Skip to content
Search Library
thumbnail

Imagine that you are getting ready to go on a three-hour hike and your shoes are rubbing your heels, your heavy backpack is unbalanced, and your knees are hurting before you take your first step. Add the fact that your stomach is upset, and chances are, you would talk yourself out of the hike, or at least put it off until you had corrected the painful problems.

A horse doesn’t have that option. If his saddle pinches his withers, his arthritic knees are stiff, and his rider always sits in an unbalanced position, many horses simply accept these painful realities as they set out for a long ride. Others may express their discomfort with some sort of resistant behavior such as the things listed here:

• Resistance while being tacked up. The horse might pin its ears, raise a foot as if to kick, wring its tail, fidget, or try to move away. It has learned that being tacked up is followed by something uncomfortable, and is nervously anticipating this result.

• Resistance while being mounted and ridden. The horse might not stand still to be mounted, want to move off as soon as you are in the saddle, throw its head, or fight the bit as you ride. It might not want to pick up a particular canter lead, may resist or be awkward in going up or down hills, and could try to bounce you onto the other diagonal as you are posting to the trot. Bucking, jigging, rearing, spooking or shying, kicking out, and bolting can also be signs of discomfort. Something like kissing spines might not bother the horse all the time but can cause sudden intense pain with certain movements.

 Increasing resistance as the ride continues. A horse might put up with mild lameness or a pinching saddle during a short ride, but as the hours go by, the pain gets to be more than the horse can tolerate. If the horse is in poor condition and gets tired and sore because it is not physically able to do its work easily, it may resist due to fatigue rather than actual pain. Similarly, if the horse’s diet doesn’t provide enough energy for the work he’s asked to do, he may simply not be able to give you the level of performance you want.

 Bad attitude throughout all of the above. Gastric ulcers and hindgut acidosis are very common in horses, even when the best management practices are used. Horses with these conditions just don’t feel good, and this discomfort may be expressed as a sour attitude and an unwillingness to work.

 

If your horse does any of these things, you might want to ask a saddle fitter, a veterinarian, or an equine nutritionist for help. If the problem is your position in the saddle, you could arrange to take a set of lessons with a trainer to show you how to make your horse’s job easier. More conditioning, beginning with short easy workouts and progressing to longer and more demanding work periods over several months, will help the horse avoid fatigue on longer rides.

If the problem is your position in the saddle, you could arrange to take a set of lessons with a trainer to show you how to make your horse’s job easier. More conditioning, beginning with short easy workouts and progressing to longer and more demanding work periods over several months, will help the horse avoid fatigue on longer rides.

X

Subscribe to Equinews and get the latest equine nutrition and health news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for free now!