Why would bombproof horse suddenly be extremely looky/spooky about footing?

[Helicon]

I am asking because I have one in training. He’s normally as super nice little amateur friendly horse. He’s been under saddle several years. Here is what we have tried so far:

one week of ulcergard (no difference)
two months on epm medication
vet has checked eyes thoroughly
just working through it on contact/ and on loose rein
breath smells normal (no bad tooth smell)

It will seem like we’re onto something but then he reverts. Training is consistent, fair, kind, no surprises. Horse is quite capable, his old/usual evasion was to want to drop behind leg.

It seems like he is most worried about footing variations that are darker/wetter?. My footing is really pretty good but sprinkler system is not 100 percent even in coverage.

[xQHDQ]

This may be strange but has his stall moved or his stall neighbors? We had a horse who got a new neighbor that wouldn’t let him sleep (not sure why the horse didn’t feel comfortable sleeping next to this new horse). As a consequence, he got very spooky and difficult. Moved the new neighbor, horse slept, horse went back to normal.

Could also be a neck issue or other lameness that isn’t obvious. When my horse starts slamming on the breaks at E (nowhere else, just going down the long side from E to H), then I know it’s time to inject his neck.

[RhythmNCruise]

Has anything changed in his diet?

Years ago I was feeding Triple Crown Sr. to everyone in my barn. This was long before TSC carried Triple Crown feed. I went to get some feed one day and they’d just sold their last bag of Senior. So I decided to just get some Complete instead. (This was before I was as educated about nutrition, too.)

My (then) young gelding had been a push/kick ride from the day I started him. My main goal with each ride was to get him in front of my leg, and it was no easy task. Still, at least he was quiet and pretty much unflappable. A dump truck of gravel could unload right beside him and he’d hardly cock an ear in its direction.

Well, I went to ride him one day after the feed change and he was looking at everything. When he shied sideways and snorted because a six-inch high weed was blowing in the breeze near him, I wondered what in the heck was wrong with him. I had been enjoying that he was a little more forward-going and less work in that respect, but this spooky, looky, shying at everything side of him was bizarre. I hadn’t put two and two together yet, but when I got feed the next time and switched back to TC Senior, I realized it immediately. He was right back to being mellow about life.

Years later I was boarding him and the BO, without my knowledge, switched him from a ration balancer to a very high carb sweet feed. He went bonkers.

I also knew a horse many years ago that would go from safe for a tiny child to take lessons on (he was truly a saint) to a fire-breathing dragon that was jumping out of his skin if he was fed ANY alfalfa.

Some of them are very sensitive to diet changes and certain ingredients. So any change in feed, supplements, or hay could cause them to suddenly “see things” and be spookmeisters when they normally couldn’t care less.

[atr]

My navicular boy gets spooky if his feet hurt. Might be worth snapping a couple of x-rays.

[skydy]

How long has he been with you? Has he moved from his home barn before?

There could be many reasons for this. I’d rule out a feed change and any physical discomfort (especially scope for ulcers) and go from there.

[IPEsq]

Pain. I knew one horse who was just so weird about changes in footing. Light, dark, wet, dry, and he kind of freaked out his first time on GGT type footing. And then he started doing weird stuff like stopping at jumps, stopping at ground poles. Turned out to be a stifle issue. Weird, but, horses? I guess.

I also own one who about lost his marbles when asked to walk by a pile of snow. That was still around after many days of snow piles being around all over where horse usually went. Normally that kind of stuff doesn’t bother him at all. He was having some nerve pain.

I could go on…

[JB]

Breed and age? Thinking about PSSM which tends to start showing up in the 5-10yo range and when work starts to increase.

Lyme can do this as well

[sascha]

Adding on to other ideas. MSM can make some go cuckoo bananas so if that was added before the silliness started, I’d axe it first and if that didn’t yield a change in a few days, start diving down the other rabbit holes. I’ve literally known people cry tears of joy a week after stopping MSM because they “get their horse back.”

Note, this is not a blanket reaction to MSM. I have a natural nutjob who isn’t affected by it at all. If anything is more chill on it.

[ladipus]

Lyme can cause all sorts of spooky and anxious behavior , neck issues , EDM, pssm, and even just pain

[HiJumpGrrl]

Glandular ulcers that don’t respond to PPI. Would be worth scoping to look at his stomach. It often takes more than a week to respond to PPI for squamous ulcers, and glandular ones need a completely different treatment (misoprostol and sucralfate, typically)

[atr]

Good point. I had the world’s most laid back Quarter Horse go totally feral on MSM.

[strangewings]

I had one get spooky about shadows when she was about to have an episode of moon blindness

[4horses]

I have one horse who had bad luck and somehow managed to step in a couple holes as a young horse. Now she’s quirky about footing changes… a change in color of the grass for example will cause her to hop sideways. She’s especially suspicious of pavement and patched potholes… you know potholes eat horses.

And white cement. For whatever reason she thinks white cement is more slippery then black cement. She will cross if someone else goes first… but that white cement is definitely a reason to snort and look and carefully, oh so carefully walk over it.

I don’t mind it. It’s just who she is and nothing is going to change that.