Sudden behaviour change

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chestnuttyy

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Hi everyone,

My gelding has had quite a sudden change in behaviour and I'm quite worried about him. He's a 6yr old TB who I've had for 6 months and unfortunately he came to me with a very ill fitting saddle and wasn't happy about being girthed up/ridden. We've since had a new saddle fitted but he's always been a bit funny about girthing up. Over the past few weeks he's actually got much better with having his girth done up, and he shows no signs of discomfort when I brush his tummy.

He's sadly had to be stabled pretty much full time over the past 3 months due to a skin condition (on vet's advice), but has had regular exercise (usually 5 times a week - combination of schooling/ hacking).

About a month ago he started chewing his stable really badly, and in the past few days his behaviour has really deteriorated. He's incredibly stressy on the ground but has seemed comfortable when ridden, up until last weekend. Whilst out on a hack on Saturday he suddenly stopped and refused to move, he didn't buck/rear, just stood and wouldn't budge. I tried to coax him on for over 10 minutes but to no avail, so got off and led him for a little while then got back on. He was a bit reluctant to go forward again but then settled and was fine for the rest of the ride. However, he did exactly the same thing tonight, I got on and he literally wouldn't walk out of the yard, just stood absolutely rooted. He didn't seem stressed, but he wouldn't even walk when a friend led him. As soon as I got off he let me lead him around the yard, so I got back on and again he wouldn't move. I don't think it's just him being naughty as he wouldn't move forward or back towards the other horses.
The other symptom is the constant chewing of anything he comes into contact with. He's always been quite 'mouthy', but the chewing has become really stressy, and he literally grips stuff between his front teeth as hard as he can.

I havn't had his back done since I've had him, but it was done by his previous owner before I bought him. I did wonder whether he might be suffering from gastric ulcers or acidity in the hind gut?

If anyone could offer any advice it'd be much appreciated

Thanks :)
 
Think you're right - get him scoped for ulcers. I would think the main cause would be the fact that he has had to be confined for the last three months.
 
The other thing, which I forgot to mention, is that his droppings are quite smelly. Do you know roughly the cost of having a horse scoped for ulcers?
 
I'm sure you are right to listen to your boy, and I think gastric ulcers would be my first thought too (though I haven't actually had a horse confirmed with them, but have had a couple scoped in case they had them).

I've also had one horse refuse to move forward, and be very stop/start for a long time. This seems to have receded since he had acute colitis and has apparently recovered from that. So I now suspect that he had some chronic problem with his gut that was causing him to find it uncomfortable to move much. His bloods showed that he was fighting something, either infection or tumour.

Oh, so it may be worth taking some bloods anyway, and seeing if those show anything. And of course checking temperature and pulse beforehand, as they may give you an idea if he's generally offcolour.

Other than that, I've had a couple who've had serious multi-limb lamenesses, who have become very reluctant to move forward at all (even at a walk/trot transition). Because they were lame in all four limbs, the gait just appeared a bit odd, but not one-sided like if they are lame on only one leg. Both took an expert to diagnose, with the help of lots of expensive tests! Doesn't sound like that in your horse's case, though, if you know he was moving ok when you first had him.

If it is ulcers, then that is usually stressrelated. Being confined to the stable so much can't be good for his state of mind. I would think it's worth finding a way to get him out of his stable for turnout for longer. Is his skin condition contagious, so he has to be kept separate from other horses? And if so, how about setting up an electric fenced paddock for him in one corner of whatever field is available. You'll have to find a way to help him be more chilled out with life if it's ulcers, so worth thinking outside the box a little.

Hope you get to the bottom of things.

Sarah
 
It sounds very much like ulcers. You will need to look at a total change in his management so that after treatment (if he has ulcers) they do not recurr.
My ulcer prone horse is now turned out 24/7 with adlib forage - no cereals or sugar in his diet and a cup of micronized linseed a day.
Good luck! :)
 
Thanks for your replies everyone. He has had to be stabled due to his skin condition being predominantly caused by photosensitivity. This is much better now so after speaking to the vet today I'm going to start turning him out again and see how he copes. I've also ordered some Coligone, so we'll see if that helps. If he doesn't improve soon the vet is going to come out and scope him.

Any tips for feeding if he is prone to ulcers? He's on v high fibre and low sugar low cereal at the moment (mollichaff calmer, spillers non-heating cubes, Speedibeet). I've heard people mention oil can help?

Thanks again :)
 
chestnuttyy said:
Any tips for feeding if he is prone to ulcers? He's on v high fibre and low sugar low cereal at the moment (mollichaff calmer, spillers non-heating cubes, Speedibeet). I've heard people mention oil can help?
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Lots of forage. Grass and ad lib hay. They produce saliva whilst chewing, this helps neutralise the stomach acid, therefore the more chewing the better.
 
Azbo said:
Lots of forage. Grass and ad lib hay. They produce saliva whilst chewing, this helps neutralise the stomach acid, therefore the more chewing the better.
Click to expand...

This!

Also,try cutting out the cubes and just feeding Mollichaff Calmer and Fast Fibre, like Speedibeet but better for tummies. I also feed Brewers Yeast which aids digestion.

The wood chewing may also be partly due to a mineral deficiency, so something like Global Herbs Globalvite, which is a broad spectrum mineral supplement, might help.
 
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