Ulcers, separation anxiety, or something else?

[aBayDay]

9 y.o. warmblood gelding, I moved him to a new barn about 4 months ago and have since been dealing with an increase in ‘quirky’ behavior. He is now on solo 24/7 pasture turnout at new barn (as opposed to half day turnout on mud-free gravel lots at last barn). He has always been an alert horse, but has become more and more alert/anxious at this new barn. While it seems like he has settled into his turnout life well enough, he hasn’t settled into other aspects of the barn.

• He is always on high alert in the indoor arena at our new barn, especially when he can hear his friends calling and can’t see them. I have a hard time getting him to focus on me. Very tense at first under saddle, head tossing and rearing sometimes when I first get on, and then slowly relaxes during the ride. We usually end up with a relaxed horse after 20 minutes of riding.
• He is becoming less and less willing to walk into the barn/into the crosstie area with every day. He’s generally fine once he’s on the cross ties, but heading to the barn he will have frequent bouts of freezing and staring off into the distance, then planting his feet and refusing to move towards the barn.
• I am working with a groundwork trainer to help him relax in these situations (think Warwick Schiller, TRT method type groundwork), and it seems to be helping a bit, but his behavior just seems off to me. He gets very frustrated during our groundwork sessions, and he’ll rear up, try to bite, etc… when I ask him to focus on me or do something that doesn’t involve focusing on his friends. He would occasionally act up like this at our last barn, but not so frequently, and usually with a much higher trigger point.
• A very slight girth sensitivity recently when tacking up, but loves being groomed.
• He is perfectly happy to leave his turnout, and doesn’t seem concerned about leaving his friends at all, these behaviors kick in when he realizes we are headed to the barn, not to go hand graze, and when we are riding in the indoor arena. He is occasionally like this in the outdoor arena too (where he can see his friends), but not as often.

I know these behaviors probably don’t come off as anything super concerning/extreme, but he is so much more anxious than at our previous barn. He has a vet appointment for teeth/vaccines in a week and a half, so I can get him scoped for ulcers and discuss with my vet then, but just curious if these behaviors raise any flags or sound familiar to any of you? My thoughts:

• Does he just need more time to settle into to the new barn, or will he just always find this new indoor to be spooky? These behaviors have almost gotten worse over time, not better, so I don’t think he’ll just start to settle in on his own.
• Spring grass causing anxiety? He had no grass at previous barn.
• Ulcers?
• Separation anxiety caused by his new living situation?
• Magnesium Deficiency? We do live in an area with low soil magnesium, and he is only on a ration balancer right now (Enrich Plus). I ordered MagRestore today just to give it a try since he fits many of the behaviors listed on their checklist.

[RJC]

Short version: I would treat for ulcers. Nexium (generic) would be a cheap thing to try first

Long version: I moved my very sweet gelding about a year ago. I had him on preventative gastroguard for a week before and two weeks after the move, and then continued with Outlast 2x a day for over a month, so I thought I had ulcer prevention totally covered. I chalked his new spastic herdboundness up to having 2 other horses on the property instead of 20. Groundwork helped. He seemed nervous in the barn and unhappy to be on crossties, whereas I used to leave him in the aisle just fine while he napped at our old place. Figured it was because there were no other horses inside.

He was very very unhappy after fall deworming and shots, so I restarted the Outlast and he got better. Vet and I agreed he probably just had an upset tummy from the drugs. He was spooky all winter in the indoor, some days worse than others. I figured it was still him getting used to a new place. He’s on and off had sore pecs since I’ve owned him, so I chalked the touch of girthiness up to that and looked into other styles of girth. He was a bit more touchy than usual over his flanks, but we were working on his core fitness so I thought it was sore obliques.

Fast forward to this spring- enough little things have added up that I tried generic Nexium (60mg/day, i.e. 3 pills). About 2 weeks in (ended up doing 45 days of total treatment) I had my old horse back. Still on alert and ready to spook at windy treelines, but sparkly eyed, happy to be groomed alone inside for extended periods, happy to do whatever I want under saddle, trying to please… I could kick myself for waiting so long to try a treatment. His signs were so subtle…but about $50 in meds gave me an obviously happier, more comfortable horse. I had spent more on the Outlast… ah well. Now we know and I’ll have the generic Nexium on deck for show season.

[RhythmNCruise]

Treat for ulcers. This is exactly how my horse was when I sold my farm (where he’d lived for the first 10 years of his life) and moved him to a small boarding operation. He started out okay and slowly regressed. He was there for 2 years and only in the last 6 months or so did he start to act semi-normal (still not entirely himself). I wasn’t as educated about ulcers as I should have been and kept trying to pin his behavior on other things. He was EXACTLY like you describe…right down to being fine until taken in the barn. Mine actually got so anxious in the barn I would have to take him out again…literally trembling and visible heartbeat with wild eyes.

Moved to a different barn that shared the same huge piece of property and he settled down a lot, but still had moments of nervousness now and then.

Moved him to our current barn and he lost his freaking mind and I thought he was going to die of a heart attack. Finally got and took the advice to do an Ulcergard trial and BINGO! I could tell instantly that it was making a difference and by the end of a month’s treatment I had my good old boy back.

He’s also one that will look at stuff, but he’s always been reasonable about it. He was absolutely off his rocker by the time I decided to try Ulcergard. That’s been at least a year ago and my boy is living his best life now. Thank goodness. It’s hard to see them so obviously upset. That has to be miserable for a horse.

[aBayDay]

Thanks for the thoughts so far! It seems like ulcers are going to be the #1 thing to rule out. I’ll start him on full tubes of ulcerguard ($$ouch$$) today, and discuss with his vet when they come out next week. I would love for ulcers to be the answer, I just want my sweet goofy boy back!

@Amberley

Plus the anxiety went away if she was ridden before noon (90%) or off property at a busy venue (100%). You should definitely check but it was not our problem.

When I ride during the morning on weekend days he does seem to relax much faster than when I ride him after work during the week. I wonder why that is! My boy also seems to love having a busy barn, but unfortunately I don’t have a busy barn option in my area that I feel comfortable boarding at. I thought that this switch to 24/7 turnout would be perfect for him, so it’s hard to see him struggle with finding relaxation now.

@RJC

Fast forward to this spring- enough little things have added up that I tried generic Nexium (60mg/day, i.e. 3 pills). About 2 weeks in (ended up doing 45 days of total treatment) I had my old horse back. Still on alert and ready to spook at windy treelines, but sparkly eyed, happy to be groomed alone inside for extended periods, happy to do whatever I want under saddle, trying to please… I could kick myself for waiting so long to try a treatment. His signs were so subtle…but about $50 in meds gave me an obviously happier, more comfortable horse. I had spent more on the Outlast… ah well. Now we know and I’ll have the generic Nexium on deck for show season.

I only did ulcerguard for a few days before the move, and maybe a day or two after, I wish I had kept it up for longer. He does get a healthy portion of Outlast with his AM and PM ration balancer, but I can see that not being enough for the stresses of moving to a new barn and taking on a completely new living situation.

@RhythmNCruise

Moved him to our current barn and he lost his freaking mind and I thought he was going to die of a heart attack. Finally got and took the advice to do an Ulcergard trial and BINGO! I could tell instantly that it was making a difference and by the end of a month’s treatment I had my good old boy back.

It would be such a relief if ulcerguard is the answer! I’m glad you were able to figure it out eventually, it’s hard when they aren’t displaying all of the classic ulcer symptoms.

[aBayDay]

I’ll provide updates in case any of this ends up being useful for someone else in the future. I’ve decided to do a quick magnesium trial before starting an ulcergard trial. From what I’ve read, the symptoms are very similar, but magnesium is way cheaper, ulcergard can block mg absorption so it’s tough to trial both at once, and we live in an area with naturally low mg levels. I’m traveling a lot this month, so it’ll be easier to do a consistent ulcergard trial when I am home for a month straight, while it is easy to do a mg trial while I am away since it is just added to his grain. Mg being used in MagRestore. Other working theory is that he’s just lacking consistent rides, since he doesn’t get ridden when I am away.

• 12 days off prior to June 1

• June 1- Took about 10 minutes of groundwork in the indoor before he was calm enough to get on. Once I was on, he settled pretty well and put in some great work. Rode in Morning.

• June 2- Day off

• June 3- Very stormy weather, diarrhea, came in with a cut on his leg. Very spooky in indoor, reared when I tried to get on the first time. More groundwork, finally relaxed enough for me to get on. Rode for about 20 minutes, and he relaxed a bit but still tense and on edge. Decided to call it on a good note. Rode in evening.

• June 4- too stormy to ride.

• June 5- 2g of Magnesium First day of magnesium trial, started with Magnesium supplement that I had on hand while I wait for MagRestore to arrive. Rode in outdoor. Spooked at jumps in field, and a bit balky. Nothing ‘naughty’, but not eager to work. Rode in late afternoon

• June 6- 2g of Magnesium It took about 5 minutes to get settled and get on. Pigeon mating fest in indoor. Once on he was well behaved but very ‘head up’ and didn’t feel very supple. rode in evening

• June 7- 2g of Magnesium very good only rode in field. A little lazy. Trotted some cavalettis. Warm and sunny. Rode in evening.

• June 8- 6g/day of MagRestore First day of MagRestore. warm, sunny, morning ride in the indoor. Very well behaved, A+. No groundwork needed before getting on, seemed calm and relaxed the whole ride. Started out inverted but worked into some nice flatwork.Totally fine when a pigeon flew up in front of his face.

• June 9- 6g/day of MagRestore Sunny and warm. Spooky coming in from turnout, saw deer at the far end of the jump field. Spent 15-20 minutes grazing and watching the deer. When the deer got too close he became scared, reared a bit and started circling. Worked on staying calm, then brought him into crossties. Quick groom then back to turnout. Seemed anxious on crossties the whole time. Not sure if I should have tried riding, but didn’t feel set up for success. Morning.