Horse Senses Death of His Pasture Love?

[monalisa]

Just wondering if anyone has any insights here.
I got on my 5 year old gelding on Tuesday night. He has been ridden lightly since the beginning of the year but my plan was to get on and just walk him and then slowly do some trotting.

When I got on his back he immediately became a bucking bronco and I eventually came off. He has NEVER even tried to buck even on his worst day.

He has not been himself for the past month or so. Just a little bit up, little unruly. More than his usual self.

His “love” but not his mother, is about to be put down. She is 30, now eating sporadically and has not bounced back with the warm weather. I do not have an appointment yet but it is imminent. They are joined at the hip. He neighs for her every morning when they are turned out. He adores her.

Could he sense her demise? I know this could be a stretch, but it did occur to me that he could sense that she is struggling and on her last few weeks of life.

The gelding is going to go away for training now - I don’t want to come off again - and we can start to explore other things for him and make sure nothing medical is going on but thought I would reach out to the group for any insights.

[goodhors]

You may want to wait until “her day” and let him sniff her after passing. Horses seem to understand death, accept it, though they still might mourn the loss of a friend. Being SO attached, he can work himself into a colic with a sudden separation, disappearance of her to then express his loss in worse ways.

If horse is scheduled for training, you should probably move her date up to allow him to say goodbye before moving him into a new setting.

I have no guesses on if his bad behaviour is stemming from her health issues. Possible, but could just be him not enjoying going back to work after winter off. Not willing to take direction after being his own boss for a while, loss of respect for the human taking him from freedom and his friend’s company.

[clanter]

@goodhors

You may want to wait until “her day” and let him sniff her after passing.

we had a TB mare who worshiped the ground daughter’s horse walked upon, she was with him always, together they were their own group.

Upon his death we took her to see him, she sniffed him then walked off never to look for him again. We were very concerned that she would have a mental breakdown since she really worshiped that horse.

She was turned out after sniffing him to go join the others, before she never mingled with the Commoners.

[Seagram]

Hate to throw this idea in the mix, but have you looked into kissing spine, or some other physical issues?
I own a gorgeous wb mare, who was doing very well under saddle, until she wasn’t. She was started nicely, from what I know, was going beautifully, and then started randomly bucking. She got better and better at the bucking, so her previous owner sent her to a ‘cowboy’, whom she was also very successful at dislodging. I had a little mare that I didn’t get along with, so we traded horses. Of course, I thought I could fix miss bucker.
Short version, I finally had a vet look at her, and under his suggestion, we xrayed her back. KS. I know there are therapies you can try, but for now, she just hangs out and looks pretty in my yard.

[RedHorses]

First thing I’d look at with a five year old is saddle fit.

[monalisa]

I certainly will consider physical issues. I thought of this too.

[Libby2563]

In addition to what others have said, it could be that the herd dynamics are shifting as she declines, which is making him insecure or unable to sleep. Are they the only two turned out together?

[walktrot]

Our now-retired vet started in practice in 1970. One of the first things he learned from a client was to allow other horses to spend as much time as they want when a friend is put down. They will usually sniff, inspect the body. When they are settled you will know and you can take them back to the pasture, barn, whatever. Your gelding probably is sensing behavioral changes in the mare, even if they are a pair, not a herd. Don’t try to separate him until after the mare passes.

[findeight]

I dunno…herd dynamics have caused all sorts of issues with some of mine. Straight out Bronc behavior was not in the mix though. Fixation on pasture location, vocalizing, suck backs, stalling, spinning to face direction of buddy, refusing to focus? Yeah, sure. Serious bucking, nope-requires too much effort and takes attention away from missing buddy.

IME “insecure’ or new horses don’t react by exploding into aggressive action like bucking. Look into the suggested alternative causes mentioned.

[Libby2563]

@findeight

IME “insecure’ or new horses don’t react by exploding into aggressive action like bucking. Look into the suggested alternative causes mentioned.

My young horse went through a herdbound phase (he still has that inclination but he and I both have more tools now) and it unfortunately did involve some leaping/bucking. That said, it didn’t seem totally out of the blue when it happened because I knew he was upset and fixated on his friends, so I’m not sure if it’s comparable.

[OnAMission]

When my good old horse was declining his pasture buddy and long time bestie was always in panic mode if he couldn’t see him. I would absolutely think that yours could express fear, stress, worry etc if he senses her fading.

[gradytb]

My OTTB is attached to my longhorn steer who is 18 and not doing great. Bounce (the horse) HATES being away—out of visual site, although I know that he knows exactly where he is on the property. Some days, when Henry the steer is more mobile, Bounce is OK. I’m looking for another OTTB to keep him company and to have as a low-level horse to ride but haven’t found the right one yet. But they KNOW.