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Irritated horse2007-11-24 21:17:48

I work at a volunteer theraputic horse riding center, with one horse in particular. He is the sweetest horse, a retired level two dressage pony. He came to the center rather recently and has been doing great, but over the past 2 months or so, I have noticed a difference in his attitude. He has become much more agressive and jumpy...horrible for a therapy horse. Just this past Saturday he snapped and bucked a little autistic girl off. She was terrified. He has taken a pretty bad fall a while back, and some people think he's still sore and that is what is making him edgy, but I got o to school him and he seemed sound. My theory is that since he was such a high level preformer before he retired that he is getting board, and just wants to do something more interesting. In general the horses arn't ridden faster than a walk and sometimes a trot because they need to be slow and gentle for the riders so hard schooling is frowned upon. Any suggestions about what's up? Or how to fix it?

Answers:

I think this pony is both sore from the fall and bored stiff from the work he is doing- walking in endless circles with someone leading him and two others walking alongside is enough to make any horse sour if they do enough of it. The pony needs a rest to let his back heal and then he needs a change of scene for a while. Perhaps the owners will consider leasing him out to a Pony Club member for a while- preferably someone who rides at or above the level he's been schooled to. This person could use him as a lesson or school master horse, and perhaps even take him to some shows. The other thing I would suggest is that this pony be trail ridden or used for regular lessons most of the time, and only used for therapy once in a while. This will help to prevent the kind of sour, aggressive behavior that you are seeing in him right now- behavior which is largely due to boredom on his part. One other point- some of this pony's problems could well be related to his diet. If he is getting a lot of grain, or a lot of sweet feed, then his owners need to look into cutting his feed back. One of the reasons I say this is because sweet feed contains large amounts of molasses, and many horses, particularly those of thoroughbred and Arab ancestry, have trouble metabolizing the sugar. When Arabs are fed lots of sweet feed, it tends to make them "hot", that is, they become very difficult to ride and control because they have so much excess energy. You don't mention what breed this pony is in your letter, but my guess would be that he has at least some Arab in him. Switching the pony to a feed that is equally nutritious, but lower in energy, such as a bran based diet, would probably improve his personality. ( Remember that any feed changes have to be made gradually to prevent colic and digestive problems, however.) Good luck, and I hope this helps.

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I'm wondering if he's sore, sometimes a saddle that doesn't fit well could make a horse jumpy and nervous. Try and find a horse chiropractor and see if his back is bothering him, that may be his only problem.

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This pony could possible have a back problem from the fall. I would contact a horse chiropractor and have his back adjusted. Sometimes a horse will misbehave if they are in pain from the saddle or weight from a rider due to misaligned vertebrae. There could also be another problem that is being overlooked. Have the horse check out by a vet if this continues. Ponies seem to be more temperamental than horses due to their small size. It's also possible that this pony needs to be "tuned up" occasionally. If you have ridden him and he did not act up while you were on him, then something else is going on. Maybe someone has recently abused him. I would not put any kids on him until he is checked for medical problems. If nothing is found and he shows aggression, I would only have experienced riders ride him until he stops his bad behavior. Good luck.

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im not sure wat is wrong with your horse but you should ask the vet wat is wrong and how to solve it your vet should usaully know about those kind of things

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Well I think you figured it out. What you can do is lunge him before anyone rides him. Lunge in a round pen and introduce him to jumps. Lunge him for an hour constintly changing directions or the jump. Then he will be tired for them to ride him. Or what you could also do is you could ride him. Just walk trot and canter, and a little jumping. When he gets good enough, then maybe when the kids ride him, they can also go over poles at the walk!

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Is he arena soured?? Is there someone that can just get this pony out and trailride, give it a mental break. My show mule has back issues that prevent him from being trailridden, only saddle ridden at shows, so I drive to cart him out on trails to get his mind back. I would definately do something with him to help him gain interest such as cows and trail obstacles.

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I'd say he's sore, try another therapy horse for a little while. Would you like a saddle on your bruised back? At the same time, you make a good point. Maybe he's sore & bored. Is there anyone who could ride him hard before the therapy setions so he'll be more satisfied with walking?

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Maybe he senses these people have fears or problems and since he wasn't schooled as a therarpy horse it bothers him and he gets jumpy, i'd also make sure he's not going sore or sour turn him out for awhile . Horses sense the change in people.

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To begin - Autistic children and animals all communicate nonverbally. Do you think the little girl was scared?