grumpy horse

[angel]

my horse who has had a sore back due to a saddlery fitting her saddle it has now been rectified by another daddler and she has a flair fitted one she is going freer and doesnt play up quite so much, it has taken 2 months to right itself. she has been checked by the vet and her teeth have been done, but what worries me is she looks so grumpy when being ridden,m last time everyone told me i was imaging it about her back and i had back people vets ect to her , it was only when i sent a video off to someone who said she was in pain and saddle didnt fit.
she never looks happy though other horses go with their ears forward hers are back i do endurance with her and at times she is grumpy looking but not that often,
everyone thinks i am paronoid now about her back but i can not help it
someone said a lot of dressage horses look grumpy but i am not sure what to think. i have had her checked again and saddlere came back and checked her out iy seems okay she said it was only mild sore ness she is definately less nappy anyway , so is it normal or what. she is okay hacking unless she is behind then grumpy ears come on again even in the school at home she is the same wtih no horses in her vicinity

[ggabby]

Mild soreness , she can only tell you that she is sore by puting her ears back, and been grumpy, even mild soreness is very, very bad, try riding her bare back, when she recovers.

[angel]

i mislead you it the begining it was mild soreness that has now gone, but she is still grumpy

the saddle that had been fitted had caused soreness but after resting and a new saddle they can find now not find any tenderness at all
but i would hate her to be unjappy when i brought the horse she was alsways grumpy looking when ridden#recently we did a 3o mile ride and she was not grumpy once well only when she thought someone might be in fornot of her , it is always when she is schooling that she does it, i always let her stretch out during the lesson at the ensd and beginig and she is massaged and has magnatic boots on at night which helped when she had a bad back.

[Rakeli]

If your mare is only grumpy schooling than it sounds like schooling is the problem! Do you ask her to work in an outline whilst you are schooling her, or do jumping? She'll be using different muscles for those things than she will be hacking, so I would get a massager, or some sort of theraist to check her over, as it might not be a pain in her back area. Or, if you use different tack for schooling it could be that. It could also be that she just finds schooling boring!
Is she only grumpy when ridden, or all the time? If she's grumpy all the time than look at how she is kept, through a her eyes. Being in a stable 24/7 is enough to make anyone grumpy!
Do her ears actually point back? Many horses ears flop sideways/back when they are concentrating, she dosn't have to concentrate when she's doing endurance but does schooling.
If she is in pain, than Linda Telington-Jones's TTOUCH method is very useful, like a massage but easier. She has written some books and has a website too.
Hope you sort it out.

[angel]

thanks for reply, not she is not kept in 24/7 she goes out everyday with my other two horses at 8am and comes in at 4pm.
but today she was totally diferent not angry looking at all, what liars they make of you, she also went very well, perhaps she is having off days, she does feel threathened by strange horses though and this i think is the problem in an indoor school she feels threathened by them. today she was grumpy when they were near her but fime when they kept their distance, do hope fully we will get it right i hope.
she does have reqular massage as i was shown how to do it, and she is a dream to do groom ect and also very friendly and fussy. i think its more that she likes her own way and in the school she lhas to work.

[xXTravieGirlXx]

Hi, I'm not the most knowlegeable person on this subject but could it be that maybe she's in heat?

[angel]

i think its just her temprement read brilliant horse thread.
because of her breeding i think she is just a prima donna everyone at the moment is telling her how super she is and i am sure her head is getting bigger with the boasts, she is a lot more relaxed at the moment, so i think that is angel when anything is new put her ears back, i struggled so long and bored everyone with me saying she had a bad back in the end they all thought i was making escuses, i am so glad i followed my instincts, her back is fine now it was only mild due to an ill fittting saddle (professionally fitted i might add) and no one picked up on it apart from me and i was considered paroniad. i will always in future follow my instincts and not be fobbed off by others saying i am too soft on her. she will never be totaly quiet but hopefully safe.

[Cochise]

Just a quick question, sorry if I missed something in your post, but have you had all the muscles checked etc? My horse had problems with his back and saddles and was very grumpy and did a bit of a bronco with me at a show jumping competition. However, it wasnt only the saddle that was the problem. He had had severe muscle wastage in his back and was "out"in the shoulder and hip. After a month of massage, and the chiropractor and had the saddle readjusted, he was much better. I laid off the jumping and schooling for a few months and just hacked working him long and low. Slowly I reintroduced schooling on circles and we did a few jumps. He is now going 100% better but Im still checking his back and saddle after each time I ride. If he has had a hard day riding, I massage his back and muscles with arnika gel and he really appreciates this!
Good luck. Maybe it isnt just the saddle, maybe vary the work you do with her and lay off the schooling for a while.

[Cochise]

oops!! Im a dope!! just found the bit that you do massage her!! sorry!! but I have been through it too, as you can see :)