that’s hilarious!
That’s a fair point. I had some grand ambitions to go clinic and stuff right after he got here and I realized pretty quickly he needed some time to get fitter and get better. He’s been an absolute saint and he’s very much a young 5 so maybe he needs some more let down time and it will resolve? That’s a completely fair option and I always tend to err on the conservative side of life when it comes to this kind of stuff.
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I agree it’s time to have your vet have a look. Also, because you had the chiro mention the tight psoas I would definitely be having a bodyworker who specializes in the muscular side of things (such as a specialist in myofascial release, massage, bowen, masterson, etc, etc.) see this horse. Although they can’t actually reach those muscles directly (you would have to go to a vet who does pelvic floor exams for that) they will have techniques for loosening it. Even if the tight psoas isn’t the cause of this behaviour, addressing it should give you better performance and a more comfortable horse overall, so win-win.
Chiropracters are great to have on your team, and they often do seem to hit a magic re-set. But other times, the chronically tight muscle pulls the skeleton back out of alignment, and you can get further working the other way around (ie. some muscular work helps the chiro’s adjustments “hold”).
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" only when he’s loose or free"
AHA, when my last young WB was being worked/started she did all kinds of gymnastics when
loose in the round pen, things she’d never do under saddle or lungeing.
Maybe his exuberance is getting ahead of his body’s abilities and he’s OVERDOING it. Then he’s sore from too much exuberance. He’s saying “Watch This!”
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@Pally my chiropractor does bodywork too but it’s more of a release and less of a massage. Maybe I should look into a masseuse. I’m not sure if it’s still an issue since I posted, he hasn’t been loose since. I think if it’s still an issue, I’ll call the vet.
@Marla_100 that’s kind of what I’m thinking too. His bucks when he’s loose are huge compared to when he’s on a line. Silly boy!
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This is random, but my two year old is constantly reaching back to try to get his tail, specifically after he bucks. He sees it out of the corner of his eye and reaches back at in both directions.
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Sounds like he’s wanting to chase his tail. I finally caught my horse doing it in his stall unprompted and took video. Trainer looked at it and said he’s chasing his tail. Apparently some horses are dogs in disguise. Haha!
That would be on my list of rule outs.
I’d be careful with OP’s “advice” about the horse “just chasing their tail.”
IMO, people often tend to write off abnormal
behavior as quirkiness, or they try to anthropomorphize their animals and it really just does them a disservice. Horses are not dogs, they don’t have a prey drive like dogs do, and even in dogs, chasing a tail isn’t healthy behavior anyway. There’s obviously some reason the horse is doing this and OP, got lots of good suggestions from people who have seen this behavior before with theories that make a lot of sense given this horses lifestyle and recent history.
But she chooses to believe that her horse is chasing its tail, like a dog because that makes so much sense. /s
But hey, it’s cheaper to believe that ridiculous theory than it is to scope, get a vet work up, or consider management changes.
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@Equkelly while I appreciate your opinion, I don’t appreciate being disparaged or your attitude. You don’t know me, you don’t know what I spend on my horses and they type of care they receive so don’t make assumptions.
While I did get a lot of different advice; colic (nope), ulcers (also a no), having a vet out (the horse is 100% sound and was recently looked at), and self mutilation. I did look into self mutilation and it doesn’t fit from the research I’ve done. His behavior hasn’t escalated and it’s not a constant thing. Now, my horse is physically a little weak in the hind end from standing and transport over here. I was already taking the advice of @Marla_100 with the hill work, backing up, and poles to get him stronger but her advice reinforced what I was already seeing/thinking.
Now, have you ever heard of boredom in animals? What do animals do when they’re bored? They find ways to entertain themselves, either with toys, destructive behavior, or other means. This is why we provide toys for our animals, so they find a way to get rid of that pent up energy. My guy likes to pull in muck buckets if available and dump them out, open his shavings if he can reach them, and pull his blanket into his stall and flip it around if he can reach it. He’s five and still has a baby brain that needs entertainment. Yes, we should probably work him more but we’re still building his body back up and getting him fit. We don’t want to overdo his work and hurt him in the process.
Now, from my understanding a dog chasing it’s tail isn’t bad unless it’s an obsessive compulsive behavior or they are biting at it. Are you a vet and can state otherwise?
Also, here’s a video of a horse (not mine) chasing his tail. Maybe this horse is obsessive but it’s hard to tell from a snapshot in time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4iAVDbS1_E
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Did I miss where you scoped him?
Yes and that is a sign something is off in their management if they’re constantly getting “bored.” That’s when you consider more turnout, a different routine, more forage, etc. You don’t just shrug off the boredom and leave it at that.
Again, this isn’t something he “likes to do.” If you turned him out into a giant field with buddies, and food, do you still think he would choose bucket flipping as his weekend hobby? No.
- Not relevant because your horse isn’t chasing his tail for the same reason a dog is chasing theirs which is the point I was trying to make 2. Most animal behaviorists agree that a dog consistently chasing a tail is a dog lacking some sort of stimulation.
And again, I’d tell that person the same thing. Horses don’t just “like to chase their tails” normally. Chances are, something is probably causing the behavior. It doesn’t mean something really bad is causing it, as others said, it could be gas, or something like that. But when you write off your horses atypical behavior as “quirkinesses” or “being silly”, or “being a mare” you’re fooling yourself and doing them a huge disservice. Same thing with the bucket flipping. That’s not his god given passion in life, it’s a stable vice indicating something is wrong with your management practices.
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@Equkelly I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you needed a detailed explanation of how I know or don’t know something to be true. But, if you insist… he was scoped as part of his vet check and there was nothing there. Additionally, I have a mare with ulcers and I’m more than familiar with any and all symptoms related to ulcers.
You must be some kind of wizard to have a horse that never ever gets bored. I don’t know your situation and won’t profess to do so but not everyone has access to a pasture situation. To assume or expect people to be able to turn out or pasture their horses for multiple hours a day is not only obnoxious, and rude, it’s ignorant.
Maybe your horses don’t have much in the way of personalities but mine have a ton. They like to do things that are silly and somewhat obnoxious. Do I know if my horse would still play with a muck bucket in a pasture? I honestly don’t and neither do you, he might find it extremely entertaining. Horses are most definitely silly, weird, quirky, and are individuals. I don’t know what kind of horses you deal with but if they don’t have any kind of personality, I think there’s something wrong with your situation. I don’t know.
You’re also not a vet so I don’t think you should be making sweeping assumptions that something must be wrong. And in the case of @Justice I didn’t advise anything.
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Not relevant because your horse isn’t chasing his tail for the same reason a dog is chasing theirs which is the point I was trying to make 2. Most animal behaviorists agree that a dog consistently chasing a tail is a dog lacking some sort of stimulation.
If you had actually read what I said, a dog chasing it’s tail is not considered a problem unless it’s constant, consistent or biting at it. If you had further read what I said or my original post, you would see that I said the behavior from my horse is not constant or consistent, it only presented in a specific situation, which consequently was being turned out and running around. Gee, the turning out made the behavior present itself, interesting… If this was something he did all the time, I would definitely be worried but he’s not and I’m not.
While I agree he probably needs more stimulation but he currently has a jolly ball, a ball without a handle, a hay ball, a salt lick, and a small ball on a rope in front of his stall. I’m still trying to find other things to keep him occupied, he got a cone today but I don’t know if that will hold any great joy or entertainment.
If you think my stable management practices are bad, I wouldn’t suggest the shiteventers page on Facebook. You could potentially have a heart attack.
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You mean his vet check when you purchased him? And then you flew him across the ocean, quarantined him, and put him him a totally new environment with probably not enough turnout.
Ethical management isn’t wizardry although sometimes on here I think it’s just as rare.
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I read through this and maybe I missed it but does this fellow get any pasture time with a friend or 2? That would absolutely be on my list to try. Anytime I come across strange behavior, I go to the emotional well-being, as well as the physical. See if you can find this guy a buddy and let them have some time together(as in, not just in the indoor or for a run in the sand ring, but extended time working out some friend dynamics). If he chooses to bite his stifles instead of engage with his friend or graze, I would be more concerned than if its behavior he intermittently chooses to engage in, but not obsessively. just my $.02! Good luck!
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@Equkelly I guess you just don’t read all that well… He was weak in his hind end when he got here from standing, travel, and quarantine. He lost some muscle, it happens in these situations. No, I chose not to immediately turn him out and let him run around and potentially hurt himself. If I had let him run around in that condition he could’ve caused serious injury to himself and I’d be doing rehab instead.
Again, your attitude is obnoxious.
@Victorious No worries, it’s a lot to read through! I’m not able to put him in a pasture situation and I honestly don’t know of a horse I’d trust to play with him in the turnout. He does have a rather grumpy neighbor he has said hi to but I don’t see them hang out much. I’m actually happy he’s not playing hard with his neighbor, I had a horse that would play too hard and continually come up lame. We had to separate them because they couldn’t control themselves.
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What a preposterous idea… clearly OP’s horse is just a silly Willy who likes to chase his tail!!! /s 
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@Equkelly again with the obnoxious ignorance and rudeness. Sigh. It’s really getting old now. Go troll elsewhere.
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I’m really not trolling, I just wish you would’ve followed your initial instinct. But I guess some people have to learn these lessons the hard way when their horse inevitably colics, gets ulcers, starts cribbing, or becomes unridable due to ill behavior stemming from terrible management practices.
And yes, not turning your horse out and locking it in a litterbox all day is terrible management practices and you’re too arrogant to acknowledge warning signs. Don’t say nobody tried to help you.
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@Equkelly it’s trolling when you continue to be rude and obnoxious. You’re not reading what I’m typing or maybe you lack basic comprehension skills. That is not my problem and I’m done explaining my actions to someone who lacks basic understanding.
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If the horse is a WB, and I’m now not remembering if you said at the beginning of the thread, it’s possible that at 5 years old, he’s just an immature dork. Young horses do all kinds of things either just because they can or because they’re trying stuff out, or because they’ve overdone it and something hurts.
Another issue has to do with being imported. That’s got to be incredibly stressful. I’ve never dealt with a recently imported horse myself, but even a horse that’s sold and then shipped several hours away often gets very stressed by it. Imagine being on a van, in a plane, in some noisy quarantine barn, on a van again, no contact with other horses, every person handling him new, not speaking “his” language, different water, different hay, etc.
Personally, just because of the importing, I’d treat him for ulcers even if you don’t think he has them. It won’t hurt him to do 4 weeks of Gastroguard, and it could make a lot of difference.
It also seems appropriate to have the vet really check him out.
After that, if everything checks out, then I’d just back off the work schedule. Do ground work with him; long walks on a loose rein; long grooming sessions. He’s young! Really young! He’s just had his entire world turned upside down! Let him figure out that you’re his person, and that he’s safe where he is.
My two cents.
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