Very over excited horse- advice needed :-)

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OakleyEarth

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Hi I have a 16.2 selle francais gelding who is ten. He's been kept ticking over during winter and came back into normal work about three weeks ago (ticking over cause I commute to work not cause he was injured etc)

I've had him for three years and 360 days of the year he is lovely but sometimes he gets so overexcited that he becomes dangerous. Yesterday I took him round the fields with my YO on foot as he hadn't been out for a few weeks... Spooked at a rabbit and lost it, he gets sound wound up he literally doesn't want to go forward backwards side to side. Tail goes bolt up in the air and he starts squealing... I ended up having to get off and after five mins of him jumping bucking kicking and squeaking we had to let him go to run home... Which he did and was fine

I must stress the majority of the time he is fine and a very happy horse but when he gets like this it is scary and dangerous. It's like he looses his marbles but within twenty minutes he is normal again (but only after knackering himself out)

He's turned out all day and in at night currently- fed chaff a little bit of beet and pasture nuts

Going to put him on just chaff and calm and condition now but have tweaked his feed before and not really stopped the behaviour

At a bit of a loss! Back and teeth are fine, it's like he has a crazy switch and when it goes off there's nothing you can do to stop him!

Any ideas / similar experiences please share!
 
It is spring, he is fit and in the prime of his life ;-)
My mare was like that for a couple of weeks.... Then deflated and is now almost "spring tired" ;-) ?
Strange creatures
 
Also just to add he often does it on the lunge- if he has had more than five days off work he has a bit of a buck on the lunge but then it seems to trigger something and he ends up totally over excited and only stopping when he is drench in sweat..
 
It's not just spring though- he's been doing this for three years regardless of the season! Majority of the time he is a pleasure but I'm not exaggerating it is really really dangerous... Going to buy some pax today- somethings gotta work :-)
 
Unless he desperately needs feed for his weight cut all of it out. Best thing is to make him go forwards when he starts, my thinking is if its got the energy to be a prat, its got the energy to work. Is there any sign of his tantrum starting? If there is that's the time to get him focused on you & moving forward. Depends on the horse, some its best to wait out, then ask them to move when they've finished, others i'll keep asking while they leap around. Lots of transitions & half halts. I've found some will settle once they've been out & had a blast. But if he's scaring you enough to let him run home, I think you need someone experienced to help, before either it becomes a habit, you lose all confidence or there is an accident.
 
He is a poor do-Orr but with spring grass now arriving he will be fine on just grass for a while... There is forewarning when he is going to be silly, gets very tense and is like a time bomb waiting for something (yesterday the rabbit) to validate his behaviour in his head. The problem is you put your leg on and it has no effect- it's like he gets totally disconnected from the fact I am even there. I'll take him around the same field today and he will probably be fine- there's no rhyme or reason to it... It's like pure nervous energy but 95% of the time he is unflappable... He's such a weirdo! Starting to thunk about going down the NH route.. We've been at same yard for three years and he is totally settled but it's like a switch goes off. I'm not a bad rider but think maybe I need a fearless type to give him a big smack on the arse and make him go but even my YO who is a professional said she would have got off yesterday :-( it's a bad stye of affairs when you have no choice but to send your horse home alone!
 
Sorry to doubt but is this a serious post? After 5 days with no work many horses would behave exactly like this. Sounds simply as though he is having too much food and not enough exercise simple as that and eventually blows his stack. The spring grass may have something to do with it as well
 
Mine does that...i usually do something hes not used to to get his attention back...like poke him in the neck or the shoulder it works brings his attention back to me
 
Some horse need a lot of work otherwise they get in to a state, also I think you should be hacking out with other horses, but the best thing is to take him to some proper gallops once a week and give him a proper workout.
If you think you will have to get off, carry a lunge rope and lunge him until he behaves, also you will have more control on the ground than with a bridle, so he can't get near you with his flying hooves.
He may be too much for you, if he is very talented you might sell him to a pro.
 
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The minute he tenses up if he doesn't pay attention to your leg first time, give him a kick, if he's not paying attention & you are worried about hitting him, crack your boot to get attention, all accompanied by a firm 'walk on'. Or push him through it on the lunge if you prefer. And when he tenses up you probably do, know its easy to say don't, try singing as soon as he tenses.
 
Without sounding harsh allowing him to run off home is the worst thing you could do, I have had some great results with calm and condition but it not for every horse
I 100% agree with littlelegs and would also be getting in a decent instructor that has experience of this sort of thing
 
Well you could try magnesium added in to the chaff and don't give him any other feed. Found out by trial and error that one of mine has an intolerance to wheat/oats/barley/cereals (pooh I hear everyone saying,) I didn't believe it either till I did the experiments myself (including braking a bone into the bargain). If you must feed look at Simple Systems/linseed/grassnuts that kind of thing. And you could try an quick lunge before you get on to calm him down a bit and hack out with others if you feel nervous (if you keep chatting it will give YOU loads of confidence which will reflect on him. Good luck.
 
It really wasn't a case of letting him run home- there was no way of stopping him- literally! I really did not want to see him disappearing over the fields at full pelt but he weighs 600kgs - trsut me i didnt say let go and say off you go then! He has been worked nearly every day for three weeks and hasn't put a foot wrong. I'm really bummed out by this so not looking to be jumped on am just asking for advice. It's difficult to put the situation in writing but I have been riding my while
Life, I've had many horses and Im not a novice. I can ride and have battling this for three years- but to put it in context in those three years he has been like this probably ten times. It's not a
'usual' thing but nonetheless v scary when it does happen
 
Sorry for bad spelling- bl**** iPhone! Thanks for the advice hacking out in company today and hopefully after his 'solo-hack' yesterday he hopefully won't gave such tickle in his toes :-)
 
Before he gets really silly, does his head go up really high in the air like he is looking at something?

Horses production of adrenaline is vastly increased when their head is raised because this posture activates the adrenal glands and over-stimulates the horses' entire nervous system. To calm the horse (if he is doing this) you need to lower his head.

My old barmy TB was like this about the same percentage of the year. He would freeze, had shoot up and turn away. If you used your leg, he ran the other way. In the end i had to throw the reins at him completely (no hands at all) and give him very firm pats on his neck to relax his neck and flap my legs... very odd but it worked for him. I also maintained that he did not go backwards, but I didn't ever force him to go forward until he wanted to.

He was grey and had a real issue going from dark to light and vice versa. Grey horses often have a problem with the protein in their eyes making them slow to react to changing light. We had to give him time to let his eyes become accustomed to the light. Could this be part of your horse's issue?
 
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Am not jumping on you god knows I've been in tears plenty of times because of bolshy horses :( what I mean is by not letting him do it is once I've got to know the horse there is usually a clue that they are going to do something stupid before hand try and keep one step ahead if you can :)
The decent instructor comment was not a dig at your experience am just a big believer that no matter how experienced someone is sometimes
 
4x4 I know of a few HHO ers who would agree with you about grain intollerances in horses, and I would also cut out grains and sugar in his feed :)

I think carrying a lunge line is a good idea, see if you can get him to have a whizz to repease his nervous energy while you stay out of the way and safe but still keep hold of him. Have you also spoken to your vet about this? If its possible to get a video of him doing it (stay safe!) that would help them to help you.

Not an easy situation, I feel for you.
 
Yeah sorry wasn't talking about you ;-) but yeah agree.... He does have a cataract in one eye but has always had it and majority if time is normal- but might be worth getting vet thinking about it incase it's grown or developed maybe... Ho hum bloody horses :-)
 
If he had not been hacked for a few weeks and is getting fitter it could just be that he is feeling well and needed to do more than gently walk around the open fields, with many horses it would be enough reason to get overexcited.
What do you do with him generally does he get out competing or on really long rides sometimes as it may be that he is just bored yet fit, often a bad combination especially in a horse of his age at his prime.
I would be looking at ways to work him that use his brain more and try to do something regularly that gets him tired , mentally as well as physically.
 
I'm sorry if you feel jumped on, that wasnt my intention I just found it hard to understand how you wouldn't know that a horse doing no work for 5 days would flip out on the lunge, or that if this only happens very rarely it's not something to worry about, if you are experienced as you say you will know that sometimes some horses just do this. I understand you are lookingnt ways to stop it and it sounds likemhe needs more work less feed
 
It's fine I think I was a bit over sensitive this morning! I've never had a horse go that mad after a few days off- it's not having a buck and a fart it is galloping on a 20m circle whilst screaming his head off to the point where he falls over then gets back up and keeps going. The next time he will be angelic- it's so weird there's just no prediciting. I wish I could video it to show people what I mean- it's madness but then will be totally chilled for the next four months. Never mind think I'll get the vet out for anonce over and stop feeding him anything at all... He's not even out on the new grass yet waaaaaa !
 
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