help - advice & feedback needed - bit long sorry

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rubysmum

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Sep 11, 2006
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hi folks - am asking for guidance/feedback/any ideas re my mare & her spook/bolt thing - its a bit long - pls bear with me
ive had ruby since 2005 - she is a big strong horse - at least on the outside - inside she is much more a 15.2 anxious throughbred - shes always been a bit spooky - but these are normally quite manageable - i know the kind of things that worry her & am usualy prepared - we have a little spook/shy & then move on BUT in the last 10 months she has on 4 occasions spooked mightily & then bolted in a mad scared way - she is not excited at the time, its not ahappy thing for her, there are no commonalalities with weather, time of day, company she is in etc etc - & most worryingly there has with 1 exception [men on bikes]not been any obvious trigger - injuries to me so far have been minorish - busted up nose, damaged shoulder, bruises - last night she ran into a small tree so my arm is torn & scratcehed & i have minor concuss,when we have parted company on these occasions she continued running - on roads on 2 occasions - last night a kind couple in a car saw her & caught her & held her while i did the walk of shame - on 2 occasions my daughter & her pony have been involved with the pony also taking off - last night a teenager on her newish horse was with us - her mare turned tail & the girl was injured - not seriously buy was v scared - i feel awful - full of what ifs.....
before you ask - her teeth were done at end of jan - she had shaitsu on weds [have just spoken to the therapist who said she was fine - no back or pain issues then] & ruby has a well fitting good quality treeless saddle So - the big issue - my fear is that so far i have escaped lightly - no major injuries, no horse hurt & no no road accidents but should i as a single parent with a young child should i make the heartbreaking decision to get rid before my luck runs out - i have just booked a ride with your mind session at the end of the month with a teacher i have lots of respect for
thanks for wading through this:confused::confused:
 
Have you had lessons on her?

I think that sometimes we have to accept that as much as we love our horses, they arent right for us.

I had this with a horse I had on loan. He was wonderful on the ground and in the school but when it came to riding him out, it all went wrong. In the end, for his safety and my safety, I had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go.
 
Personally as a mature mum myself, I wouldnt have got back on after the second time-hats off to you!
The thing that worries me are the unpredictability of it and the fact that she carries on running after having dumped you. You could be injured, anyone riding with you could be injured and she could cause an accident with traffic etc, its a disaster waiting to happen.
There are all sorts of things you could consider-vet checks, back checks, schooling, calmers etc etc BUT at the end of the day I think you will always be taking a risk-is that an acceptable one to you?
 
I wonder if it could be the treeless saddle :confused: I have no experience, personally, but my dad's horse had one and hated it. He had a physio and saddle fitter out, and everything seemed fine, no pain and it was properly fitted, but he bucked and bolted in it. As soon as he went back to his treed saddle, the behaviour stopped.

As has been said, there's a lot of considerations. You could try a calmer in the short term, have a look at her diet to see if she is perhaps intolerant of something or overly fizzed up, work on schooling, have an instructor, send her off for professional schooling, desensitisation with "scary objects", teeth, back, tack, etc. It depends on whether you are prepared to go down this route, or whether you feel it's too much of a risk. I don't have children and have been there with my TB who bolted on several occasions, so I would personally continue to investigate the issue, but you need to put your safety and your child first so I don't think anyone would disagree if you decided that Ruby simply wasn't worth the risk!

What is she like otherwise? Does she spook or try to run away with you when you ride in a school or enclosed area? Do you have lessons on her, and if so, have you asked your instructor's opinion?
 
Is it worth getting your vet involved? Can you talk to him / her and explain whats been going on? Might be worth them coming and giving her a thorough check up - and also perhaps pointing you in the direction of some other horse-professionals. Do you have a back lady / man? (I know you mentioned Shiatsu). Has the farrier ever said anything about her feet? When were they last done? Also teeth? Is always worth getting a second opinion too - apparently OH's horses teeth were just fine, but when our vet looked they were very overgrown with hooks - this could have affected his performance.
 
Yes, Sez has a good idea, what about trying a calmer? Perhaps a long-term one? it might take a while to act, but could work. Also to consider is her diet - what kind of hard feed? perhaps too much? We had to change Joe's feed, he was on a coarse mix and it was just way too nutritious and energy giving for the workload he was actually doing.
 
thanks to everyone whos taken the time to respond so far - just to clarify :
her saddle was checked in dec 2007 - shes ridden in a treeless fro 3 yrs & doesnt seem to have any issues with it - we knew she hated her old treed cos whenever she was tacked up she bit me.
98% of the time she is a fantastic, forward going, reponsive & good horse, a friend who does a lot of dressage comps - rode her recently & was v impressed with her level of schooling [nothing to do with me - she came like that] - she is occasionaly jumped by another v compatent rider who always says how responsive & enthusiastic she is.
She has never bolted in the menage & if she spooks its easy to find a reason - jacket left on gate, scary coffee cup etc.
ive had a number of lessons on her over the years - RI either really like her or dont - but none have picked up any issues & she has in the past been used [prior to me owning her] as an RDA horse.
The staff at the yard are fond of her & have never reported any handling issues - for a big horse she really doesnt throw her weight around on the ground
i have v limited funds to spend on bringing in people to look at her so need to think v carefully about that - her current dentist & farrier are well thought of in our area & both are happy with her.
the whole spook/bolt thing FEELS as though it is much more about her being terrified while out but not at anything that my sad human senses can get
im not even sure how sellable she is - many horses her age [18] are moving into a quieter life - so quiet novice hack type - but obviouslly i cant in conscience sell her as that & im not sure who else would want her.
i dont think its transferred anxiety from me cos these have happened from nowhere- thanks for reading the second chapter - does this clarify or just muddy the waters
 
What do you feed her, rubysmum? There was a horse at the RS that was lovely, forward-going and responsive, most of the time, but he would have these unpredictable little bucking fits for no reason that anyone could see. I don't know if he bolted, with me it was just the bucking, but they decided he was sensitive to sugar. So they cut all molasses (and sugar-beet too, I expect) out of his feed, and he was fine.
 
Definately look into feed. Ring someone like Simple Sysytems and discuss diet to see it she will improve with a arranged diet.

Has anyone else tried to hack her out?? See if it really is transferred vibes once and for all. But you would need to consider someone that has no fear and a good rider. :)
 
When I talked to Mark Rashid about my mare and spooking, he asked me what she was like in the field ?

In general horses only spook a short distance. What often happens is something causes them to continue - more events (rider falling off) or pain etc etc

I know with my mare that pain (she had saddle fit issues, and has DJD) are a factor. It seems to be that when she is sore, she will react sooner and bigger than when she is not. She's been on a calmer from early spring this year and that seems to have helped generally.And I've done a fair amount of work on focus and redirection of energy - but all in the school cos of the DJD meaning she is not always sound.
 
If it's a confidence issue, I highly recommend finding a good instructor who can help you through it. It's a problem I've experienced myself - having sorted out all the physical issues for bolting, we then went on to that downwards spiral of me being anxious, him picking up on it and freaking out and me getting more anxious. I attended a riding clinic and was literally forced to face my fear, and it worked brilliantly for me. It made me realise that I COULD do it, and it was my own fears stopping us. I know some people find a softer approach works better, but all the hysterical screaming and crying I did seemed to do some good! The instructor mostly worked on distraction techniques - as soon as I was cantering, he would ask me questions and I had to shout answers back. It completely took my mind off my fear of cantering and I found that, actually, my horse was very easy to bring back to a trot so long as I'm not having a panic attack on his back.
 
I think youve been extrememly brave on this mare and ,up to now, very lucky!

I agree that there are plenty of avenues still to check but I would say that in all honesty, riding her out is not a good idea at the moment. As she is no better in compny you are putting yourself and others at risk, and with the fact that she bolts onto the road etc, well it doesnt bear thinking about.

Look at her feeding, write a diary of her behaviour etc and try and find something that links it all. Definately get the vet to look at her too.

I hope it works out for you and keep safe.
 
Hi
I have been told that sometimes get more anxious the older they get why I do not know ? I would def take all the above advice and would ask the vet- Is her eyesight okay and I wander if hearing okay ? I have an older guy who is getting more spooky the older he gets but has not bolted- Has anyone else ridden your horse ?- when I was ill in december I has a lovely girl ride my guy for me but it really upset him as he loves a one to one- he became a different horse for a while and very unconfident- just thinking out loud and throwing some ideas around - I hope things work out between the 2 of you x
 
rubysmum said:
So - the big issue - my fear is that so far i have escaped lightly - no major injuries, no horse hurt & no no road accidents but should i as a single parent with a young child should i make the heartbreaking decision to get rid before my luck runs out
Click to expand...


What does your HEART tell you?

All the advice given above is brilliant and valid, but personally, I think you should seriously think about changing horses.

I know from personal experience that it's heartbreaking, especially when you've had them for a while, but your daughter is going to need you for the rest of your life.

I know some people will disagree, and say that being around horses is a dangerous pasttime anyway, but it's also meant to be enjoyable, and dicing with death (and possibly putting others in harms way) isn't fun.
(Waits to be shot down in flames) :rolleyes:

What ever you do, I know you'll make the right decision. Good luck hun, X
 
tinyted

i'm afraid i agree with the above about finally letting go and moving on so to speak.....i had 15 months of a 17:2 spawn of satan and kept believing that it would get better.....more time on bum on road than in the saddle...it didn't get better it culminated in both of us flat on road with him on top "not nice". but he used to bolt and spook and eventually sussed that it was fun to get me off.....i sold him warts and all i never lied about him but did strongly believe that with a different rider he would come good.....and he did with his new owners and though you feel a bit "thats not fair" the reality was he was happy and i was glad to have lived to tel the tale.......the other side is that maybe he can't cope with the hacking thing open spaces etc.....they can get very institutionalised and only feel safe in an arena situation?????good luck and don't feel bad if you've given it your best shot:)
 
thanks for all yr good advice - will look at her feed & have booked a ride wiv yr mind instructor for a session - i do wonder if her eyesight/hearing may be an issue altho she can both hear & see a polo at a 100 yds - hacked her out alone today & she was of course good as gold - will speak to vet asap for a general MOT - will keep you all posted - thanks again for yr responses:)
 
hi i am new to this site but was reading about your problems with your mare. Hats off to you for having the guts to carry on with her, am afraid i would have given up on the first bolt as im a nervous rider but luckily i have my daughters old irish cob who is a complete gentleman and looks after me totally.

anyway my daughter had a problem with her 16.3 mare - she was really spooky and wouldnt go forward (fortunately she doesnt bolt). She can put in a complete rodeo act (amazing to watch but obviously dangerous) and has even been known to rear under pressure. Our RI suggested putting her on Oestrus by NAF as this balances out the hormones. We did this some 6 months ago and she's a changed horse. Still a bit nervous at times but definitely 100% better. It takes about 1 month to get into the system properly but we feel it has done her a power of good.

Hope this might help :)
 
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