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Author
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Topic: winter mayhem
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Toby&Arie
Member
Member # 969
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posted December 03, 2003 04:36 PM
Ah well nasty winds and biting temperatures have set in once more and my horse has transformed into his winter counterpart, Air Toby ![[Wink]](wink.gif) . When I took him out to the park this past week he has been feeling extremely good, spooking and jumping his way across the trails. When we went out on a group ride last weekend with about 6 other horses he was still playing up and ended up setting off a few of the horses in back of us and nearly unseating 2 riders during a canter. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) . I was therefore delivered an ultimatum from my instructor- get to the front of the line or the rear and for some dumb reason I said the back and went about bringing him there. Umm- he didn't like that so much. I had him pulled off to the side a ways and facing the back of the line and once I asked him to walk forward and he saw the horses going past him he got in a bit of an anxiety attack/hissy fit phase and started jumping all around and getting the other horses near him all worked up again. Then he did something he has never done before, reared up!! ![[Horse On 2]](graemlins/horseon2.gif) not a fun thing @ all!!I just wasn't on my guard for that one but I stuck it out and took him to the front of the line from there on out where he behaved well for the rest of the ride, happily.
Well to get to the point, I was considering supplementing Quietex to his feed to make him a little easier to manage outdoors in such nasty weather especially when we are on the group rides because I don't want him to risk the other horses' and riders' safety. Plus it is a very bustling city park in which we ride, where no one listens to the rule "horses only on the bridle path", and there are a lot of things which could set him off when he gets so hyper spooky. I am going to be riding him a lot and i will try lunging him before I go out so as to burn off excess energy when the ring is available. Quietex is just another option I am considering. I have never used it though and was just wondering about the experiences of those of you who had. Does it work well, any side effects, any product better suited etc? Or any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for reading this!
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"You know you are going really fast when you are galloping the same way as the wind is blowing, yet there is wind in your ears."
Posts: 381 | From: NYC | Registered: Nov 2003
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Dawn
Member
Member # 14
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posted December 03, 2003 04:55 PM
Did you up his feed for the winter? Or have you considered cutting back on feed?
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Heard in the midst of a handwriting exam ~ "And to think, we could've been bio-chem majors."
Posts: 6885 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2002
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Jumpers
Member
Member # 961
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posted December 03, 2003 06:20 PM
Natural Equine Calming Supplements
Here's a link for a company that sells homeopathic remedies wihch are all natural. I tend to err on the side of natural rather than chemical.
I've known people who used Quietex successfully and personally I never saw any ill effects but I don't know enough about it to comment much.
I would definitely get the horse off of all unnecessary "hot" grains and up the hay intake instead. 2nd and 3rd crop Alfalfa has a higher nutrition content than grass or timothy hays and horses who require grain often do not need it when on 2nd and/or 3rd crop Alfalfa.
Longeing should help although rarely helps a scared horse - only a hyper one. It seems that your horse is more hyper than scared though.
You may consult with your vet about the use of Quietex. He/she would be the most qualified to outline the strengths and weaknesses of the drug.
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"If I fail - I fail. But at least it will be a monumental failure." Mel Gibson
Posts: 3011 | Registered: Nov 2003
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted December 03, 2003 06:26 PM
I wouldn't suggest using that. Many people become dependent on it and don't know how to handle their horses when it isn't available.
I would ride and get a good amount of energy out before taking him out again. Definitly work him around the barn for a bit until he starts calming down. Cold weather seems to excite horses MUCH more. It's like they are a whole new horse. Definitly lunge..it helps a lot to get some of the bucking and idiot out of hiim.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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Toby&Arie
Member
Member # 969
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posted December 03, 2003 08:40 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions! He has been steadily getting a little less than 1/2 scoop of 10% grain in the morning and again in the early evening plus about 6-7 biscuits of hay on average every day. Mainly we do most of our exercise in the park because my horse does not like working in the indoor arena and it takes a lot to get him to really expend his energy in there but I am going to do lunging whenever it is free. He is a little bit difficult to lunge (tends to just turn to face me and doesn't really mind the whip cracking behind his butt) but I had posted about this and received good suggestions to try out. I haven't started lunging before now though because I really didn't need to but now that its 22 degrees out its a different story ![[Smile]](smile.gif) . So I am definitely going to start working on that.
I am just going to keep my options open- I definitely do not want to become dependent on the supplement by any means- it is really just a backup in case the lunging and extra riding hours do not cut it. And mainly it would be used for when we go out with other horses since he doesnt do anything really crazy like the rearing stint when I ride him out by myself. I think the combination of the weather and the horses just gets him more wound up than usual. I'm just going to hang tight (literally ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) ) and exercise him as much as possible for now and see where to go from there.
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"You know you are going really fast when you are galloping the same way as the wind is blowing, yet there is wind in your ears."
Posts: 381 | From: NYC | Registered: Nov 2003
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Jumpers
Member
Member # 961
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posted December 05, 2003 06:40 AM
Well, good luck to you! I think you're chosing a great path of action and you should definitely see results.
Another idea I thought of us was this: You said that indoor arena riding is not his cup-o-tea so you might try mixing up the arena riding work a bit. That would mean to set up a couple of small crossrails and trot poles. Mix up his routine so he doesn't get bored with the indoor work.
You can also try working on some bending and suppling excercises such as shoulder in, lengthened trot on a long rein, etc. I've found these simple exercises to work wonders on a horse's mind. Even though the routine has been changed just a little, it can make a huge difference in the attitude of a horse.
If you could work on these exercises plus some simple walk, trot, canter for about 30 minutes before taking him out, you would probably notice a huge difference.
Also try transitions within the gait such as moving from a collected trot to a working trot then back again - stuff like that. When you're cantering give him a little more rein and open him up a bit across the diagonal or down the long side then bring him back to a nice slow, more collected canter, then move him out again.
So far I've only met one horse who TOTALLY despised arena work and would not come around no matter what! He's an older quarter horse who horrible conformation. I used to ride him for my friend and this horse was just terrible. You literally had to kick and smack him with the whip to get him in the arena then he'd just stand there. If I was lucky I could coax him into a painfully slow walk for about one circle then he's stop and refuse to move. If I tapped him with the whip he's pin his ears and kick out with his hind legs.
Take the same horse out on trail and he'd walk, trot and canter along happily. I think his horrible conformation made it very difficult (maybe even impossible ) for him to bend and supple in the arena. He was as slab sided as a barn.
Good luck!!
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"If I fail - I fail. But at least it will be a monumental failure." Mel Gibson
Posts: 3011 | Registered: Nov 2003
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