worried about my boy on loan

Suzie86

Suzie86

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My pony is out on loan to a lovely local home. The mum phoned me yesterday as apparently bailey has been stopping at jumps and the instructor thinks it's to do with him being uncomfortable on landing in his legs or feet. She wants to get the vet out to check this out.

Hmmmm

Pony is one of those who is fully capable of taking the piss. He used to jump BN and discovery with me and is now jumping 2ft6ish so he shouldnt be stopping at those. The girl is a good gutsy rider, wears spurs and not afraid to be tough with him as I told her to be!! He is VERY good once he is going - he just needs convincing. He is not stopping at home and rarely at rallies, mostly just at shows. I think he's taking the mickey. However it is something I have to consider. He is 19 (but going on 5) and maybe there is a problem with his legs. My fingers are crossed the vet just reckons he's taking the mickey. I guess it could be anything really but he has had his back done and a new saddle when they first got him so all that should be fine.

I don't know what the point of this post is!! I'm just a bit worried about him but I guess they are doing the right thing. I'm going to see him Saturday to see if I can notice anything wrong.
 
If he is 19 and has been jumped a lot of his life perhaps he has had enough? Maybe the girl that has him on loan jumps him quite a bit and he may have got bored?

If there is nothing obviously wrong with him I would say give him a few weeks off jumping go hacking and nothing too strenuous and then see how he is. He may just need a break from it.....

Hope he is back to his normal self soon ! :-)
 
I had a similar thing with my pony, he was on loan to a girl and stopping at 2'6" when he had been merrily flying around BS senior 1.05m tracks with me. I had him back after 2 months, took him straight out to a BS show and jumped clear round the 95cm class, i think he just didn't like the lower key shows he was being taken to and probably prefers his rider to have a longer leg. He does however have arthritis (known and treated before loan) But last winter he had the odd day where he'd stop for no apparent reason and now looking back i can only think the cold made his arthritis feel worse.

If your boy is sound then the vets will be reluctant to do anything. Could you go and see him and try him for yourself? You know how he should feel so you could get a better idea if it's pain or just a bit of naughtiness
 
Thanks guys

He hasn't jumped particularly much in his life. I got him when he was 11 and he had barely jumped at all before then. I competed probably every other weekend and jumped once a week. Now he does do a lot of jumping at shows. I think he's bored. I told them to give him a break from it and do lots of hacking and dressage. I'm going to see him on saturday to see what I think.

If the time has come for him to retire from jumping then he will. I'm just gutted as I am planning to get him back in the spring and was soooo looking forward to getting out and eventing a bit again. It's just a scary thought that he's getting older!!!

Fingers crossed he's just being a monkey and nothing is wrong - sassybebe he sounds very similar to your pony to be honest :)
 
Could it be the surface at this showground?

Some horses get frightened with certain surfaces & aren't confident as they move too much on take off & landing. Perhaps it's worth asking what type of surface he stops in most regularly. He may feel more confident at home, & just looses his bottle when away.
 
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