Unannounced bucking!

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Carlyd

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Hi guys hope you can help. My hanoverian warmblood mare is giving me some problem. Firstly I've had teeth/saddle/feet checked so it's not from that. Secondly this mare is 15 now, but has never worked much previous to the last year.
Walk, trot, pole work and jumping is spot on. When I first got her it was hard to stop her from cantering but we worked on it now shes grasped that there isn't just that pace! She used to pip into canter beautifully, but now if you ask her to canter, be it voice or leg, she's throwing bucks . . I don't mean excited yay bucks.. I mean roll the shoulders slam the brakes on and buck.
This started about 6 weeks ago.. She also started doing it our hacking, again as soon as we canter, except out hacking it was full on rodeo. Thank god.for sticky bum breeches! On the lunge once I ask for canter she has thrown some.bucks as well, but I think that's mainly because I lunge her if she's not been ridden for a few days
Ant advice welcome
 
I've had a vet out as well, he suggested putting her on some ulcer treatment which we have done. Also we don't necessarily know that this is New behaviour, just that she hasn't done it with me previous to this for probably two months ish x
 
Carlyd said:
I've had a vet out as well, he suggested putting her on some ulcer treatment which we have done. Also we don't necessarily know that this is New behaviour, just that she hasn't done it with me previous to this for probably two months ish x
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Please tell us the whole history from the start, so we don't waste any more time making suggestions of things you've done already while you drip feed us the information we need to help you.
 
Ok she was with one lady from about 2 years old, she was professionally broken in but the lady never did much with her, lunging here and there, but was too nervous to do more (Whether this is because of the mares behaviour or her I don't know) she then got really sick and sadly passed away four years ago. The mares been turned out in a herd ever since until unfortunately the husband got into a serious accident and had no choice but to give her away. I got her in November, had to put weight back on to her, started her schooling and ground working and we've just built up from there. She's had the saddle out twice since then, last time 3 weeks ago.. dentist, farrier and vet all in the last two weeks. She's been on pink mash and ulcer powder for 2 months ish as she was a bit crabby in the stable around her belly area so we thought why not, and the vet agreed no harm in trying! Everything else she is happy enough in herself it's just this one issue I've got x
 
Carlyd said:
Ok she was with one lady from about 2 years old, she was professionally broken in but the lady never did much with her, lunging here and there, but was too nervous to do more (Whether this is because of the mares behaviour or her I don't know) she then got really sick and sadly passed away four years ago. The mares been turned out in a herd ever since until unfortunately the husband got into a serious accident and had no choice but to give her away. I got her in November, had to put weight back on to her, started her schooling and ground working and we've just built up from there. She's had the saddle out twice since then, last time 3 weeks ago.. dentist, farrier and vet all in the last two weeks. She's been on pink mash and ulcer powder for 2 months ish as she was a bit crabby in the stable around her belly area so we thought why not, and the vet agreed no harm in trying! Everything else she is happy enough in herself it's just this one issue I've got x
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What tests did the vet do?

What exactly is 'ulcer powder'?

You've sat on her twice since when?

Exactly what amount of ridden schooling has she had?
 
The vet did a general health check on her, ears eyes breathing heart, lameness and flexion, as well as bloods which came back normal. She's also had her back checked by an osteo and there is no pain.
Ulcer powder is called gut balancer. It helps the acid in their guts, and prevents ulcers in their stomachs.
Never said I sat on her twice since any When, she's had the saddler out twice since I've had her.
Her schooling started off with basic lunging and long lining. Went into light ridden work 4 times a week which was just walking and trotting. Added in raised pole works to get her obliques built up. The as she got fit her we increased her schooling by moving up to walk trot and canter as well as pushing raised pole work into small jumping. She is schooled at least 4 times a week and hacked out once a week. Everything was going fine just the last 6 weeks or so she has started bucking into canter.
 
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I did mention hormones to the vet and she said she doesn't believe anything to worry about, however the more it's going on the more I think it could be that, she's also getting crabby around her chest area and tummy.
I've put two other people on her to see if it's me causing it and she did the same with both of them, my instructors just keeps telling me to push on and push through it
 
Just to check, you've had the mare since November 2017? She's gone from field ornament to fit in that time you reckon? With the weather we've had? Sounds like you've rushed an older horse and made her sore and sour to me.
 
So we have a 15 year old mare who has had nothing done with her since she was 2 years of age really. I would probably say something hurts but given her age and history im not sure what can be done, there may be more of a reason why she was never truly brought into work there may not.
 
It's difficult because the horse has never been in full regular work so you have nothing to compare but by her being grumpy on the ground around her belly I would say ulcers, a gut balancer will not clear up ulcers it is a prevention not cure I would get a vet out and get her scoped.

Chances are she has been stressed by the move and change of routine if she has been kept like field pet then suddenly moved yard I presume stabled for part of the time? Worked it's a massive change and that alone could cause ulcers or make her unhappy.
 
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9tails said:
Just to check, you've had the mare since November 2017? She's gone from field ornament to fit in that time you reckon? With the weather we've had? Sounds like you've rushed an older horse and made her sore and sour to me.
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Me too. Slightly hoping, for the sake of the horse, that you are actually a school holiday troll. But if not, please get the mare scoped and treated if she has ulcers, and treat her like she is, a newly broken horse who at 15-16 weeks should simply be hacking about quietly to gain strength and experience.
 
Agree with the above. The gut balancer is not a treatment for Ulcers but a preventative. Get your vet back out and ask for her to be scoped. As above, she should really just be hacking more than schooling. 4 times week is too much.
 
Agree with all of the above & this type of problem can be absolutely anything within a framework of discomfort. Have seen the slam on brakes + buck develop in three horses.

1) 16 yo KWPN been in and out of work for injuries her whole life, leisure horse, turned out had arthritic changes in spine that hurt in canter under saddle.
2) 5 yo cob turned out not "cob rage" as many suggested but a complex saddle fitting story. The saddle fit. His back didn't hurt. He did "like" the saddle. Obviously something bothering him but we never figured it out and no other saddle ever triggered him in the same way. Went through a few saddle fittings before we just changed saddle and he was insta-cured.
3) 10 yo pony club mare; had bone spavin in hock.
 
Our old TB was a saint with my daughter, who was very nervous, she could ride fairly well but was just very anxious but never pulled on his mouth. We got a sharer who was a very nice rider but was just too tight in the shoulders so restricted his head, one day in the school he just stood in a corner and bucked her off, if I had not seen it I would not have believed it. He had done some county showing in his time and if he didn't like the ride judge he wouldn't go and bit one once. All he wanted to do was bob a long and be left alone, but would perform for 4mins for a dressage test, like Pavlov's dog.
Schooling four times a week is hard on a horses joints, and on its brain, it could be the case of something hurts or I am just fed up. Most ponies would have ditched you by now.
 
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