Experience Horseman of over 40 yrs., certified equine massage therapist, trainer both riding and driving, endurance riding
Organizations American Endurance Ride Assn., Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Assn., New Jersey Trail Ride Assn., Aromatherapists International, American Mustang and Burro Assn., United States Trotting Assn., Standardbred Pleasure Horse Org.
Question QUESTION: i have a six year old show jumper with good jumping breeding, when i bought him he was being feed just a hand full of nuts and was not very fit. since i have had him he has been exercised every day and as he has got fitter and more powerful he has started rearing and going backwards but only in the jumping ring at shows, he will jump a few fences and then stop and go backwards and when i put my leg on (with spurs) he just rears up and strikes his front legs out, and if i smack him he will buck but this is less often than the rearing and going backwards. i have had his saddle changed as it was a little tight and he now has a wider one, but that seems to have made no difference! he is also due to have a tooth out in a few days, i dont know whether this could be the problem or whether he is just naughty!! please can you tell me what you think thanks
ANSWER: Nicki,
First off understand this. Horses aren't "naughty" without reason. He's trying to tell you something. My guess is that he's been trying to tell you he's uncomfortable/in pain for some time and you've just resorted to force to get him to comply, i.e. spurs.
You say you've changed his sadde. OK. Have you had his back checked out by an equine chiropractor? He certainly sounds like a horse with severe back issues. My guess is he's also spasmed in his back and shoulder muscles and would greatly benefit from some massage body work. I can think of a number of reasons for this sort of behavior and every one of them involves discomfort.
He's due for dental work to have a tooth out and your are riding him? I would have thoroughly vetted the horse before I started doing anything with him regardless of his past history. If he needed dental work that should have been done and healed before a bit was put in his mouth. Good Lord that must be uncomfortable for him! Especially if it's a wolf tooth. The bit hits it and causes a great deal of pain.
Anyhow, give him a break! Don't do anything else with him that involves a bit until the dental work is done and healed, out of kindness and consideration for him. Put yourself in his place and think about it. He is a living, breathing and feeling being and is trying hard to do what you want despite hurting. If at all possible get at least an equine chiropractor involved, probably on a regular basis at least for a while. If you can find a massage therapist to get his muscle issues resolved. I will absolutely guarantee that his back muscles are splinted and sore and also his neck and shoulders. You will be amazed at the difference in the way a horse moves when he's right. I don't know what the problem(s) were with the previous saddle but it's extremely important that the saddle fit is correct. He's probably going to go through a couple of saddle changes until he's fit and fully muscled up. He still has 2 more years to grow. Horse are not fully mature in their skeletons until 8 r yrs. of age. So remember he's still not a total adult. But saddles are like shoes. If they don't fit wearing them can be anything from mildly uncomfortable to down right agony! And socks for us are comparable to saddle pads. Some minor fit adjustments can be made with different weight socks. Loose shoes can take a thicker sock. But shoes that are a little snug to begin with get really uncomfortable with heavy socks! Same thing with a saddle that is too narrow. And the horse pays big time trying to move differently than normal trying to avoid pain.
This guy sounds like a potentially awesome horse an you sounds like you have high expectations for him. Get him "right" and he should do well. You've invested money in purchasing him and in training so don't be cheap now and skimp on body health treatment. You need to assure that physically he's up to what you are asking of him.
I don't want to sound preachy so please excuse the sermon. I just got annoyed when I started massage work when I saw horses I could really help and the owners just didn't want to spend the money. They had the cash to go to shows and spend hundreds of dollars on entry fees, gear and clothes but not the investment of body work to enable the horse to perform to it's full potential. Now I'm just resigned and feel sorry for the animals. I just don't comprehend the mindset that the animal should sacrifice for their self-agrandizement in competition. It does pay off; I have die-hard customers whose horses I've worked on for 10 yrs. because they found the horses performed so much better and lasted longer in overall usefulness.
One is relocating over 800 mi. away and is worrying that she won't find someone in the new area to work on her horse. I'm working on that now. The school I went to trains a number of people every year and most are from the East coast area and there should be someone in her new area.
Like I said, give him a break and get these issues resolved then try him again. Please.
Lyn
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QUESTION: my horses have their backs done once every month and none of them have problems including this horse! i was also told by the dentist that the horse was fine to ride as it was not a wolf tooth it was his very back tooth and when i took him to have the supposed tooth out at the equine clinic it did not need to come out and the dentist said there is nothing in his mouth that he could see from X-RAYS that is causeing him discomfort. if a horse was in pain then of course i would not ride it! when in the ring he usually rears at rustic fences of water trays and other times it is unexplainable. he has also been rearing out on the road for example tring to go over a bridge and the only way i can get him to go any where is by getting off and leading him.
ANSWER: Nicki,
OK, you've provided a lot more information here so it's clear now that this is most likely a behavioral issue vs. a physical problem.
This is now a really interesting and much more difficult problem. He definately has some trust issues here. You are going to have to do some work with him to get him to accept that when you say something is OK it is.
Do you have access to a round pen? Or a small ring or pen that you can block off the corners? I use the yellow caution tape that you buy at hardware stores. You need to work with him free and don't want corners for him to avoid you in. If you are not familiar with round pen work it's extremely effective in getting a horse to respect and bond with you. There are a number of books out by natural horsemen - John Lyons, Monty Shrake, Curt Pate, Pat Parelli. Parelli has some excellent videos out that make it much easier to understand when you see it done vs read about it. Use the pen to get the horse to accept a lot of scary things from you - tarps on the ground, a piece of plywood, anything you can think of. Once he learns to accept these from you this translates to new obstacles in other situations.
It'll take some time to re-train him but you'll get the results you want. You might also consider an animal communicator. Don't laugh, they do exist and they can be extremely helpful when dealing with issues like this. Most can do consults over the phone. It could give you some real insight into what his issues are. Round pen work is very effective but I, for one, like to know what's going on under those fuzzy ears too.
Keep me posted on his progress. He's one of those horses (I have a mare that does this too) that when they get really pressured sort of
"blow up" and either rear (like ours) or bolt. I've done a lot of work with my mare and she's gotten much better but she's a fractious, ex-racehorse, a Standardbred. When she doesn't get her way, like asking her to stand and wait for traffic before we cross this one road on the way home, she wants to start rearing up. We've done a lot of work on this and for the most part I can get her to at least wait a little while but she's extremely impatient and wants to get home. Even my animal communicator friend had a hard time convincing her that I have good reason asking her to wait. It's her nature. Yours is a gelding so you should have better luck since his is a little different reason for rearing. I think he'll be outstanding once you get him to be more trusting and cooperative.
These are interesting horses to work with. Usually very talented individuals, they can challenge you as the trainer/rider. But get them working with you and they are awesome. Good luck with him!!
I didn't mean to get so preachy in my last response, please, I didn't mean to offend. I get a lot of inquiries and some of them come from people who are getting poor behavior and chalking it up to the horses being bad. Never thinking that there is in all likelihood a physical problem. Your response indicated that you don't fall into this category.
Sorry.
Lyn
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QUESTION: that is ok thank you for your help. i will try these methods and i am also asking a professional rider to help with my problems too.
thanks nicki
Answer Nicki,
Just be careful who you chose. Horses like this work best with trainers who follow natural horsemanship methods, i.e. they don't resort to trying to force the horse to do something. These guys like to be asked/convinced to do something. They get extremely resistant and stubborn, if you will, when you try to force them to do something. I had one flip and land on top of me, believe me, that hurt a lot.
Best of luck. Bribery, praise and encouragement work really well with horses like this. You can buy a lot of cooperation with a few treats and sidestep confrontation. Plese keep me in the loop as to how you progress with him.
