What the hell is wrong with Merryn? Anyone expereanced this before?

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LauraWheeler

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Well a week ago last Sat I took Merryn to the beach. We had a fab time but since then he has been acting odd.
I rode him out the very next day and he seemed on edge but didn't do anything.
On the monday I lunged him and he was fine.
On the tuesday I took him for a nice hack with a friend and on the way home he bucked me off while we were walking along.
He had the Wednesday off.
The Thursday I lunged him and he rodeoed the first few times I asked for canter but soon settled down.
On the friday I hacked him out with a friend again. He was ok but a little on edge and on the way home he lurched forwards and shot sideways for no apparent reason.
He had Saturday off.
Sunday I took him round the block on his own and he was fine.
Monday I took him up on the common on his own and he was fine.
Yesterday I rode him out with my friend again and we were having a lovely ride. We stayed in walk and kept everything calm. On the way home My friend was in front and Merryn suddenly went tense and waggled his head around. I got off and led him down the hill a short way when suddenly all hell broke loose. Merryn went into a full rodeo, kicked out narrowly missing my head. I had no choice but to let go and he galloped off down the hill. After a short distance he stopped and waited for me to catch him. I led him down the hill. My friend was just ahead of us. We got to the stream at the bottom. My friend went through first her mare jogged afew steps and Merryn threw himself around. I kept hold of him and told him off. We carried on up the hill. We got half way up. My friend had got a little way infront again and Merryn freaked out. He rodeoed kicked me in the stomoch. I let go and he galloped off. Full speed. He ran about a hundred yards or so into a wood. We carried on up the track we were going up. We could still see him and hoping he would come out onto our track as it was the way home. Suddenly he stopped. Whinnied and galloped back the way he had come. He stood looking down the track as if he was looking for us. I called his name to let him know were we were and he started trotting twords us. I expected him to go to my friends mare but he came streight to me and stood nuzzling me very sweetly. My friend had gotton off by this point and we led them both home. Merryn now seemed fine and relaxed. But we did keep him in front. When we got to my friends yard. Merryn was quite happy to leave the mare and carry on home.
I'm very confused by this behavour as it seems compleatly out of the blue. Merryn is such a sweet pony and till now hasn't even cared if the horse we were with trotted off round the corner and left us behind. Honestly I had to smack him to get him to jogg to catch up sometimes.
I will get all the checks done. He's already booked to have his teeth done at 8am today.
I honestly don't think he's being nasty. If he had ment to kick me I would be in hospital right now. It seems more of a blind panic. He's obviously not doing it to get me off as he still does it when i'm on the ground. I'm expereanced with problem ponies but I wouldn't call Merryn one of these. I realy think there is something going on!
Has anyone expereance anything like this before?
I hope we get to the bottom of it soon. I want my dear sweet MrMerryn back. :(
 
I am so sorry you are having problems with Merryn!

I don't know what might be wrong with him but I would strongly suspect he is in pain somewhere. Sudden chances in behaviour are often down to pain, but even if it's not a physical problem you do need to exclude this before doing anything else. Can you get a good, specialist equine vet to give him a workup, paying particular attention to his back, teeth, look for lameness, etc? I've had horses become spooky because of an ill fitting saddle, a flared up tendon problem, etc. so I am a great believer in pain making horses behave uncharacteristically.

If he is fine physically think of the usual stuff: have you changed his feed, or his turnout or anything in his management that might make him fresh?
 
It could be that he is just feeling great and wanting to do more and its excess energy causing it..... but I would get the following checked, teeth (seen you have that covered) saddle and back - on a more basic level make sure you are not using a new numnah or putting saddle further back. Are you lunging with or without saddle - if with then remove saddle and see if the bucking stops on the lunge - if it does that will point to a saddle issue.

I would also give a good groom - check girth area for any sores/marks - it could be that some sand is causing discomfort - also double check for what I call "spyder flys" these are also known as newforest flys but seem to be around all over country - they cause horses to go mental - bucking etc when they dig into and move around in the coat. They are hard to spot and catch (I had one in my hair once - drove me mad and I had to wash it out).

If on any hard feed remove it and replace with good quality forage - if just gone onto new hay or haylage consider if it is too rich !

hope Merryn is back to normal soon.
 
Booboos his saddle was done recently, His teeth are being done today. will deff get his back looked at. Nothing realy changed in his diet except cutting down his feed since all this started. He is in a new field. But it's small. A bit more grass but he comes in during the day so he's not out on it all the time. I do think there is a problem somewhere as he doesn't seem to be able to help himself doing it and it is compleatly out of charector.
 
I was thinking hyperactive too.
One of our youngsters (6yrs) went hunting. He's always been good as gold, but for 2 weeks afterwards he was trying to tank off with people and bucking and leaping!
Thankfully he's calmed down now, but it was quite scary!

Good luck with Merryn, hopefully you can sort him soon :)
 
Sounds really dangerous.
Best case scenario he has tweaked something and is going to come right pretty soon.
However if he is just bring a idiot, gir starters I would stay on. You have more control in the saddle!! Just lettinghim go is so dangerous! Even though he is coming back, what if something spooks him and he bolts? Your friends horse sounds saintly to not react to his antics. Next time he attempts to 'rodeo' turn him, horses can not buck on a tight circle. If he wants to be in front, put him there, in a forward active manner.
He is being sporadic with his behavior, if he is cleared from all checks (presume your having vet? Lameness check etc not just back person) then I wouldn't hack him whilst he was being that unpredictable, if you have a schooli would concentrate
 
meesha We live in the new forest and he is fine with those flys. I know what you mean about most horses hating them. Herbs hates them.

BookWorm that did cross my mind. I've got no expereance with them so don't know how they would make a horse react.
 
Sorry phone. I would school him, work on gaining control of his shoulders and qauters, laterel work and lots of it so he is keyed into your aids and listening to you at all times.
 
Is he furry? (ie not clipped)
He may have some sort of sand mite/irritation from the beach that is pinching/rubbing/annoying him every so often? May not be under the tack but between his hind legs or on his sheaf or such like.
I'd give him a bath in medicated shampoo - just for peace of mind.

Other than that, follow up other checks that have already been suggested. Poor you, doesn't sound like Merryn at all!
 
Fools Motto said:
Is he furry? (ie not clipped)
He may have some sort of sand mite/irritation from the beach that is pinching/rubbing/annoying him every so often? May not be under the tack but between his hind legs or on his sheaf or such like.
I'd give him a bath in medicated shampoo - just for peace of mind.

Other than that, follow up other checks that have already been suggested. Poor you, doesn't sound like Merryn at all!
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My thought was sand irritation as well. If he was pawing and digging in the sand it could well be high up between his back legs or in his sheath. Very irritating I imagine!
 
Sorry to hear that, does sound like pain reaction from something - maybe he pulled something in the field ahead of when it all started and then riding it and certain movements trigger it off? Also worth checking for infection/irritation from the sand or something as FM says - mine's gone down with infection from mud and/or mites but was behaving most oddly the day before the swelling came up - he had some discomfort in his leg though nothing obvious the vet could see or feel but he was showing signs of pain and appeared quite stressed and first of all we had to rule out colic which thankfully it wasn't! It's been so mild and damp I think lots of bugs are thriving. Hope you can get to the bottom of it soon and it's something simple.
 
BookWorm said:
Ulcers? Just a thought....
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LauraWheeler said:
BookWorm that did cross my mind. I've got no expereance with them so don't know how they would make a horse react.
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Every horse reacts differently.. mine would go from nothing to explosive in the blink of an eye. The pain from ulcers is caused when the acid in the stomach splashes over the ulcers (or food) and this also depends where the ulcer is, my poor girl was riddled before i bought her so i found out the hard way but she had Grade 3 Ulcers and they were everywhere!
She showed other signs though, disliked being tacked up etc.
 
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No great words of wisdom from me Laura, as you are already doing the usual teeth, saddle, back checks etc and nothing else has changed for him.
One thing I would say, is that be sure you really trust the experience and thoroughness of whoever checked the saddle, as some are better than others! :rolleyes:

I hope you can find out what is causing his odd behaviour, unpredictability is horrible to deal with. xx
 
I'm sorry to hear you're having a nightmare..as you sound sensible,doing teeth etc, I would also make sure vet checks him over..it is very dangerous when he does this, so any pennies(ok pounds) spent to make him Merryn again are not wasted..if you can get a McTimmoney practitioner out/physio etc (I can recommend one if you pm) make sure she checks his neck & flexion as well as his back...my mare had reactions to 'invisible' pain with no warning, vets were saying mental, tumors,blind...back lady came...nothing there..then a friend did some neck flexions & found she had pain in her neck almost at the very top couple of vertebra near her poll...queue new physio/vet etc lots of time off & treatments..we never cured her fear of pain(she had been brought down & fallen on NH racing by other fallers) but she stopped the vertical rears & was back to her 'normal self' -this had been missed totally by vet first vet & back lady. Merryn might appreciate clipping, sheath wash/inspection for sand & mites & those horrid crawling spider flies..its quite possible he could have tweaked a muscle if he was pawing in the water...or knowing horses he could even have done it in the field after his enjoyable beach ride...let us know how you get on & be careful...oh & I know this sounds awful to remind you but if he's messing about like this please make sure you wear a hat & or body protector even when you're on the ground with him...hassle putting it on I know, but very much worth it for damage limitation..xx
 
Thanks for the replys everyone.

His teeth seemed fine. A couple of small hooks but nothing to make him react the way he is. So next port of call is a back person. My dentist is going to give me the number of a good one. :) His saddle was checked and re flocked afew weeks ago so I know it's not the saddle.

I will also give him a good bath at the weekend. I hope it's not to cold.
 
It does sound as though he may be uncomfortable but if you rule out its not pain, then you are back to the drawing board.

A few questions... How old is he?
How long has he been broken/ how much has he done?
Did he have issues in the past?

When is he getting tense/agitated? When he is with another horse/ getting left behind?

If he is young// has a bit of temper it may be that he doesn't want to be left behind or is getting a bit big for his boots. If this is the case I wouldn't not be willing to get off him on hacks but ride him through it, and make him listen/wait etc.
 
Something physical would be my guess too. Ulcers (stomach or hind gut), back, sore hooves along with saddle fit and teeth for starters. :cool:
Hope you get to the bottom of it. x

Bit too of course.
 
Fools Motto said:
Is he furry? (ie not clipped)
He may have some sort of sand mite/irritation from the beach that is pinching/rubbing/annoying him every so often? May not be under the tack but between his hind legs or on his sheaf or such like.
I'd give him a bath in medicated shampoo - just for peace of mind.

Other than that, follow up other checks that have already been suggested. Poor you, doesn't sound like Merryn at all!
Click to expand...

this was my first thought too, given the timing etc. Fingers crossed it's something nice and simple and easily sorted. Good luck.
 
dominobrown He is 10, He was broken at 4 did very little with his lat owner (just got very fat and got laminitas) He came to me 2 years ago (after his lami) Lost all the weight and has been my happy hacker and done a little basic schooling. I often use him to babysit young or naughty horses as he is a saint and will stand quietly nomatter what the other horse is doing. In the passed he has even just stood there when another horse has bolted. This is so out of charector and so out of the blue. Hence why I'm so worried. If this was Horrid I wouldn't be so worried ;)

Thankyou everyone else for the replys. I'm going to give him a bath in the morning and rug him up so hopefuly he'll be dry by the time he goes out again. I've also washed his numner tonight incase there is something on that he doesn't like. his girth is leather so I'll clean that tom.
 
Forgot to say. As for my getting off. There is no way I could sit to what he does. I'm good at sitting bucks. If Lucy taught me one thing it was how to sit a big buck ;) But Merryn is full on rodeoing. I don't think anyone would be able sit to it. :eek:
 
My first thoughts were the same as fools motto. If its too cold to bath him tomorrow or you can't for whatever reason, try a thorough hot towelling. I'd also definitely do his sheath incase its sand up there. Another thought is his tail. If its perhaps gritty with sand at the bottom, he could be catching himself with it when he moves. (ps- not saying you don't groom properly but lots of people, me included, avoid brushing tails).
 
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