I’ve owned my horse now for about 4 years and know him really well, but recently he’s adopted a new habit that I can’t seem to break. Within the last few months, he’s started getting really sour when I ask him to transition from a walk to a trot. it only happens during my first transition (I.e. the very first time I ask him to trot during the ride) and for the rest of the ride he’s great. He’s fine walking around but the second I put my leg on or cluck to trot, he pins his ears and stop/backs up. He doesn’t ever really buck (except for maybe once) but he turns into this little angry ball. He refuses to go forward and sometimes I can trick him into going by turning a different direction, but sometimes it takes up to a minute for me to work through his hissy fit. After that initial battle, he’s perfect and goes around nicely.
We’ve checked into health issues and he’s completely sound. He’s also on a daily supplement for ulcers since he can act very ulcery sometimes. I do think that’s it’s a matter of him being bored since he doesn’t ever pull this stunt when we go to horse shows.
I’m open to any suggestions or thoughts since this trick of his has gotten old!
Can you just turn him out for a month or two? No riding, no nothing, just let him be a horse?
I had a gelding who became sour. Gave him the winter off, and it was the best thing I ever did.
does he act like this out on the trail?
He had been off for a while semi recently with a suspensory injury so now that he’s finally back to full work I don’t know if I’d be able to bear a month or two without riding him!
[QUOTE=AddieMarie;8490139]
Can you just turn him out for a month or two? No riding, no nothing, just let him be a horse?
I had a gelding who became sour. Gave him the winter off, and it was the best thing I ever did.[/QUOTE]
He had been off for a while semi recently with a suspensory injury so now that he’s finally back to full work I don’t know if I’d be able to bear a month or two without riding him!
My first thought was “vet check”- as horses age, and especially as we get into winter, that first push from walking into trotting can be a very creaky proposition. (My elder statesman grumbles about his first 20 steps from walk into trot until his body loosens up, no matter how I prepare him with groundwork stretches and an long active warm-up walk.) You’ve already taken care of that, but it’s something I’d keep a weather eye on. You specifically said that he is cranky from the walk into trot, and one thing that might be worth trying is to go from walk directly into canter. If the horse has an SI issue starting, canter is the easier gait for that joint.
ETA that if he’s coming back into work off of a suspensory issue you want to be doubly, triply, quadruply careful that you’re not inadvertently asking him to work through pain. His suspensory may look 100% on ultrasound but if any part of the rest of his body hurts, and he ends up compensating with the limb that had the injury, that does not bode well for your suspensory.
I don’t know where in the country you are, but if you’ve been stuck in the indoor arena for awhile and can take the horse outside- even if that’s just walking up and down the road- that may help you establish if he is just ring-sour and needs some serious variation in his daily routine.
Does he do this with other people?
[QUOTE=luvdogz72;8490143]
does he act like this out on the trail?[/QUOTE]
unfortunately there aren’t any trails nearby me so I’m not sure, but when I tried walking him around the farm the other day he pulled the same stunt and tried to turn around to go back to his stall.
[QUOTE=Renn/aissance;8490156]
My first thought was “vet check”- as horses age, and especially as we get into winter, that first push from walking into trotting can be a very creaky proposition. (My elder statesman grumbles about his first 20 steps from walk into trot until his body loosens up, no matter how I prepare him with groundwork stretches and an long active warm-up walk.) You’ve already taken care of that, but it’s something I’d keep a weather eye on. You specifically said that he is cranky from the walk into trot, and one thing that might be worth trying is to go from walk directly into canter. If the horse has an SI issue starting, canter is the easier gait for that joint.
ETA that if he’s coming back into work off of a suspensory issue you want to be doubly, triply, quadruply careful that you’re not inadvertently asking him to work through pain. His suspensory may look 100% on ultrasound but if any part of the rest of his body hurts, and he ends up compensating with the limb that had the injury, that does not bode well for your suspensory.
I don’t know where in the country you are, but if you’ve been stuck in the indoor arena for awhile and can take the horse outside- even if that’s just walking up and down the road- that may help you establish if he is just ring-sour and needs some serious variation in his daily routine.
Does he do this with other people?[/QUOTE]
I have worried that this is all because of lingering pain from the suspensory, but he so willingly jumps a 3’3 jump that I’ve leaned more towards the fact that it’s some habit he’s picked up since I may have humoresque him when he tried it a while back (also probably important to know that before we discoverd his suspensory he was a very regular stopper). He’s a super smart horse and can pick up on habits/trends really quickly (both good and bad).
I’ll definitely keep an eye on everything though. The vet is always checking him out since it seems like he’s due for an injection of something every month.
He does do it with other riders, too, and we all differ on the thought of whether to kick him through it or humor him a little bit. I’m in North Carolina so we can ride outside pretty often, but he definitely is at least a little better outside than in our small covered.
An IV or IM injection- something like Legend or Adequan- or an intra-articular injection, like his hocks, coffins, or stifles? If you’re doing a lot of joints, it’s worth a conversation with your whole support crew- trainer, vet, farrier, etc.- about why they feel that’s necessary for your horse. Frequent joint injections are unhealthy and unsustainable. I mention this because I have seen horses with “behavioral problems” like what you describe, who receive frequent joint injections in a misguided effort to improve their soundness… who are displaying “behavioral problems” because they are fundamentally unsound.
Monthly Legend or Adequan is using the drug according to the package directions. 
In your shoes I would be looking very hard at his physical health. I would want to totally rule out a physical issue that could make it uncomfortable for him to begin his work. I would want to rule this out because if I could determine that the horse is hale and healthy and is just sulking about being asked to work for a living, I would be happy about his suspensory 
and would approach the whole issue as “horse unschooled to forward aids,” and be forthright about applying them. If, on the other hand, a nuanced vet check revealed a physical reason that the horse is uncomfortable starting work, that would inform the way I manage the horse’s lifestyle. And that could be something so simple as “he is stiff in the right shoulder, so we’ll stretch his legs before working.” Or you might find something more complicated… but you’d rather find it now when it’s little than later when it’s big.
Good luck!
Stopping, then backing up; 2 thoughts: 1) behavior-boredom. 2) backing to release ? to engage & go forward .
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How’s his steps, is he walking up under himself or dragging a bit & maybe a bit short. Have someone Take a video for a few rides & see if that tells you anything.
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Change up your ride, start in the canter, down to the trot, canter, then walk… Don’t let him decide next step (watch your thoughts). Perhaps do short rides, 15 min, then go out at the Buckle & chill…
Given that this is a new thing- I agree about the vet check. I would also consider treating him for ulcers (with something like gastrogard); supplements can help prevent new ulcers, but they will not heal existing ulcers. Treatment is expensive, but ulcers are incredibly painful and can cause behavior like you describe.
In terms of training- can you pinpoint what he is objecting to, exactly? Does it start when you pick up the reins, or when you put your leg on to ask for trot? Make sure he is well warmed up at the walk before you trot, and if he’s balking to you picking up the reins, let him start with a good, forward, long-rein trot until he’s ready for you to pick up the contact. If he’s balking off your leg, get him working at the walk before you trot- do some halt-walk transitions, suppling leg yields both ways, and get him responding and working from behind before you ask for any trot. You can also let him lunge for a few minutes to get him thinking forward before you get on- for a week or two until he gets the idea- then try to replicate the same kind of work under saddle. Ask for the trot gently, use your voice, and try to revise your ask so you can be as quiet as possible and avoid the “battle”. It’s much easier to avoid the balk altogether than to try to get him moving forward again once he’s stuck in reverse.
another thought since your horse was laid off. Has his back changed shape during the layoff? Often, some conditioning and topline changes and the saddle might be bothering him. I would check fit and pad if you need to until he fills out again, if that is a possibility. Of course, that is after you have exhausted or rechecked possible medical issues.
How old is the horse?
Offhand if he’s coming off a suspensory lay up and has needed frequent injections??? Don’t know how he can be considered “completely sound”.
I feel for you not wanting to back off and rest him because you have missed your riding time and don’t want to miss more but…
Where has has been getting those frequent injections? Inside the joints or just the IV Legend or IM Adequan or equivalent?
Has he had any recent (within six months) X rays of hocks? What did they show? When was his last ultrasound of the injured suspensory? Where was that injury? Was it just a slight irregularity? A tear? A hole? And how long was he off?
Reluctant to move forward but warming up out of it is classic for arthritic joints and sometimes suspensory pain. The fact he jumps so well might just mean he is stoic about it, dies not want to get spurred or smacked for not going to the jump or he just wants to please the rider because he’s a good guy.
I wouldn’t keep on take advantage of his good nature just because he will do it. You need to find out why he starts out so balky when first asked to balance up and go trot.
[QUOTE=Equisis;8490241]
I would also consider treating him for ulcers (with something like gastrogard); supplements can help prevent new ulcers, but they will not heal existing ulcers. Treatment is expensive, but ulcers are incredibly painful and can cause behavior like you describe.[/QUOTE]
This was my thought on where to start as well. Get a week’s worth of Ulcerguard, use daily and you should know relatively quickly if it is helping or not. A handful of Tums before you get on can also help keep the acid from splashing any ulcers.
OP already said she is treating for ulcers.
Yes, but a daily ulcer supplement will not cure existing ulcers, only help with prevention. Omeprazole or ranitidine are the only proven cures.
For those suggesting ulcer treatment: sorry, I forgot to mention that we had already done about a month long treatment of ulcers with ulcer guard and he showed no improvement.
[QUOTE=jaybird660;8490308]
another thought since your horse was laid off. Has his back changed shape during the layoff? Often, some conditioning and topline changes and the saddle might be bothering him. I would check fit and pad if you need to until he fills out again, if that is a possibility. Of course, that is after you have exhausted or rechecked possible medical issues.[/QUOTE]
I hadn’t thought about that, I’ll definitely check into that.
Ever since I’ve owned we’ve done routine hocks and stifle injections about every six months and we just recently injected his back. He also has Adequan injections now. It was a pretty serious injury that started small and got progressively worse over time, but we did an ultrasound about three weeks ago and he had completely filled in the hole. I definitely see how it seems off to not consider his suspensory being the thing that’s bothering him but I’m really confident that it’s just him developing a habit to avoid working just because he feels like it. He’s always had fun testing me, I just haven’t figured out how to beat this newest test yet.
Saddle fit or ulcers. You treated without scoping. The ulcers may not be gone. My OTTB was doing the EXACT same thing. It was very uncharacteristic for him as he never, ever acted up. Scoped. Ulcers. If you don’t scope, you don’t know what your dealing with. He may need longer treatment, other treatment, or to be weaned off ulcer meds differently. I’d scope. Good luck!
