Tense and worried pony

[Carlosmum]

I'm sorry this may be long! Pony is 13, I have had him for 12 years. He has always been difficult to move forward, nappy and planting. Over the years we have had some improvement, but once again he is showing more stress when I am asking him to work. To start with, he is slow and nappy reluctant to go forward out of a piddlly trot. He will 'release' this state of mind by bucking/exploding whether on the lunge or in ridden work. Once this has happened he is much more forward, settles down and will trot out well. I am sure you will tell me it is pain related, but I don't believe that, he has had teeth, back and saddle checked recently, when at vets they could find no reason for his reluctance to move forwards. This has left me thinking it is all about him worrying, I work him on his own ( unless we are at a clinic etc), he has a field companion but no company when out hacking. Funnily enough, he is much more forward when we go to our instructor, we may get a few bucks but he will move on and canter with out fuss.
I think a lot of it must be coming from me because I am much more relaxed when we have our lessons than I am when we are on our own. So I guess what I am asking for is ideas how we can both feel more relaxed and willing to work when we are on our own. fortunately after many years of working in the field we now have access to an arena.

Reading this back it sounds rather muddled and disjointed, he's fun to ride once we release the tension but I would like to do that without the bucks and explosions which seem to go with it! A friend's mare who is from the same dam line also has the same issues. He is also positive for EMS, which probably has no bearing on the situation, but we have had a few laminitis problems over the years.
If you have got this far and made any sense of my ramblings. Thank you!

 

[DabDab]

It sounds more than wholly psychological to me - have you investigated the possibility of him having pssm?

 

[Carlosmum]

It sounds more than wholly psychological to me - have you investigated the possibility of him having pssm?

Yes, he was tested and found -ve.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Is he just taking the p as in he knows he can get away with not really doing much with you, no disrespect to you but horses are quite clever sussing out people.

Have you ever got anyone else to ride him to see how he reacts?

Pssm can cause behaviour changes if not managed correctly although I am not really familiar with how you manage it many people on here know.

Low grade laminitis can cause pain so would have an impact on ridden work so you need to really keep track of when it's worse, check his pulses and see if it is a possibility.

Failing that you go to a big equine hospital and do a lack of performance work up and see if they find anything.

 

[DabDab]

Yes, he was tested and found -ve.

Might be worth trying a decent dollop of vitamin e as a trial for a bit just to see if it makes any difference - there are other muscle myopathy conditions that aren't detected by that hair test and it does sound plausible given your description.