Looking for any and all advice...my daughter has a 14.2hh POA pony. She got him Easter Sunday this year. He has been a great pony for the most part. We really didn't know alot of his history, we bought him from a young woman who was training him dressage and hoped to sell him for alot more money, but came up pregnant with a high risk pregnancy, so she had to sell him. Anyway, he's been pretty good up until now. My daughter will be 11 in December and really is not afraid, she's fallen off more times than I can count due to spooking, bucking, pony stopping at the jump..you name it. We've taken him to a couple shows and he's done great. Placing first and second in most classes...but never really not getting a ribbon. After the last dressage show, he got grand champion, 2 blues in novice rider, she was so proud. Since then, he has begun to really twitch his tail and when she asks him to canter, he really resists and if she keeps pushing him, he bucks her off. I had an alternative therapist come out and she adjusted him and his back was really sore and was having some spasms. That appears to be better now. She went to ride tonight and he really bucked her off as she asked for the canter. I just got frustated and thought, he's just being bad now. So we put him in round pen and made him really gallop around until his tongue hung out. She tried to canter again, he started to buck again. We round penned him again....she tried one more time to canter....he was so pooped, but he eventually did it without bucking her off. Did I do the right thing? It's so hard to tell, I'm worried that maybe he is hurting somewhere, but then the other side of my head is telling me he's just being a pony and getting away with what he can with this little girl. I know she is the one who will have to make him mind, and thank goodness she has the will to keep trying without being afraid. My vet is coming tomorrow..I just want her to give me the ok that he's not hurting...I'm worried that maybe his hocks could be bothering him...she has jumped him over crossrails quite a bit too. He's somewhere between 10-12 years old...what do you guys think...am I missing anything...anyone else had anything like this happen? I can't afford to go and find another pony, so I need to get him past this...thanks...Kim
i would look into saddle fit and/or placement. I have a mare that was doing great, but after sometime she started getting "naughty". first tails swishing, then a buck here and there, then a rear here and there till she got to hte point where she would move and the site of the saddle, and kick her belly when i went to cinch her up. Does the horse move away, lay its ears back or swish its tail as you are setting the saddle on? even if it doesnt still consider saddle fit. when i got a saddle that fit my horse she was a totally different horse!!! what i thought were behavior issues were actually her telling me she was hurting. I would defineately look into pain of some sort as a cause, especially if the horse was sore and had spasms, thats another sign of a poor fitting saddle, or possibly a injury or unbalanced rider... let us know.
Kim, a few ideas for you. Like Kris said, I would check saddle fit and also check his teeth and bit. The next thing would be his hocks, like you said. I have a mare that was back sore, swishing tail when I put the saddle on and flinching when I pressed hard on her back, sounds like saddle problem right? Wrong, ended up being a sore hock. After a cortisone injection she was fine, no more soreness I definitely think you are doing the right thing with having your vet out. When a horse/pony is good and then starts acting up "out of the blue" it's usually a pain issue somewhere. Keep us posted on what you find out.
I agree with the girls that its good that you are getting the vet out too. My young 4 year old gelding was a dream under saddle from the beginning and out of the blue he began tail swishing and really stubborn about moving out. With him it was a saddle pad change that he needed. He just does not carry any weight on his backbone no matter what we feed him and he just needed on of those pads that you can pound on and it absorbs it all. Once the pad was changed that was it he is perfect again. Good luck and let us know what they find.
thanks for all your responses. Vet is coming today at 5:30 to check him out. He is a pretty stocky little boy. Has a real nice back and great for bareback riding. She has a little Stuben Rex saddle that she uses, but really just one of the plain little pads. The saddle has been checked by the therapist and her trainer, it fits him well. I was wondering if I shoult get one of those numna's I've been reading about...they look like they are a good shock absorber? I do hope she finds something, cause I hate to think that he's just turned onery all of a sudden, but if it is, I've been told that she's gonna have to be the one to correct him, as he needs to respect her.
I'm back from the barn. He is still pretty sore along his back. She did the flex test...he's not really bad there. She suggested either xrays to see if he needs his hocks done, or just do his hocks....we decided to do his hocks, as it appears they are hurting him. After she started injections, I guess by the way some fluid came out...she said yep, he needed his hocks done...I think she said there was some blood in it...anyway, I hope this helps, and at least I won't feel bad for disciplining him now if he is bad. She also suggested a better pad under the saddle, like the numnah I've heard about. So I'll be shopping for one of those too. We are off to San Antonio for my son's graduation from Boot Camp..US Air Force, so he'll get about 6 days off and then I'll report how he's doing. Thanks again for all your suggestions and support
That's what happened with my mare Kim, after we did her hock, all was well. I'll keep my fingers crossed that his pain is gone now.
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I definitely think you are doing the right thing with having your vet out. When a horse/pony is good and then starts acting up "out of the blue" it's usually a pain issue somewhere. Keep us posted on what you find out.
