I meant untrained to an electric fence so they do not know it is electrified until they touch it. They also learn not to touch it again. So do I! I noticed I was standing back away from the fence at Mum’s and she doesn’t have electric fences.
The unelectrified fence our horses reach over and graze on the other side, because as we know, grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
I am looking forward to an update OP. Have you noticed any differences yet?
So many wonderful, thoughtful posts… thank you! I very much enjoyed all of them and appreciate the insight and the experience of others.
As a way of an update, things are on an upswing. However, due to the non-scientific nature of throwing a lot of things at the problem at once, I cannot be certain exactly which thing is helping the most. Here is the update:
about the time of my post I went back to some basics… got rid of the neck stretcher after the vet had suggested it, as I had a hunch the head winging was more in opposition to the device than anything. Did a LOT ground work in the form of long lining, etc., light longe, poles, etc. for one week. At this same time, re-started sulfulcrate which he had been on for hind gut ulcers. Again, only based on a hunch that it wouldn’t hurt and could help.
brought him to a trainer I worked with before, and whom I very much respect, for a very light lesson the following weekend… ground work and ridden at walk/trot, with an emphasis on strengthening exercises for the hind end, lots of encouragement to me to not fret about where his head was, focus on engaging push in the hind end. Left feeling hopeful.
following week (last week), continued a blend of ground work and follow up on our homework from the lesson.
same week chiro/accu, which is administered by my vet. She felt he was “out” at the poll and hip. She also added some Chinese herbs (Body Sore). This has virtually eliminate the tripping. By the way, I could see, as could she and my trainer who pointed it out the week before, his right hip traveling “higher” than the other.
this past weekend, visited same trainer. Even more improvement… was it the Chiro? the sulfulcrate? Or those injections from the visiting vet in early January actually making a difference? Not sure… Still, he comes out a little unsure how to move into the contact, little reluctant to push forward in the trot at first, still less strong to the right but we aren’t fussing about it… just encouraging him to step up and into a soft contact while using his hind end correctly, and avoid his tendency to get behind the bit by encouraging to open his throat latch with an open stride. More strengthening exercises like square corners, lateral work like leg yield to encourage stepping under himself… very good encouragement from trainer is really supportive and good reminders. Left feeling even more hopeful.
now we have snow and icky weather, so this week will be less productive than others… so we will see. Might be a week of ground work again. Will see trainer again next weekend.
Ultimately, I am really unsure what made things take a positive step, but I have a happier horse. Not turned totally around, but definitely much happier. Going to keep with what we are doing and take our time.
Thank you again for input. Will update again in a few weeks time. Next chiro is in four more weeks.
I am so glad you are making progress with your horse.
Contact is a matter of trust to the horse, their trust that you won’t try to choke them with too hard contact, and trust that you will give with the reins a little bit when they obey the slowing down or stopping hand aids.
When I work with my lesson stable’s horses who are reluctant to accept contact I make sure to keep my fingers relaxed and supple.
Also, when the horse’s head is moving forward, I give a little bit more with my relaxed fingers when my hand is the furthest forward. I only give halting or slowing down hand aids when the horse’s head is moving BACK (really subtle at the trot), and when his head moves forward again my fingers are relaxed and giving a little bit more to encourage the horse to reach just a fraction of an inch more forward with his relaxed mouth.
At one 1/2 hour lesson a week it generally takes me 4-6 months to reliably get relaxed happy contact that the horses willingly reach for. These horses were either sucking back, head flinging, pulling my seat out of the saddle as their head went down at a high speed, trying to run away (at a walk and trot ha, ha) and showing great discomfort with the bit and contact.
I have found that a lot of horses LIKE kind sensitive hands with relaxed fingers. Of course, horses being horses, others will prefer firmer contact.
You are making progress. Just remember, even with the vet work and the good training it will take TIME to get everything good and reliable.
** Unpopular opinion alert** I’ve worked with numerous humans for whom chiro made their problems much worse. Why? Two reasons: 1) Space is created in the joint without adding stability. 2) A misalignment creates disfunctional movement patterns, which in turn leads to scar tissue adhesions in the fascia. Over time, those adhesions become thicker & lose elasticity. You can adjust & realign until you’re blue in the face. It will be pulled right back into misalignment by those fascial adhesions unless they’re dissolved. Too few chiros are well-versed enough in strength training & PT to prescribe exercises to patients to avoid pitfall #1. Even fewer know how to manually manipulate the soft tissues to address pitfall #2. I’m seeing more that are Graston or HawkGrip certified. Imo, they all need to be. And using those techniques 20 times as often as they do adjustment if you haven’t already, consider adding a sports massage therapist and/ or equine certified Graston body worker.
They tested for PSSM. What about EPM? I had a horse come down with EPM. In retrospect, there were some strange symptoms in the early, pre Dx stage. Some looked like PSSM, some like Lyme, & some like a coincidence.
I have one of these without the cranky issues. Horrible pulling in contact, will not soften and be round. He is a VERY sincere, honest tryer and I think would die for me working under saddle. I wanted to acupuncture him, and my vet recommended X-ray the neck~two old fractures and arthritis. We injected the neck, both sides and huge improvement, much much happier horse. In retrospect he should have tried to kill me with the pain he was must have been having
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