Ruling out medical reasons for a chronically lazy horse

[IPEsq]

Don’t ask for the downward transition right away after you get the correct response. Just leave him alone for a minute. If he slows down again, that’s fine. You want all pressure to be off. You then just repeat your ask for more forward. Asking for the downward is still an application of pressure. Just in the opposite direction from the question you are working on. Once you get to where you ask for forward and he stays forward after you release pressure, then you can ask for the downward to reward him with rest.

I’m working on some of the same issues with my horse. I have to be very aware not to ask for a slow down in any fashion if the upward happens with too much energy or a bit of a temper tantrum. I have to let go of everything except maybe one rein to steer. You want to encourage relaxation even though you are having to work on responsiveness. You can keep him mentally engaged by turning, circling, changing directions, with a light hand. Or put some poles out or something. I think you are skipping ahead a little bit asking him to come back so much.

[Palm_Beach]

What IPEsq said. You want this super simple - just work on Go. Let him go on for a bit before you bend him to a walk. You do not need to praise him - just leaving him alone is enough. I don’t even steer - just let them pick where they want go, even if you are doing a circle.

[AKB]

EPM, PSSM, kidney disease, a bad heart valve, navicular, are the problems that come to mind. I would ask for a lameness exam, listening to heart and lungs, a neuro exam, and some basic blood work. One of my boys was very lazy when I got him. We noticed that his tail deviated to the left when he was being ridden. His EPM SAG 1’ 5 and 6 titers were all very positive. After treatment, his tail is straight and he has more energy.

[silverdog]

Had an older horse that was written off as worthless. Total push ride. No matter what you did he would not put out any more effort. I had him for a year. Came with a sore back (actually sore everywhere) - normal back xray, normal flexions. Nothing obvious. Vet perplexed. Had 6 rounds of acupuncture for his soreness w/o improvement. Went to a clinic on 2gms of bute each day with minimal improvement. Then the vet did Aquapuncture - injected steroid, sarapin and vit B12 into various acupuncture points and there was a drastic improvement. Still don’t know what his underlying issue was and he still did not have a huge motor but at least he went fairly normally. Went back to his owner so who knows how he is doing now.
Young horses are challenging - so much can be written off to age, awkwardness etc. Totally support the idea of a thorough vet check with lameness exam, back AND neck check and labs.

[MissAriel]

@Palm Beach and @IPEsq - sorry if my previous explanation was not clear. We are letting him go a bit without asking for more before asking for the downward transition, and the “ask” is really just a verbal cue and a shift of body position without any tug on the line, etc.

[Abracadabra]

my guy (OTTB) was the same - and turns out he’s a zero on the thyroid level - when we had blood tested,

[Momateur]

OP, I know this post is 2+ years old, but what was the outcome of all the testing?

[MissAriel]

@Momateur

OP, I know this post is 2+ years old, but what was the outcome of all the testing?

Thanks for asking Momateur! We ended up calling in our vet who is also a dressage rider and particularly good with lameness issues. She noticed some “inconsistencies” in his stifle, and possibly in his neck during her exam. She felt like this was in the range of normal for a young horse, but felt that the stifle, in particular, was making him ouchy and hesitant to really move forward. It was subtle, but there. Among her recommendations, we opted for the “long haul” solutions.

We backed off training - shortening rides and fewer arena rides/week and going back to a longer intro/training level frame during these rides. In between we did long (1h or more) tack walks where we WALKED - forward and marching and up and down hills. He was put on IM Adequan (7 doses, one every 4 days, then after the loading one dose every 3 weeks). I also added vitamin E.

After about 6 months of this we started working a bit harder again, always backing off a bit if it seemed too much. In the middle of this we also moved barns to a much better place - bigger paddocks and lots of hills for walking and a more relaxed vibe in general. We stopped Adequan after about 1.5 years, continued with the vitamin E, as we are in Southern California and grass is pretty much non-existent. Work load has gradually increased.

While, yes, he will always be the horse to take the lazy way out, his work ethic has improved dramatically and forward is there if I insist on it. He is still an easy keeper, so aside from hay, he gets minimal feed and a V/M supplement with vitamin E. We had our second level debut last fall, and despite a few mistakes we did respectably. We are continuing to work on second/third level dressage, trail riding and playing with working equitation.