The bl**dy horse

[Sossigpoker]

Mine can be a bit of a twit if he's hungry but grass isn't the answer as I think that affects him too. Upping a fibre based feed seems to help settle him,.in fact he's better off being fed fibre feeds and not getting much grass.

 

[poiuytrewq]

None of the ones I've known have tied up but they've all had inconsistent spooky behaviour. One thing that often seems to upset them is the sound of driving rain on a roof, for some reason - memory of being cold?
.

That’s good to know! He’s weirdly fine with rain and noise on roofs. Hates rain on him. It rained heavily when he was being shod last week and we had to move inside where the rain sound really loud it’s a low roof, he settled almost straight away.
My instructor has also commented how calm he is when it’s raining heavily on the indoor school. She said a lot of horses react to that.


Well, not that I want something to be wrong but PSSM is actually sounding fairly accurate and at least that way I have a name for it and a few ideas going forward.

 

[SEL]

My PSSM mare needs to be hot on her quarters under her rug. I got it wrong last week when the temps suddenly dropped below zero overnight and she was wired and horrible in the morning. If she's steaming when the rug comes off in the morning all's good!

She's a fine one minute, spooky and dangerous the next type. The US papers all seem to say they have a quiet demeanor but that's not what most people find in practice

I think most of them only tie up when the management goes really wrong. Grass or weather being the main triggers

Whether it's PSSM or not an extra rug, vitamin E and selenium are good places to start

 

[Slightlyconfused]

No, I haven't. I really thought all was fine until just last week so have had no reason to. I am going to go down the PSSM route and try the above recommendations as it seems a unanimous suggestion. If I'm still having issues then I will.

I have upped his rugs this morning, He's currently in and I've gone from a fleece to a 100g combo and his fleece- Enough? More? He has literally every weight and type of rug out there so can alter easily.
Tonight he can go in a medium weight, I'm 99% certain he will sweat up in anything more at the moment.
This is also the horse i posted about, maybe after last winter because heavier rugs of any sort rub his withers, that could be a stumbling point. They have healed over the summer completely but there's still a bald patch.

I have also just ordered the Progressive Earth Vitamin E, the natural one. I'm hoping he will eat it as i vaguely a previous horse who was a pig turning his nose up at it. * fingers x'd

I've been reading about PSSM- not a huge amount but just since finishing work this morning briefly so far. What I'm reading seems to be mentioning horses tying up, after exercise, refusing to go forward ridden, muscle tremors and so on. None of this sounds like him. He is quite tense with tight muscles though. I've seen no mention of behavioural problems, although from all the replies this is obviously a big part of it.

My horse has only tied up twice, once with my sister and once he was in the feild grazing and was just coming out of it when i went to get him in.

This was about 8 years ago.

I stupidly under rugged him one chilly may night and went to ride him the next morning not thinking. He nearly dumped me on the concrete after i just got on him and was just a tense stressy mess.

I got off. Rugged him up and lobbed him out and rode him that eveing and he was back to his perfect self.

His parents are type one neg so he wouldnt be type one. I wont test for type two i just managed him on vit e, make sure he is warm, his feed is as forage based as possible etc.

Another friends is type one, never tied up but was stressy to ride in the winter, had a crabby gait etc. Once got on the right management completely changed to a different horse.

 

[Mynstrel]

also I was thinking of those titanium mask things with the ears. I don't know if its a gimmick because we will really buy anything but it certainly seems like it would have been helpful for the mare mentioned by @Ceifer

Titanium Calming MaskHas anyone used these things?

Definitely helps with our Welsh X tb. The one with ears works better than the one without as he's very noise sensitive, particularly with whooshy or swishy noises. That said we tried it on a different horse and he hated it, so worth a try but doesn't suit everyone. I think there is a firm that does try before you buy, if its going to help you'll know quickly.

 

[Lois Lame]

None of the ones I've known have tied up but they've all had inconsistent spooky behaviour. One thing that often seems to upset them is the sound of driving rain on a roof, for some reason - memory of being cold?
.

Driving rain on an iron roof? Wouldn't it just be the noise that upset them?

That’s good to know! He’s weirdly fine with rain and noise on roofs. Hates rain on him. It rained heavily when he was being shod last week and we had to move inside where the rain sound really loud it’s a low roof, he settled almost straight away.
My instructor has also commented how calm he is when it’s raining heavily on the indoor school. She said a lot of horses react to that.

As long as he isn't wet, he'll be warmer when it rains due to the increased humidity. It's interesting that he is blasé about noise on the roof, as long as he is a comfortable temperature.

 

[Jambarissa]

Do please update on this if you find that anything makes a difference. It is so hard to tell when weather and graving quality are changing on a daily basis.

I'm sure you've considered this but haven't seen it mentioned. Has your forage changed? Most yards near me have recently started using this year's cut, which was done during all that sunny weather in June. Lots of mental behaviour about, but also change in weather, exercise and management so can't really say.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Do please update on this if you find that anything makes a difference. It is so hard to tell when weather and graving quality are changing on a daily basis.

I'm sure you've considered this but haven't seen it mentioned. Has your forage changed? Most yards near me have recently started using this year's cut, which was done during all that sunny weather in June. Lots of mental behaviour about, but also change in weather, exercise and management so can't really say.

That’s what I first blamed last year, we had just moved into new hay which was also cut from a different area to the usual. I had it tested and ruled it out, but no this year I he’s been on the same stuff along with some that we made off his actual grazing field.

 

[ycbm]

Driving rain on an iron roof? Wouldn't it just be the noise that upset them?

They weren't iron roofs.
.