Hi all!
My 18 year old OTTB is just not himself lately and I'm not sure what it could be or where to start. He's usually very well behaved and would never do anything nasty, at worse he'd plant his feet and after a few seconds of me sitting quietly, he'd move on. Last week he started becoming a bit strong in the school, just wanting to canter non-stop and refusing even the tiniest cross poles I put out for him which is incredibly unusual as he's a very willing jumper and seems to enjoy it.
Moving forward to this week we were doing some flat work in the school, working on some transitions and poles and I asked him to slow up and he planted his feet as he sometimes does, but for the first time in 3 years he reared up a little then bucked. A friend suggested he might be bored of just going to the school all the time, so I decided to take him for a little hack out in the village where he is usually well behaved but unfortunately the horse with him was napping and he got a bit worried and repeated the little rear and buck he did in the school the days before.
This is so unusual for him as he's usually the sweetest boy and has never done anything like this before. His teeth have recently been checked and his back was checked over by the vet and he trots up fine. I'm wondering where to go with this next...not sure if I need to get the vet out again, saddle fitting, physio or my riding instructor?
Just looking for any ideas as to what it might possibly be as I'm quite worried about my old boy! No changes in feed/routine lately other than he was moved to a much grassier pasture about 2 weeks ago but not sure if this could just be down to extra spring grass?
Thank you so much for reading!
My 18 year old OTTB is just not himself lately and I'm not sure what it could be or where to start. He's usually very well behaved and would never do anything nasty, at worse he'd plant his feet and after a few seconds of me sitting quietly, he'd move on. Last week he started becoming a bit strong in the school, just wanting to canter non-stop and refusing even the tiniest cross poles I put out for him which is incredibly unusual as he's a very willing jumper and seems to enjoy it.
Moving forward to this week we were doing some flat work in the school, working on some transitions and poles and I asked him to slow up and he planted his feet as he sometimes does, but for the first time in 3 years he reared up a little then bucked. A friend suggested he might be bored of just going to the school all the time, so I decided to take him for a little hack out in the village where he is usually well behaved but unfortunately the horse with him was napping and he got a bit worried and repeated the little rear and buck he did in the school the days before.
This is so unusual for him as he's usually the sweetest boy and has never done anything like this before. His teeth have recently been checked and his back was checked over by the vet and he trots up fine. I'm wondering where to go with this next...not sure if I need to get the vet out again, saddle fitting, physio or my riding instructor?
Just looking for any ideas as to what it might possibly be as I'm quite worried about my old boy! No changes in feed/routine lately other than he was moved to a much grassier pasture about 2 weeks ago but not sure if this could just be down to extra spring grass?
Thank you so much for reading!