Tantrums, pain and upset mare!

Thursday

Thursday

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So my friend has a 7 yr old mare that is having some issues right now. Just wondering if anyone has any input.

So 7yr old ISH mare with a good history, hunted for 2 seasons, hunter trialed, SJ shows and dressage shows and recently ODE’s. Jumps are not too big/nor small – roughly between 80-90cm. She had been going nicely and starting to work in an outline for rider but then suddenly became dead on the right hand side and trotting around with her head in the air getting stressed out.

Teeth fine, saddle ok, back ok. Bit changed from loose ring snaffle to a fulmer snaffle (with full bars). Rider started to use draw reins too and horse would go lovely without them – but the fact that they were there seemed to help. Obviously cant use them for dressage so started to take them off and ride without. The horse now starts off lovely in the sand arena but after 20 minutes is back to being a madam.

Saddle rechecked and new one sourced to an even better fit. Same issues. I sat up on her last night and got her to work in a nice rounded shape but she was leaning terribly on my right hand – cue right arm muscles burning! As you go along she starts to get steadily faster and stronger and the reins would start to get longer. So I would try to slow her up and put a little more pressure on the outside rein but she would throw the head up and get stroppy (instead of long elegant trot strides, they became a distance relative of collected trot – and most uncomfortable for horse and rider).

Why is she doing this? Is it a case of going back to basics and constant transitions to get her happy again? Or is there something that is niggling at her? I was thinking maybe that the single-jointed bit is upsetting her and that a French link might ease + distribute the pressure in her mouth in a nicer way?

Thoughts and ideas much appreciated! Sorry if I stop making sense half way though!!
 
Could also be stomach ulcers. They make it painful to engage the abs and if they are not engaged the horse cannot use its hind legs underneath it so will hollow and possibly lift the head
 
Ditto above , but as you said it may be the single joint bit thats the problem ...or part of the problem . Any bit evasion can be , leaning , head tossing , opening mouth , running , backing off bit etc etc . The single joint , when you use your reins , pushes the joint downwards onto the tongue , horse cannot swallow and it can restrict breathing ( try resting your finger on your tongue , see how long it takes before you start stressing that you cannot swallow and how you try to swallow with this pressure on your tongue ) . a horse produces 38liters of saliva a day and most when working , if it cannot swallow it tries to tell you somehow ! So anything with a port or hanging type of cheek may help or loose ring so again it can move the mouthpiece to swallow but a loosering still rests on the tongue so better with maybe a fixed side . Speak to as many bit banks as you can and ask their advise and at least you can try before you buy , there are so many combinations to try to get right , but the right one is out there .... you just have to spend it seems every waking moment looking for it !!! But yes also check poll , back etc
 
Thanks for the ideas :)

Checked out the shoulder areas and she seems a bit tight. Farrier was out also and he said it could be as simple as her toes got a little long putting strain on the tendon and thus jarring the shoulder at times. (She was reshod last week so we'll have to stick to a strict regime to make sure her toes dont get too long.

Ditto on the singled jointed pressure - my own mare is the exact way! As a result I have a lot of french link bits to try out!

Tried a french link bit with her last night - loose ring and handing cheek. I prefered the loose ring but rider prefered the handing cheek. the mare was much more receptive and willing to work down and she worked for over 40 mins :)

Fingers crossed she will come right soon!
 
Sounds like a mouth problem to me, I would ride her in a hackamore (or even a headcollar) and see if the problem disappears.
 
I'd stay well away from the gadgets for now. Something is hurting this horse and strapping her head down/putting different stuff in her mouth will only force her to work in pain. That isn't what you want her to associate riding with!

As above, lots of physical things to check. Especially as it is recent and mostly on one side she is almost certainly not 'being a madam'.

ETS: that was in reply to OP and abt draw reins etc not the idea of Inca2's which sounded like it might well be worth trying.
 
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