet coming tues as earliest i could get. all seems to point to his left should. he even refuses to have weight on it for the farrier, to be mounted ect.
horses who'd have em :confused:

he also does this with other people so weight/experience doesnt seem to help
 
Get a good physio out. I had a vet and a physio give my horse the all clear, still wasn't convinced so got second physio and found she was incredibly sore in both shoulders, poll etc. Sounds like your poor boy is trying to tell you it hurts the only way he can.
 
Nothing more to add than what everyone else has said.

When I read your post my initial thoughts were pain related or remembering pain from previous saddle problems.

I would definitely get a back person out to check and also get a good all round view of him. Have a look and see if you can notice any swelling etc.

I used to exercise a horse that had a recurrent hindlimb lameness. He'd been to the vets several times for nerve blocks. They all thought it was down to his fetlock. One day the owner had a good look at him and realised his stifle didn't look right. Turned out he'd damaged the ligaments which was causing the lameness. The vets were too busy looking at the wrong end of the leg!

If you're insured you can always go down the route of further diagnostics through your vet and have a proper lameness workup
 
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