Supplement or ideas for a spooky/nervous horse?

[Jumper_girl221]

2020 OTTB Mare - 2 or 3 starts, off track since July 2023.

I have a horse here that is stumping me. She is VERY sweet and loving, and she is an absolute blast to ride as long as there is NOTHING going on. If there is anything out of the ordinary, she is very nervous/looky, but will usually settle after 15-20 minutes, but if something else changes shes immediately back to nervous distracted and looking. Overall she is an extremely anxious horse in general, but is super chill when all is right in her world, a touch lazy, with excellent lateral aids and has a lot of try and is a pleaser. Ace makes it worse, lunging works her up. Her naughty is maybe some hopping, baby tantrums, and throwing her head but ignore and add leg and she usually settles very nicely. When introduced to scary things she prefers under saddle and is more nervous handled on the ground.

She also has an easily triggered overload point, and when she hits that, we will be going one direction and once thats triggered she has a slam on the brakes so hard shes almost going backwards, while doing a drop her shoulder and spin move that gets me off every single time. I try to avoid triggering it, and it has been dramatically helped by a magnesium supplement (e-zium), and up until saturday she hadn’t done it since December 2023, which is also when she started the magnesium. Its happen 3x now, cantering September 2023 (loud noise behind some trees from a neighbor, trotting December 2023 - horse in opposite corner coming head on, and trotting this past Saturday (June 28 2025) horse in opposite corner coming head on that I turned to avoid but obviously not in time. All 3 falls have been easy, landing on feet then butt but this last time I held the reins and she yanked me backwards and I landed on my head and now have a decent concussion.

When I come off, she then panics because she alone, and runs around screaming for her friends. This past time however, she bolted for her field and ran through the arena fence (3 rail vinyl) without even attempting to jump or stop, flipping over it pulling a shoe and giving herself a decent laceration…and scaring the absolute dog $h*t out of me.

She did have a bout of very mild hind lameness + back soreness this spring, Vet diagnosed her with low heels in the rear, and some hock changes and the soreness is gone with a 2 degree wedge pad and hock injections. We x rayed her lumbar region where she was sore, but it was hard to see much and one spot looked close but he didnt feel like that was the issue. While figuring that out, I did run out of the Ezium and didnt reorder, and her first few rides back she has been very distracted/looky/spooky but she had been back on it since June 10 and has improved. Oddly enough while back sore, she was the most focused shes every been (and she was painfully back sore…vet wanted to see what she did undersaddle) and other then being lazier was quiet happy and not fussy…which makes part of me wonder if the soreness acted like a twitch distracting her from what is making her like this? Or she was sore and didnt feel like fighting.

Treated with abler and sucrolfate and finished her weaning dose last week (she is very obvious when she has ulcers).

Saddle fits well (black country ricochet), and I am very experienced with sensitive horses and have a light seat and hands. Goes in a miklem or regular noseband based on mood with a level 1 meyler. Had body work last Thursday with no problem spots noted other then mild neck soreness consistent with tension. Had chiro last month with no large issues noted.

Gets 1 scoop TC senior gold 2x a day, in during the day for the heat, but otherwise plenty of turnout in a small mare only field on a fairly busy road (arena is as well) but traffic does not bother her. Regumate does not affect behavior and she is not a super mareish in season (and she came out of season 2 weeks ago).

I guess I am just asking for thoughts or ideas or something? I really adore this horse but this has been going on now for almost 2 years and it is absolutely ridiculous that I still cant trot if there’s another horse in the arena without dying (eta when she is in a mood. If not she doesnt care). She is still very fussy with a bit, but has made huge strides in acceptance and is light years better then she was in the past.

Right now shes on stall rest for the leg (keeping leg wrapped to avoid ripping stitches out from swelling). I am going to order thia - cal since I’ve had some decent results with that and its cheap, and keep her on the ezium. I was going to talk to the vet about bloodwork when he comes out this week for another horse and possibly vision…but I really dont think its vision. Oddly enough when in her herd she is the first to investigate scary things, and she is not any better or worse in the dark.

Any mind blowing supplements? Exercises or thoughts ? Shes so sweet and so nice, but I train and manage a barn and I absolutely cannot afford to get broken. I got her through an adoption agency so do have the option to send her back

[Amberley]

Send her back. Some of them just aren’t worth the risk. She likely had a collision on the track with another horse and likely won’t get over it if she hasn’t by now.

I will say that they need enough boron to utilize the magnesium in their diet, some supplements include it and some don’t. You could check that.

[luvmyhackney]

Focus on the feet and back soreness. Bet it’s still bothering her.

Sounds herd bound as well.

Go back to ground work before you really get injured.

If you can send her back, I would do that.

[endlessclimb]

@Jumper_girl221

she bolted for her field and ran through the arena fence (3 rail vinyl) without even attempting to jump or stop

NOPE. I’d send her back.

[Jumper_girl221]

I had a really good bodyworker out last week (2 days before our suicide attempt) and she said zero soreness in her back because I asked specifically. Shes not been footsore (other then when shoes are crap from this hot dry weather) but they were saying the low heels were changing her posture and contributing towards the back soreness. Shes non reactive to testers on all 4, and non reactive to testers on her heels.

Herd bound - only when shes anxious rest of the time she really doesn’t care, but i do think thats her security blanket.

[Jumper_girl221]

I’ll have to look at what shes on. This is chelated magnesium oxide if it matters (all my qh friends swear by it).

I wondered about having had a collision because I’ve dealt with it before, but it only bothers her when shes already upset. If shes in a calm mood she doesnt care, its more when shes already emotionally overloaded and thats the final straw. She has done the checked out spook spin bolt a few different times on the ground when I tried to lead her around during a few of our little schooling shows we host, its more when she gets overwhelmed she leaves.

I messaged the person that runs the adoption place and told her that I was debating sending her back and she understood…just hard to write off everything I’ve spent on top of also getting to pay $$$ to ship her back. Either way I wouldnt want to do it until after summer because its a pretty long trailer ride.

[Jumper_girl221]

Oh believe me I do not like this at ALL. She is freakishly athletic, she didnt even try to jump it just bowled through and then over. Thankfully she does not bolt under saddle (ever) but even still…I’m 40 now and I SWEAR the ground is harder then it was when I was 16!

[OverandOnward]

@luvmyhackney

Sounds herd bound as well.

Honestly this could explain almost everything OP describes in post #1. The trigger can simply be facing away from the other horses. Or a growing distance from the other horses. Things a human may not notice, but the horse is fixated on. That triggers an explosive manic reaction from the horse.

How is she with another horse in the arena, staying within about 30 feet of her at all times? If she’s ok then, I’d suspect a more serious case of herd bound as the source of the behavior.

Basic herd boundness is of course part of training and it can be managed. But unfortunately, if this behavior is strong enough, it isn’t safely fixable. It is just too instinctively ingrained in all horses.

If the horse can be safely ridden in a group, then for riding purposes it will need to stay in an environment with no alone time, such as a racetrack. No riding without a companion, ever.

Herd bound is up there with the incurable halter-breakers / pullbacks when it is at its worst in a particular horse. Some horses can be trained/fixed, but not all of them. If the behavior is not completely fixable then it can improve, but the horse can never, ever, be fully trusted. And the behavior can be extremely dangerous to both horse and human.

[Jumper_girl221]

When another horse is in the arena, friend or not, she keeps a cautious look on them and is distracted and pays more attention to them. However she does the same thing if the neighbor is mowing, or a boarder is sitting on the spreader ramp watching while on their phone, someone is on the tractor, someone is hand grazing their horse, or walking out to a back field with or without a horse, etc. I would say more she is a very aware horse ans instantly notices anything that’s different and doesnt like it. She will call back to herdmates or other horses, but does not initiate calling herself. She is best alone in the arena.

The only time she exhibits classic herdbound behavior is when she is ulcery, other then that shes fine being brought in alone or left in, I’ve never turned her out alone but I strongly suspect she’d have a meltdown. She was on regumate for 3 months and it did not help with the spooky, herd bound, or anything else.

Shes also a horse that does better the more she is ridden, but she is still anxious.

When she bolted through the fence, there was only one horse in her field who shes not besties with since all my horses were in for heat.

[Marla_000]

Since you’re having the vet out,
I’d test for EPM.
Many people say, looking back, that spookiness was the first symptom long before Neuro deficits.

[Jumper_girl221]

Shortly after injections:
Uploading: Messenger_creation_8A9F5BDA-E350-4F9E-BD45-D126A11BDFE4.mp4… Uploading: Messenger_creation_9209F979-1A12-4127-B901-62E37581BDE6.mp4…

While back sore:

Snapchat-77055069

Last year

Messenger_creation_B6431301-E419-49BF-9173-8F9C339B2A86

[Jumper_girl221]

She was tested in April when she first came up back sore and it was negative

[NaturallyHappy]

She’s very nice…I can see why you’d like to sort her out.

I’ve often thought nice horses who wind up w an adoption agency may have a big hole somewhere. I agree w others who suggest sending her back.

However, you might look at the neck w a good veterinarian who can take and interpret those radiographs.

[equest]

Is she on a supplement for ulcer prevention now, post treatment? Especially now that she is on stall rest, that seems like a good idea. ie GutX, Relyne GI, Visceral by MadBarn and Redmond Daily Gold . I would worry about ulcers recurring while on stall rest

Do you know of any local trainers in your area who are really known for their ability to successfully employ NH techniques using groundwork? Because if you finish confidently ruling out physical issues, I think that is the way to hopefully work through her “panic mode” while keeping you safe. I agree that riding her sounds downright scary especially since she seems to know a patented technique for chucking you off now.

[nutmeg]

You have tried ear balls, yes? Or cotton batting for a sensitive thoroughbred. I’ve rubbed on a few TB’s that were model citizens with stuffed ears and unguided missiles without.

[LilRanger]

My first thought was her vision. If activity makes her nervous I wonder if she can’t see well enough to know what the commotion is. Because in my experience with ott horses, the normal day to day hustle and bustle of the track makes them pretty relaxed around a lot of human/ machine activity.

But something that they can’t see well, like concrete blocks lying in the weeds? That’s terrifying

[Amberley]

She is very cute but looks a little uncoordinated to me in both videos. Random toe dragging or odd steps and kind of an overall sloppy, out-of-rythmn look, hard to describe but I’ve seen it before in horses who turned out to have some neurologic problem or another.

[Displaced_Yankee]

She sounds like she lacks the concept of self preservation RE: the fence incident and for that reason alone I would cut my losses. My own Ponusaurus is quirky, prone to getting worked up over something and trying to pull a fast one on me…but the moment he loses balances, might run into something, etc he stops and I can gather my reins and redirect him. For him (dressage focus) he does better with work when this happens: transitions, turns, change of direction, leg yield, etc.

I second whoever above mentioned ear plugs, that may help.

For the purpose of bringing horses back into work and/or taking babies to horse shows for experience as a non-compete…(dons flame suit)…I have had success with the PerfectPrep feed through supplement. It knocks enough of the edge off to get through that first week of walking only on a long rein. Helps keep them on (the) track, me safe and the back to work on (scheduled) track. I wean off as they return to routine, work gets more physical with longer trot and canter sets. That first week of walking only is sketchy sometimes…

[Simkie]

@Jumper_girl221

She was tested in April when she first came up back sore and it was negative

There’s another causative agent for EPM that’s not included in this titer, N. hughesi. It’s not common, but might be worth checking for. UC Davis tests for it:

Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM)

And this is a bonkers suggestion but…have you considered an animal communicator? I know it’s crazy, but it’s not very expensive in the grand scheme of things and man, there are some really interesting outcomes/insights in this thread:

Animal Communicator

I still haven’t been able to sort out why my beloved pony who had surgery last fall, still cannot bend his knee after his fall in the hospital. He has VERY good medical care. We’ve been doing laser w some success, and at the advice of his veterinarian, we are going to try acupuncture. In the past, he has not tolerated it but I’ll try anything. I’ve used someone in the past but have not been able to schedule with her since his surgery last fall. Does anyone have a recommendation? @BroncoMo,…

[Marla_000]

I second testing for the other EPM parasite.
As Amberley said, lots of toe dragging in the first video
Also, I would NOT be riding her when she’s back sore.