I have had my horse for 2 previous winters. Each year around mid November he becomes very difficult to handle. All summer he is a kick ride and unflappable. But when the weather starts changing he is hyper alert, spooky, and high energy. He is almost unrideable ( rearing, bucking,bolting) typically I spend most of my time lunging him to just get on and be happy to have a walk with no issues. He has had his back x rayed and had been scoped both were very good. I’m wondering what could cause this drastic change? I live in nh so we do get colder winters. He is blanketed and ridden with a quarter sheet. This year I started early with some diet changes in cause he was getting seasonal ulcers and added papaya purée and aloe Vera juice as well as alfalfa which he also gets in summer frequently. He is also out 24/7 with 24/7 quality hay. But we had a cold snap and the same panic personality came out.
Does his turn out situation change when the weather changes?
I know mine are coming in earlier now that it is getting dark so early.
Could it be that shorter turn out crosses the line of what makes him happy to what makes him not happy?
This is a valid point. But unfortunately it doesn’t change he is always outside with access to his double stall.
I’d suspect that it might have to do with changes in the quality and quantity of the grass and hay or just of the overall ration.
A couple of possibilities: late-season grass is often higher in sugar; the hay he’s getting may be higher in sugar; the switch from grass to hay may be causing some nutritional imbalances, such as lower magnesium or lower nutrition overall; if he’s getting more grain to offset the loss of pasture he might be getting too much or perhaps the grain is not the best fit for his needs.
So, what is he eating? Has anything changed?
If his spookiness is limited to the fall and spring months, it might also be connected to wild critters roaming about. Bears, deer, coyotes, moose, and such. Horses will be aware of their presence long before we are, and some will be spooked by them.
I got my guy in July this year so everything is still new for us. He has definitely been more alert this fall, especially on the trails than he was over the summer. I’ve mostly attributed it to things looking so different on the trails with the leaves all coming down and critter activity, plus some cooler weather.
Very interesting point about the wild critters. So he has had both experiences as far as grass but mainly he is not turned out on grass and just gets hay. Last winters barn, even tested the winter hay and he was in a dirt paddock. It seems directly tied to temperature. If there is a cold snap he overnight is electric even when blanketed. He stays spooky and very alert throughout the winter.Do you have food suggestions? I have often wondered if it is diet related but i am a loss.
He eats nutrena balancer 1 pound and 3 pounds of nutrena pro force fuel am and pm. He also gets two flakes of alfalfa hay, unlimited 2nd cut hay. as well as a multivitamin smartpak, vitamin e, and a hoof supplement. He also gets papaya puree in am and aloe vera juice pm. He is not electric on this diet in the summer months.
Yes, it is odd. He is fine with the leaves and changes but the second it is cold he is unmanageable. I hope your guy adjusts and settles!
While it seems like PSSM is almost a knee-jerk reaction of the day, I would consider testing, as Type 2 horses seem to really struggle with cooler weather. I’m not sure how they tend to settle once the weather is and stays cold(er), but changing to cold(er) weather seems to set many of them off.
This is very interesting! We suspected it on the first winter. i did the hair test for type 1 and he was negative but i didn’t want to the muscle biopsy because it seemed invasive.We did try a low carb diet but didnt notice a difference. are there other management suggestions you might have? i can google as well.
Type 2 is about more, high quality protein, not low(er) carb like the Type 1.
EquiSeq has hair testing for Type 2 and variants. It’s been under scrutiny for a while because they haven’t ever published research on what they’re looking at. But U of Minnesota is in on things too and supposedly published research is not far off. They’re doing more testing for validation and more.
So, you can spring for some testing, or start treating as if Type 2 and gets lots of protein, including potentially adding whey isolate powder to the diet.
This is very valuable information! Thank you! I will do some research/testing.
This is a feed for a high performance horse, no? It says for horses with the most demanding routines.
Can you change to something thats more just a forage, like roughage chunks/pellets?
Purina itself is known to be a “hotter” feed.
I would try gradually switching to something like Masterfeeds roughage chunks for the winter. Unless this horse is in heavy work, that feed just seems over the top and I’m not surprised he is excited!
proForce Fuel is fine for a lot of horses, they don’t HAVE to be working hard. They even have feeding recommendations for horses in “maintenance”, as well as varying degrees of work. 6lb is on the lower end rate for a 1000lb horse in light work.
Purina is a brand (and not who makes ProForce Fuel, that’s Nutrena), with a wide range of feeds. Same with Nutrena. Not all of them are “hotter” feeds
Sorry I don’t have any answers for you, but I can commiserate. My gelding, whose diet/turnout/routine don’t change, also turns into a bit of a dingbat to handle this time of year. I blame the cold wind and rain blowing up his backside and just do a lot of focused groundwork.
it feels nice to have someone understand! I was on the fence about thinking it was just medical and leaving him alone or doing like you said and doing focus work.I have been watching a lot of Warwick Schiller who has a lot of relationship/focus work.But i didnt want to put him through that if he was just plain physically uncomfortable. But i guess it doesn’t hurt!
Thank you for the support! He is a hard keeper and large (18hh) which has led to the recommendation from our barn manager for this feed.
he will not eat pellet hay (alfalfa, Timothy, etc.) We tried this when he was on a pssm diet but needed something to go with his fat supplement and vitamin e.
You are right he is not a performance horse but is a hard keeper and large (18 hh) so needs a lot of calories to maintain weight. the hard thing to decipher is that he eats this during the warmer months and is not reactive. But i do wonder if a mineral or vitamin seasonally becomes deficient that causes this? it is strange. I appreciate your help with this!
Is the amount you’re feeding at least the minimum for his weight?
I also have a very temperature sensitive horse, putting a back on track sheet on, under a blanket if temperature calls for it for 30 minutes before I ride makes a huge difference for her. This is especially helpful if the temperature has dropped suddenly.
I know you said you blanket him, but sometimes putting on one blanket more than you think they really need helps keep them a bit more level in the cold. You don’t want them to sweat under the blanket, but you in some cases you do want them to be warm.
Not sure if I’m describing what I mean well, so I’ll give an example.
In one case, in a barn full of 13+ horses, all but one would be content in a sheet. The one would loose her mind in turn out and her stall. I started putting a medium on her instead (or a heavy when every one else was in a medium) and she calmed right down. She didn’t feel cold under the lighter blanket, but for sure changed her disposition when she had a heavier blanket on.
