Crazydancer
Well-Known Member
Background - 23yr old gelding, had him since he was a yearling. Hacks out with no problems, not spooky or nappy. Usually forward-going but utterly safe, you can hack on the buckle-end at walk, but picks up the pace very easily once reins are shortened! We've had some trouble in the last 12 months where he's been reluctant to stride out, and having had saddle repeatedly checked, by 3 different saddlers (told it was fine) and had vet do cushings test (clear) we finally had another saddler say the others had all been wrong and re-fitted an old saddle. Ongoing physio during all of this. I finally feel we've turned a corner and in the last month he's been a LOT better. Striding out at walk, and wanting to pick up a trot again. This may be unrelated, but wanted to give the whole picture.
Anyway, in the last 2 weeks he's started to have an absolute melt-down when half-way round a hack, and acts like he has a really irritating fly. Starts with furious tail-swishing, swing head around, the he starts bouncing his back end and doing mini-bucks, and feels coiled-up underneath the saddle. He's such a genuine little guy, at this point I've been hopping off and checking his back-end for flies, but found nothing. (At the weekend I was furtling round his sheath and looked up to see a man and 2 dogs watching me.... how embarrassing!!)
Sometimes I've lead him and he's settled back down and I've re-mounted, sometimes he hasn't. It doesn't happen at the same place, or at the same time on a hack, and we always use a circular route so I'm sure its not an extreme case of napping. But when it does it's an extreme reaction......
So any thoughts on what it could be? We are not that far from the New Forest and I did wonder about crab flies, but like I said I couldn't feel anything on him - any tips on how to find a crab fly? I know you have to pop them (yuk) but need to know where to look. I did check under his tail, between his back legs, sheath etc.
Or any other suggestions? Has anyone else's horse every behave like this? Could it be diet related (although nothing there has changed, other than we've started this years hay)
Stumped!! Any ideas you lovely HHO lot?
Anyway, in the last 2 weeks he's started to have an absolute melt-down when half-way round a hack, and acts like he has a really irritating fly. Starts with furious tail-swishing, swing head around, the he starts bouncing his back end and doing mini-bucks, and feels coiled-up underneath the saddle. He's such a genuine little guy, at this point I've been hopping off and checking his back-end for flies, but found nothing. (At the weekend I was furtling round his sheath and looked up to see a man and 2 dogs watching me.... how embarrassing!!)
Sometimes I've lead him and he's settled back down and I've re-mounted, sometimes he hasn't. It doesn't happen at the same place, or at the same time on a hack, and we always use a circular route so I'm sure its not an extreme case of napping. But when it does it's an extreme reaction......
So any thoughts on what it could be? We are not that far from the New Forest and I did wonder about crab flies, but like I said I couldn't feel anything on him - any tips on how to find a crab fly? I know you have to pop them (yuk) but need to know where to look. I did check under his tail, between his back legs, sheath etc.
Or any other suggestions? Has anyone else's horse every behave like this? Could it be diet related (although nothing there has changed, other than we've started this years hay)
Stumped!! Any ideas you lovely HHO lot?