From: Melanie
Hi Jessica,
I'd like to ask for suggestions on how to deal with an attitude problem that has developed with my 12 yr old Appy gelding (I've owned Quest since he was 3). Used to be he was just the most perfectly behaved horse with the most wonderful attitude and personality, but about 3-4 yrs ago this began to change.
He pins his ears when you approach his stall. He will look to see first if you have a treat, if not the ears go back and the ugly looks start. If I move the wooden saddle stand that is hanging outside his stall (near his food dish if that matters) and he will pin the ears and snake the head toward you (that noise seems to irritate him). He has never even attemped to bite me, but he has recently bitten one of the barn staff while she was leading him out to his paddock. Now granted she was also leading another old gelding, that we had recently tried to turn him out with, but apparently Quest decided he could dominate him and bit/chased him while turned out so they are no longer being turned out together. Even Denise was shocked as the bite was so out of character, but I fear this may be the start of something.
He used to be in the main gelding turnout field but he was so picked on and his attitude seemed to be so bad, that we changed him to a semi-private paddock with a mare who dominated him but also thought he was wonderful :-). His attitude did improve with the new turnout situation, but the ear pinning does continue. However thru various reasons I wanted him with a quieter paddock mate (he had a suspensory injury that I didn't want to aggravate), so we tried the other old gelding who he seemed to hate, so now he is in private turnout. When we lived in PA, turnout was limited so I don't think he ever learned how to interact with a herd, and he was so picked on in the gelding pasture, I felt he was better off with paddock semi or private turnout.
Back before coming to this large boarding barn, we never had this type of problem. He never pinned his ears, and tho he still knows his manners (which I insist on), the ugly looks really bother me. One of the other things about being in a large barn is there is always stuff going on and when there are shows, strange people come thru the barn and of course always have to oooh and aahh over the white horse (Quest is a very few spot, and is white with pink skin). He seems to not like this type of attention.
Also, I suspect that with a previous management at this barn that he may have been teased, but I have no proof of this--it is only a suspicion. When you have to do full care board, it is frustrating to not have control over how your horse is handled when you aren't there.
I should also mention that over the past 4 yrs we have also been dealing with arthritis (bone spavin and high ringbone), so at times maybe pain could be a reason. When he is sound we are now starting First level dressage (actually started showing first level at schooling shows last year). We don't have access to trails, so most of what we do is ring work. He did have over 3 months off last fall after he injured his suspensory ligament, but that has seemed to heal well and he's been back at work (except for recently cause the hocks are flaring up again--just had them injected and hope to be back to work soon). When he is sound, he seems to enjoy his work (ears forward (mostly :-), forward and relaxed).
So how do I deal with this? Do I ignore it? Do I stop feeding hand treats? Is there anyway of bringing back the old friendly personality? I hate to see him behaving this way, and just don't know what to do about it.
Thank you (and sorry this got long).
Melanie and Quest
Go over this horse inch by inch. Quest may have sore feet, sore ears, a sore back, a sore mouth, sore joints -- or any combination of the above. The arthritis alone could be the problem -- it will make those first steps out of the stall VERY uncomfortable for him. You can check his feet, ears, back, and mouth yourself or with your vet's help; as for the arthritis, ask the vet to have a look at Quest and compare what he sees to what he saw the last time he looked. You may need a new set of x-rays to compare to the last set, or to the baseline set.
Do remember, though, that sometimes arthritic changes are accompanied by localized inflammation, which will NOT show up on the x-rays. Massage, with or without liniment, may help. Witch hazel is just as useful as liniment, and a lot less expensive -- the liniment just makes the process of rubbing legs a little easier, it doesn't actually DO anything. Some people like to rub a cortisone-DMSO mixture onto the horse's affected joints -- don't do this without talking to your vet first. DMSO will take the cortisone into the joint, but it will also carry with it anything else that was on the horse's skin at the time.
You could also ask your vet about chondroitin sulfates -- although they're still classified as nutritional supplements rather than drugs (it's a long story!), he may have some anecdotal evidence based on what has or hasn't worked for some of his other clients. It's worth asking -- and ask him about the injections as well. The IM injections are another safe ("can't hurt, might help") option -- just avoid anything that involves injecting the joint itself, unless there is NO other possibility.
More turnout is usually helpful -- is there any way that Quest could have fulltime access to a turnout paddock? As horses get older and more arthritic, they seem to do infinitely better if they are free to move about constantly, as they would in nature. Their blood circulation, cartilage, muscles, and bones all benefit from constant gentle exercise -- and their minds benefit too!
Check his feed as well -- many horses, if overfed protein, will not get FAT but will become nervous and aggressive. Quest may need a feed adjustment! Perhaps the hay at this barn is a better-quality hay than he got at the last barn, or perhaps he is getting more of it -- or more grain. Compare what he WAS getting with what he is CURRENTLY getting -- you may find that there has been quite a change. Two years ago, one of my students moved a horse from a badly-run barn with poor feed to a well-run barn with good feed. Her horse went from a bag of bones to a sausage shape in very little time, even though we had cut the amount of feed in half! Now he is keeping in excellent condition on roughly one-third of the quantity he got at the other barn... the difference between good hay and poor hay.
Horses aren't emotional and moody in the way that people are; Quest is probably not reliving a forgotten childhood trauma or indulging his inner foal. Something is bothering him, and that something is in the here and now. An irritable, nasty horse "with an attitude" -- is almost always either reacting to bad handling (unlikely, since you've had him for nine years now!) or is in pain. He could be lonely or bored or both -- maybe you need to get out on the trails, even if you have to go there in a trailer! But before you look for psychological causes, play detective -- look for a physical cause, and get some help. If you've had the same vet since you bought Quest, or even for the last five years or so, that would be the ideal person to help you figure this out, because he'll have seen Quest then and now.
Since Quest works cheerfully when he is sound, I think you can probably rule out tack-fitting problems and shoeing problems (but check those things anyway). And I don't see any reason to stop feeding him treats -- as long as he doesn't demand them or try to bite you. There is no point in withdrawing them; he would never be able to understand that there was a connection between his "attitude" and the absence of treats. Quest is telling you that something hurts -- trust him, he's not lying. Your job is to find out what it is.
Keep in touch, Melanie!
- Jessica
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