I’ve got one like this right now, including the running through the fence part.
Fix all the pain
CBD (I use Mikko’s Choice)
Ground work only to teach her being alone isn’t awful
Working 5-6 days a week consistently
After about 2 months of this I’m about to get back on next week.
This is another reason why I asked about the neck.
Since she seems to be managed well in terms of meeting her horsey needs, I also agree that it might be worth investigating the neuro route more… horses are horses, but I believe in large they do not react to such an unreasonable extent for no reason. Running through a fence in a blind panic is VERY alarming.
This. The evidence that can’t be un-evidenced. As it were.
Horses do things for a reason – and often the reason is driven by blind instinct in reaction to something. We don’t always need to know what triggered the reaction. Only that this is the only horse that responded, or responded to this extent.
That this horse is capable of this reaction, that the reaction happened ‘out of nowhere’ re us and all other creatures on the farm, is the information takeaway.
A reaction shown by several individuals is responding to a common cause. We can focus on the cause.
A reaction shown by only one of the group, is due to something about that one. We focus on what is different about the one who reacted, when the others didn’t.
I’m obviously not the OP so I’m sure she’ll weigh in, but she did say
Emphasis mine. It seems pretty clear this horse is very herd bound. Horses do really crazy shit when they think their friends are gone or leaving them. Yes, running through a fence is scary but I wouldn’t say the horse has a physical problem just because she really wants to be with her friends.
We spoke to an AC for the horse I mentioned above. We did do a lot of other changes at the same time, but he’s been amazing ever since. Interestingly, not once was his herd sour-ness mentioned (he’s quite herd bound), but there were many other insights that we addressed that I think helped a lot, hence me feeling confident in climbing back on him.
(My quoting isn’t working)
She really is. And very kind, one of the sweetest mares I’ve dealt with. I will also add this particular adoption agency always has very nice horses. This is the 6th? Ive gotten from them. I have gotten 3 from her trainer and been extremely pleased…one is my 9 year old gelding that was my first failed resale. Her track trainer is the main reason I got her. Then when we started having issues I looked back and she was only with that trainer about 6 weeks and raced 1x then was retired lol.
I’ve thought about the neck but the chiro didnt think it was an issue but that is definitely something to bring up with the vet.
Since apparently post injection videos didnt embed well. These are taken after the injections and you will notice the toe dragging is much better. That was something the vet commented as well. The first video is after getting her feet done, the second 3 are after the injections, but before getting them done (if you look closely shes protecting the left front slightly in turns because it was a bit loose and on her heel). In all the videos other then the most recent 2 she was barefoot behind.
She was ridden one time for under 10 minutes in april because the vet was curious about her behavior under saddle sore vs not as a diagnostic. I should add, because I didnt want to bog down the post, she initially presented just barely back sore slightly in her lumbar, I put back shoes on and she went crippled. Very very crippled which was something that made the vet look closely for KS. We ultimately decided that the shoes changed her breakover hence the jump in soreness.
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She is currently on sucrolfate while on stall rest. I personally have never noticed a single dang difference on any of the products marketed for ulcer prevention with the exception of gastrotech, which is dont believe southern states makes any difference.
I will talk to the vet about looking further into EPM, but wait till shes off stall rest and the stitches are gone. She is extra spooky currently either from stall rest or residual upset.
Ear plug: I tried them last year for a few rides and didnt notice any difference so discontinued.
Vision: I’ve thought of that, but shes only spooky for activity that is out of the ordinary, things in bushes and weeds etc aren’t what startle her. Also, shes only spooky when shes already worked up, if shes calm then she just watches weird things with interest…ie. I was about to get on the other day an 9 turkeys walked out of the woods in the scary corner, across the field and then across the ditch and road. Her entire field came galloping blowing and spooking and she watched with interest and zero spook. Then halfway through the ride the train came through and a neighbors horse started running and she got a little up but I was able to refocus her and have a lovely ride. We did skip the canter 
I shouldnt say it was out of nowhere. I initially had a much longer post and I tried to trim it to avoid the wall o text. She had 3 triggers going on, another horse in the ring which is not her preference (and unfortunately since I am the trainer she typically rides alone so I do try to ride with others), one horse in the barnyard was being hand grazed, and the neighbors were both mowing (husband and wife) and had stopped in the corner closest to rhe ring and were talking. She has made HUGE strides in her panicked reactions so my goal was to get her to a good point and stop. She was actually starting to relax and stretch and then I tried to cut across the diagonal to avoid the other horse and that’s all she wrote. Ive been thinking about it and I do wonder if if she did try to fight her panic and then it finally was to much and she overloaded hence the fence. She is normally very good about self preservation.
And I should add…she has come SUCH a long way but we cant seem to work through this anxiety. She used to be terrified of contact/pressure. After the second fall in December of 2023 we took the entire winter off for ground work, lunging and working in side reins and learning how to give to pressure. Initially stepping on a lead rope was a rear, now she gives to it and steps off it. Contact was a mini panic attack and now she almost wants to root but is grasping bit acceptance and carrying herself.
Someone mentioned getting me off turning into a habit…this is not a dirty mare. Shes not mean, and she is actually very kind until she panics. She is absolutely not deliberately getting me off, just spinning then panicking because shes alone and lost me. Even when shes having tantrums she doesnt buck, she might get light in the front end but shes also not going up fully, shes more making her opinions known and then says OK FINE when she still has to work. Ive actually been able to progress to a growl and light smack on her shoulder with my hand for extra naughty and she pouts and listens 80% of the time (rare ime for a mare).
When shes anxious she really doesnt look it from the outside but you can feel the tension in her body. If youre on the ground she sucks her lip in tight and you can see her pulse pounding…she’s genuinely scared and not trying to be bad. I find this a little cute, but when she is tense like that you can her to relax by massaging or lightly scratching her lower lip wrinkle. Shes also one that absolutely adores people and loves nothing more then to rest her nose against your bicep or on top of your shoulder against the side of your neck and just gently touch you (almost like shes just breathing you in).
But either way I need to not die from
I haven’t watched the videos yet as I need to get out the door, but Quiessence made a HUGE difference for my spooky horse. HUGE.
The videos look to me as if she is definitely back sore, but compensating. She may not feel that she has a choice. She may be storing greater and greater anxiety.
More to the left than to the right, but can see it both ways. At the trot, her hind legs do not always move evenly. Her rear toes are brushing the ground more than the front toes, and not the same on both sides.
But it may not be obvious as her forelegs seem quite measured with regular steps. Horses can have amazing ways of compensating on one or a couple of body parts, while making things look normal in other body parts. To me she seems to be doing this. Her backs and fronts aren’t always moving the same.
On the left her head movement seems more conscious of this and worried about it. Sometimes we think a horse is fiddling with the bit when they may actually be reacting to something they are feeling in their body.
Horses keep on as long as they can, and this mare seems to me to be doing that. But to me, she doesn’t seem to be fully comfortable. But not showing obvious lameness / soreness.
Horses (and people) who store up anxiety over a period of time have a tendency to have a sudden release. I wonder if that is part of the trigger mechanism to the more extreme barn sourness?
If you can send her back and be sure the rescue organization will do right by her, do that. In my opinion, this is not a horse anyone should swing a leg over again. There very well may be some kind of physical reason for her behavior, but a horse that bolts blindly into a fence is just not worth the risks of thinking you’ve fixed/managed whatever that cause is. It is right up there with rearing on my “never going to own/ride it” list of horse behaviors.
Also, for context for the lifetime care of this horse, just to add a note on the difference between an organization that is a ‘rescue’ and one that is a ‘sanctuary’.
Caveat that not everyone sticks to these informal definitions when speaking of charitable horse welfare organizations.
When thinking of the life of the animal, ‘rescue’ intends that the animal will, in time, leave the rescue org facilities or fosters, and go to an ordinary permanent owner. Good rescue orgs address medical and behavior issues that will increase the chances of placement. With the caveat that training opportunities are often limited.
In contrast, ‘sanctuary’ is the ‘last good home’. ‘Sanctuary’ is intended for animals that have physical or behavioral issues that make them hard to place in permanent homes. There is low emphasis on medical and training intervention beyond quality of life. Whatever the age of the animal when it arrives, some may live for years, even decades, in a sanctuary.
Often when we want to re-home a difficult animal, we need to clarify what type of next home that is most likely to be successful. Rehab or sanctuary? Be it private or organizational.
The most difficult are younger animals with behavior issues that don’t fit well into the intentions of most owners.
Some rescues are good at developing contacts with ‘pasture ornament’ owners who provide sanctuary. That is critical, because those owners can be very hard to find outside of rescue.
One more note on ‘rescue’ vs ‘sanctuary’ that can affect rehoming strategy == Rescue has pressure to move animals out into permanent homes to make rooms for more rescues. Every rescue org has a capacity limit, and until some animals are rehomed, they can’t take the next one. Sanctuary, on the other hand, is frequently/usually closed to new entry because they keep them for life. Until one dies, there is no room for the next one.
Anyway – big picture, that is the conundrum for all horses that have issues that make them harder to sell or rehome. Sanctuary is scarce. Rescue or straight rehoming involves expectations from the next stop that this animal may not be able to meet – and with horses, meet safely.
Notes with more detail:
’Rescue’ = Assists in removal of an animal from a poor welfare situation. Provides a place for the animal to live, sustenance, and some degree of medical care. And training. The goal is to fix problems that inhibit placement, and work toward rehoming the animal to a new permanent owner (who may owe reporting duties to the rescue org).
’Sanctuary’ = A care facility where an rescued animal can live out its life. There may be some physical/behavior rehab, but in many cases rehab isn’t a priority (other than basic quality of life). The priority is safety, care, and permanence. Sanctuary is a permanent placement (this can vary by sanctuary, and/or by animal). Basically, for horses, a voluntary pasture ornament facility.
She looks off behind to me as well.
I wouldn’t take any more chances with this mare (if I were you.) Something is wrong and you’ve been trying for 2 years to find it without success. She’s a pretty mare, but not worth dying for.
I’d send her back. A gal in my barn has been trying to medicate her gelding into sanity through various supplements for years. It hasn’t worked. If you took all the money she’s fed the horse, there would probably be enough for her to buy a sane horse.
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