Vets can't find anything wrong with my horse...HELP PLS

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Hollyhorse

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I've owned my horse for almost 3 years now. He's a 16.1 grey 7yo irish sport horse gelding. He was very green when I got him n very naughty but when he realised that (a) I wouldn't back down, and (b) I wasn't falling off - he gave in and became a sweetie to ride and compete, a little babyish n spooky but went from strength to strength and progressed to jumping around 1.05/1.10 BSJA tracks and elementary dressage. He spent the first 1 1/2 yrs with me at a livery yard near my university then last summer he moved across the country to my home with me. Since being home he's changed into being a difficult, lazy, backward horse that spooks non-stop at everything and nothing to the point that it's ridiculous - I am talking about leaping spooks, repetitive vertical rears and bucking broncos. At the end of last summer I took him to the vet for investigations, certain something must be wrong.

Now after a year of tests we have made little progress - medically he's better as a few things came to light but were treated either successfully e.g. he had gastric ulcers which we have gone with his new diet and some lifestyle adjustments, or the treatment made no difference e.g. muscle biopsy showed a problem but treatment did not help, front foot xrays suggested thin soles so he has remedial shoes. Vet says there is nothing more to do and I don't know what to do. All I do know is that for over a year I had a bouncy, enthusiastic, fun horse who I loved riding and now I have a lazy, backward, spooky, naughty horse. (and yes he has seen chiro, physio, saddler, dentist etc etc).

What I'm wondering is if there's a chemical imbalance which has resulted from his change from southampton to bristol when I finished uni and whether I can find that out via a blood test or something? Or are there any other test I could do? any advice would be really appreciated!
 
A magnesium deficiency can make then irratable, spooky and lethargic. It might be worth trying him on a magnesium supplement (like NAF magic). It's unlikly to do him any harm ande would be a lot cheaper than more blood tests and vet bills!
 
Have you seen a nutritionist and (I agree with kalli) check about vit imbalances etc.

Or, if it truly is just a personality change etc there are treatments that can help and stuff, such as something like cyproheptadine (a serotonin antagonist) which chills them out and stuff.

Or maybe just try altering your riding to make it clear that this behaviour is not ok?

Sorry not much help!
 
Might be worth trying a different vet? I spent nearly 6 months having vets, chiros, physios, saddlers etc look at my horse before we found the problem. They all treated various symptons but never the root cause.
If you're certain its physical, not just him being naughty, keep looking - hope you're insured though....
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Probably worth another vet. Have you had a full lameness work up? Is it possible he's bilaterally lame? (Sorry that's not a very positive thing to say). Sounds similar to Jesper when he was diagnosed with PSD. He was bilaterally lame and therefore the lameness was only apparent once nerve blocked. Sounds like you're a very caring owner and you will get to the bottom of this.
 
Will definitely try some magnesium supplement as sounds worth a shot - thank you.

The vets that did all the investigations I was referred to and are real specialists and several different vets have worked with him so I'm pretty sure if there was something there they would have found it. He's also had lots of xrays, nerve blocks n flexion tests so I'd be surprised if something didn't show up...

Thanks for the comments re my riding but I'm afraid I really don't think that is the case as I'm a professional rider who I wouldn't say is particularly lacking in skill, confidence or experience... he definitely isn't taking the mick n knows the behaviour is not acceptable, we always get there n it doesn't normally take me very long but I don't understand why I'm having the initial 'opposition' when I never used to. Quite ironic really as I'm routinely sent difficult horses and babies because I'm known for being good with them and someone that can help them...
 
if you have already tried totally different saddle (one you really trust), and had all the usual stuff done...
and vit/minerals etc don't work.
a couple of other options.
one that i did years ago with an irishxtb who was very very bright and suddenly decided broncing was more fun than working. he had me off spectacularly one day, i totally lost my temper and yelled and hit him a number of times from the ground. i'm not proud of losing my temper but i made him realise that i was a much nastier person when i'd just been dropped, but really really nice to him while still in the plate. he never did it again.
otherwise, Endospink on youtube. amazing guy. i paid for and learnt the Half-tap and the Tap just in case i ever need them. if a horse throws all s/he has at me ever again, i might use them.
 
kerilli - that's really interesting thank you, will look that guy up on you tube. Unfortunately (or fortunately really) he doesn't get me off - I'm not really sure how - sometimes he finishes a major bucking bronco flip out where I loose my stirrups and seem to be flying through the air n he finishes the routine with a vertical rear and puts me back in the saddle! I've come off him twice since I've had him n both were XC schooling in his early days where i fell safely on to my feet simply because he went right and I went left rather than due to any naughtiness. I'm not proud to say it but I have been known to give him literally hell when he's nasty - whacking him between the ears when he rears, turning my whip upside down etc... I try to see what is necessary and it can depend on his mood.
 
well I think it sounds like riding wise you obv have it sussed (and keep doing what ur doing) and losing your temper, ok isnt great, but we all do it and as kerilli says sometimes its what it takes! like with children sometimes they push it just that bit too far and they get parents screaming at them, and it gets the message through

id try the diet alteration and just keep insisting when riding that its not acceptable and if it happens again he will get b*ll*ck*d!
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and I wish I cud sit as well as you seem to be able to! im secure but some broncs just send me flying!
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iv done 3 somersaults before hitting the ground before!
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He sounds a nasty bstd to me then, is a horse like this worth perservering with?

By the sounds of it if you cant sort him no one can...

I do honestly think he is using this as a form of being in control, there are some horses which really arnt worth breaking your neck over.

I had one like yours a few years ago which i bought not realizing how savage he could be, i sold him to an international showjmp rider, she never won with him, well not really she gave him away in the end. (she new what he was like when buing him off me).
 
You said you've moved your horse. Just a thought, but my friend bought a new house with land and moved her horse from the yard she shared with me. Her new place is beautiful but very, very open (you can literally see for miles), whereas the old yard is a very wooded and secluded area. Her horse has not adapted well at all to this change in environment and has gone from a well behaved horse who was easy to do, to a bundle of nerves. He became difficult to shoe, has taken to bronching her off when hacking and has had colic twice (stress related), and is very difficult to load. He has been there a year now and has improved a bit, but he isn't the horse he was.
 
If only the world of horses were as black and white as you think daisy. Horses are generally not just nasty b******s as you put it. Yes you do have the odd horse that is horrible but they are generally like that from start to finish. It is unlikely that a horse who is well loved has a sudden behaviour change just because he is nasty. Most problem horses are exactly that becasue they have a problem that we are un able to detect. If someone has the knowledge and understanding of their horse to realise there is an issue then it is absolutely worth perservering with. However I would add, that what one peron is able to sort out/detect is not necesserily what someone else will be able to find and lots of opinions are therefore very useful.
good luck. i really hope you find out what is upsetting your horse.
 
I would send your horse back to the Livery yard you were at before and see if the horse changes back !!

I would also say that chucking him out in teh field might work to for 8 weeks !!!!
 
My mum has stables, land and an arena at home..... plus her old dressage horse and my Shetland.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, her new competition horse came home and gradually started to unravell from a ridden perspective (bronching, Nappy), and wouldn't stay out during the day, and would start galloping and leaping about.
Needless to day, he's now in full livery down the road, turned out for an hour or two twice a day and is happy as a pig in poo - he's honestly a different horse in himself and under saddle.
Maybe your horse prefers the hussle and bussle of a busy yard - there's usually something going on to keep them occupied.
The only other thing, has he been checked for a brain tumour (which I doubt as it's extremely rare). You've clearly ruled out everything else, but it could effect his behaviour. Failing that, i'm completely stumped?
 
QR - my mum's horse changed from a calm horse to bucking bronco, not wanting to be caught and generally a sod. I knew something was wrong but couldn't put my finger on what it was. I stopped competing him (although my mum just got someone else to do it) and I pleaded with her to get the vet and get him checked out. She did and the vet (well 2 actually) found nothing.

Everyone said it was in my head but I knew something was wrong. I had a "back man" look at him when he was in my area and he told me he had ringbone...

It took two years of people battling with him to stop him bucking when all the time he was telling us that something was wrong, we just didn't know how to listen to him.
 
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