Does anybody else have a normally calm horse currently being a knob

[mummyof2munchkins]

My ploddy quiet cob who found me just before xmas has turned from an overweight, hairy thing into a very forward thinking boy who has a bit of buck when excited and is very lively??? Since joining my family he's lost 60kg, he is much fitter, had physio to help sort out some very sore parts of his back and he's now a hogged "show" cob who thinks he's a stallion. Jumping tonight was not limited to actual jumps and involved all 4 feet leaving the ground on a regular basis.

Please tell me it's a bit of spring grass and reassure me I haven't created a monster xxx

I've known horses to light up when they're put on a supplement. The assumption that the supplement has heating ingredients but I think the horse feels better because they're getting the correct nutrition.

There's a surge in lami cases atm and I have noticed the grass rocketing up. So many the grass maybe the weight loss maybe you're feeding him the right stuff.

What are you feeding him?

Yes, DD’s normally placid pony is being a bit of a pillock at the moment.

She’s mostly ok when being ridden (a beach ride blew her mind the other evening), but we’ve had to clamp down big time on her manners

Even our retired arthritic is full of beans and bouncing around - she shot off across the paddock this morning broncing and farting

Dd’s horse bucked when she was riding across the fields last night - he never bucks but yesterday he was just too excited to listen at all ... nothing’s changed other than the weather and the grass. He’s going to be living out for the rest of the summer so I’m hoping he gets it out of his system...

He may also be feeling better than he has for ages OP. I had one come to me in poor condition, unfit, bad feet and, as it turned out, some joint issues. Quietest, laziest plod ever - just getting him into trot was a chore.

Now in super condition and pain issues are sorted. He turned into such a hooligan that I recently handed him over to an energetic teen to event.

But not too much longer until the sugar grass turns and that will almost certainly help.

He's fed a lo cal balancer and soaked hay. Out over night 5 nights per week. Worked lightly 6 days per week eg, 60 min hack or 30 min schooling / long lining. This is whilst he gains fitness and strength, his back was quite sore when he came so needs top line to be built up.

He's prancing around like king of the world, calling to every mare as though super stallion has arrived. He looks and acts like a very different horse to the one that arrived. I'm hoping it is because he feels so well. Also hoping the spring grass buggers off and he gets over himself xxx

Interestingly, my bad boy also has a number of stallionish traits and, even in poor condition, had a suspiciously impressive neck. I suspect he was gelded a tad late.

Anyway, sounds like your lad is feeling good, plus the grass. How old is he btw? Mine was five when he arrived as a quiet lamb but teenage rebellion at six is a definite thing!

Yes, I'd be asking how old? I can think of lovely calm 4 and 5 year olds who turned into twats once they hit 6.

I'd go back to walk and trot only for a bit.

He's 10 this time so not a teenage phase.

I have given him a spoon of epsom salts today. A couple of people at the yard mentioned their horses needed magnesium. He seemed very chilled this evening so could well be an inbalance. If he decks me tomorrow i'll report back.

I would say it’s a combination of feeling well, less weight to carry etc. Spring grass, and being ‘half fit’.
I always find they are total plonkers when first getting fit and they become full of themselves. Once fully fit they calm down.

Epsom salts made no difference other than some very loose poo. He is officially still a knob. He decided today that the road sign at the entrance to the farm, the one he has passed at least 100 times, will actually kill him if he didn't jump up and down, spin and try to run in the opposite direction.

I'm actually starting to think he lost his brains when i hogged his mane. He looks fantastic now but behaves like an idiot. When he looked like he'd been found in a bog he behaved beautifully. I've created a monster. I suspect there was a good reason he was left to get fat in a field.

Epsom salts is magnesium sulphate. You would do better with pure magnesium oxide. It’s recommended as spring grass is magnesium deficient and magnesium is required for over 300 processes in the body. Some horses get loopy on it, most don’t. You don’t have to feed much at all. You’ll see it as a listed ingredient in most of the ‘calmers’ for sale.

Magnesium oxide can help a lot of horses and this is exactly the part of the year when a magnesium deficiency would be most evident.

Personally it think that behavioural issues almost always have a physical cause, often pain related. Are you sure he is pain free with his back?

When his back was sore it was pretty obvious. Lots of physio and a slow build up to actual work has made a difference to his shape and his way of going. I hope it isn't pain related, it doesn't seem so. He is still having physio monthly and will have his next session this week so i'll make sure he has a really good poke and prod.

He is literally prancing around calling to all mares as though god's gift to horses has arrived. He is behaving like this in the field too so it's not just when he is working. I could swear he is having a boy-season.

It is possible, although very rare, for horses to have an undescended testicle which can cause stallion behavior. Maybe have a chat with the vet to talk through options. I’ve never owned a rig but I think a blood test can determine whether he is a rig and you can go from there.

I doubt he is a rig, more likely to have been late cut. A mare in the field next door is very much in season. She's had a couple of foals previously and really does know what she wants. My boy is happy to call and prance about but when she... ahem... gives him a wink he just looks confused and slopes off to eat grass. I've seen a real rig before and the not so great fencing at my livery yard would not have kept him away from a rampant mare. I suspect my boy is all noise and no action (thank goodness).

@mummyof2munchkins my parents horses used to react in a similar way when the nutrients from the spring grass combined with their normal feed. Some horses reacted differently to different foods and it was trial and error what worked for each of them! You could try cutting out his hay if he's also having grass at the moment , also maybe try a different feed?

Or have a word with a company called Trinity Consultants - Dad gets all sorts of herbal concoctions from them for an assortment of conditions and they do seem to work

Honestly I bet it’s just spring grass

DD’s horse was a knob last week but this week is acting like a (very calm) saint - her instructor did warn her a few weeks ago that there would be a time around now when she’d be thinking he was a changeling. He’s funny in that the mares all try to flirt with him and he just looks bemused by them ..,

My cob turned into a right spooky pillock about this time of year. He was normally mr sensible out hacking but spooked, spun and took off with me a few times which just wasn’t him. I put him on magnesium oxide and it made the world of difference, back to mr sensible again. Might be worth looking into!

Thank you everybody for the tips.

Knob cob has been ok over the last few days, i've upped his work slightly to give him something to think about.

He's also had a good physio session. Her view was that he's now able to move himself much more freely, he's probably not been able to do this for quite a long time and it feels really good. That combined with higher sugar intake because of the grass are turning him into Zebedee. She suggested riding him through it, and to think of him as a younger horse finding his balance and giving a bit of a buck when he's trying to work out how to use his body properly. Apparently it's a good news story

So... next tip i'm asking for is how to sit a buck when dressed in dressage gear and trying to avoid being decked when warming up for a pre-lim. Serioulsy regretting entering for a couple of stressage tests after drinking a large glass (or two) or wine

Oh dear, mine turned into a bit of a drama queen a few weeks ago although in her case it was a badly fitting saddle causing the issues. Sounds like yours is feeling a little too well!

Top tips for sitting a buck (not fail safe but I had to learn quickly when mine learnt to buck as a naughty teenager, as I'm really too old and too easily shamed these days to be on the floor too often!)... In order of importance:

-Keep the head up! Right up. Short contact, if he tries to pull you down lots of leg (stick if needed, although this may in itself make him buck) and short sharp half halts to keep him going properly. If you can do this they really can't get their back end up, they tend to need the head between the knees for a really good buck. I know for dressage you tend to want the opposite but most cobs tend to go behind the vertical in any case and for me I'd prefer no bucking to a nice 'outline' with bucks!

-Defence position! Do not hunch, you probably need to feel you are leaning a little behind the vertical, cowboy stylee, to be able to sit a buck if it does come.

-Learn the signals and deploy a good growl/other 'no' noise when he's thinking of doing it! You may have to sacrifice one test and give him a good telling off if he plays up, he mustn't learn that he can misbehave and because its a competition you won't correct him...

Best of luck

My cob used to have a regular mad phase every September for some reason. She also once entered a dressage arena with all 4 feet off the ground ... luckily it was a low key event (probably prelim) and it just caused amusement, though it would have been less funny if we'd parted company.

Treat the stressge as a training exercise, try to relax and stay on board! You might want to give him a good work out the day before too (a decent hack with some gallops). My mare did one of her best tests the day after a trip round a UK Chasers course.

Fantastic news, knobby cob has redeemed himself. He was an absolute star and we even came home with a rosette. Very happy with him tonight. Nicely forward in a good way so very nice test.

I have no idea if the epsom salts made any difference but he did seem to revert back to a nicely chilled boy almost immediatley after I added it to his diet.

Hope he can keep up the good behaviour when we are next out at the weekend.

Meeeee! I've not ridden for 13 days up to now and need to break the pattern!

Near death experience on last hack - ridiculous!