Horse issue, need advice

SupergirlOO6 · 06-04-2004, 02:01 PM

i need to talk to someone about a problem with 'my' horse (its a long story so for arguments sake i'm calling him mine) anyway, something's wrong with him and i need someone who knows a lot about horses to maybe help me figure out what it is. details later...thanks!

Lightknight · 06-04-2004, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SupergirlOO6

i need to talk to someone about a problem with 'my' horse (its a long story so for arguments sake i'm calling him mine) anyway, something's wrong with him and i need someone who knows a lot about horses to maybe help me figure out what it is. details later...thanks!

Ok, I'm here. What's up?

theRat · 06-04-2004, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightknight

Ok, I'm here. What's up?

Haha! You make me laugh. That is...unless you're serious.

I used to teach riding lessons...so shoot. I'll tell you what I know.

SupergirlOO6 · 06-04-2004, 05:59 PM

ok, this horse (for some backround) hadn't been ridden for a couple months b/c thier actual owner's had been away, so when they get back they ride him pretty hard all weekend. I went up yesterday and had some huge problems w/ him. When i tried to get him to go, he'd go backwards, or turn around. He's kinda stubborn so i thought it was just that. so i yelled at him and dismounted...and just led him around the ring a few times. Contradictarally he followed me really well that way, i didn't have to pull him or slow him down, he just followed me, which is why i think something's wrong w/ him...and i wanted to know if anyone had any ideas to what they think it is. btw...(more backround) i checked his saddle and switched from english to a western both we use normally on him, so it couldn't have been that, and today i checked him for sores and it wasn't that either...any suggestions?

theRat · 06-04-2004, 08:56 PM

First off. You never EVER yell at a horse. It is poor horsemanship. Horses can't understand a word of what you're saying and only get frusterated and begin acting worse.

That clear, it's possible he just had a rough week. Horses have bad days too. Try walking him or lunging him before you ride, it might get out some of his antics.

Then try riding at a gentle slow walk in giant circles. Have him stop and make sure you pull very gently on the reins, OR stop him with your legs and seat. If he continues to go backwards then release the pressure on his reins and move him forward, try it again. You might need to give him a light tap with a crop to let him know you mean business.

You also might want to have someone watch you to make sure you aren't giving him confusing signals. If he is trained in any sort of dressage then he will most likely respond to very faint signals.

Try these things and let me know how it goes. Make sure you end on a good note an reward him with a carrot. Then cool him down very well and bed him nicely.

You might also want to talk to the owners, maybe they switched feeds or are introducing something new. That might throw him off a bit.

It sounds like they're a little irresponsible if, when they get home from being gone for months they ride him hard. It's not good for a horses to be driven to exhaustion after a period of rest. But that's just my interpretation, obviously you know better since you know them.

Well, I hope this helps!

SupergirlOO6 · 06-04-2004, 09:10 PM

ok, maybe i wasn't quite clear enouph, this is a usually great horse...i love'm anyway. yesterday he was freaking out. the rains i use are really long, and seperate, so i use them to kinda smack him on the butt. didn't help at all, like he was freaking out, any light easy reactions have no affect on him. and if you yell "WOAH" he should react. i mean, i wasn't like yelling at him "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" i mean, i know he wouldn't understand that. The only food change i know of is they're putting some kind of...uhh...grain i guess n its supposed to help w/ flies...that's why this is so confusing to me, because it's so not like him to do this, and the reaction is so immense and hard to deal with, i don't know if it was something else that it could be. yeah...they're not exactly the most responsible w/ their horses... : /

theRat · 06-04-2004, 09:28 PM

Maybe he just needs to be lunged to get out all of his bad energy. I knew horses like that. He's just being a brat. The weather might be setting him off, he might not be feeling good. It could be a number of things. Monitor him. Check his eyes and nose for any weird changes. Make sure his hoofs are okay. Somes a horse can get something stuck in the frog of his hoof or a stone wedged in rea bad and they'll act nasty. It sounds to me like he's just decided that he wants to be a brat. Are they giving him electrolytes? That changes the way a horse acts too.

SupergirlOO6 · 06-05-2004, 11:55 AM

yeah...i'm gonna go up there today n check on him again if the weather clears up...thanks for your help.

Lightknight · 06-05-2004, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theRat

Haha! You make me laugh. That is...unless you're serious.

I used to teach riding lessons...so shoot. I'll tell you what I know.

I'm serious. I used to care for horses on my Grandmother's 200 acre plot of land. Loved to ride them too. She sold the ranch, but hey, at least my other grandmother still has 99 acres.

. So, now that I'm serious, does that mean I no longer make you laugh?

Lightknight · 06-05-2004, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SupergirlOO6

ok, this horse (for some backround) hadn't been ridden for a couple months b/c thier actual owner's had been away, so when they get back they ride him pretty hard all weekend. I went up yesterday and had some huge problems w/ him. When i tried to get him to go, he'd go backwards, or turn around. He's kinda stubborn so i thought it was just that. so i yelled at him and dismounted...and just led him around the ring a few times. Contradictarally he followed me really well that way, i didn't have to pull him or slow him down, he just followed me, which is why i think something's wrong w/ him...and i wanted to know if anyone had any ideas to what they think it is. btw...(more backround) i checked his saddle and switched from english to a western both we use normally on him, so it couldn't have been that, and today i checked him for sores and it wasn't that either...any suggestions?

The Rat pretty much has it all right. I imagine that the horse was just being a bit skittish that day. Could have been any number of things from how he was treated to the weather. Could have even been a smell, believe it or not. I remember riding a horse and it got skittish and I couldn't figure what was wrong. So I got off and led it. There was a dead cougar upwind. All the horses I took up that way did the same thing at about the same spot.

But there isn't any sign of anything bad. Not sickness or anything. It's pretty easy to tell when a horse is sick. Just some wierd occurance or the way he'd been handled.

theRat · 06-05-2004, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightknight

I'm serious. I used to care for horses on my Grandmother's 200 acre plot of land. Loved to ride them too. She sold the ranch, but hey, at least my other grandmother still has 99 acres.

. So, now that I'm serious, does that mean I no longer make you laugh?

No, you still make me laugh.

As long as that's okay.

Lightknight · 06-05-2004, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theRat

No, you still make me laugh.

As long as that's okay.

lol, good good. I was hoping so.

Jas de F · 06-05-2004, 06:35 PM

have you tried speaking Elvish to the horse, yet? Aragorn taught me that one. it seems to calm our equestrian buddies down quite well.

SupergirlOO6 · 06-05-2004, 06:51 PM

i'm thinking that's something from lord of the rings right? aragorn? hahaha i hate those movies...i would never tell Shaboom something like that, he'd be scared for life, poluting a horses mind with something like lotr...tsk tsk

theRat · 06-05-2004, 07:10 PM

You're evil. If you don't like the movies you obviously haven't read the books.

Elvish works miracles on horses. Forget John Lyons--go straight to elvish whispering.