Horsey people help pls

Devon - not sure what others would have to say about this but with one horse we had that turned loopy on an outing, we got a tube of Kava from Fiskens and it worked miracles. The tube is the same as a drench but you only give them 5mls at a time (I think it had 20mls in the container) and there was no limit to how many times you could give it to them. From memory we did two doses over 4-5 hours on her then second main outing and what can I say?

She was "stoned" (as in laid back) but safe and won heaps of ribbons including from backback jumping. If you had seen this mare, you would know how horrified I was at the prospect but it was just "cruise Man". If it worked to take the edge off your boy, it may well be enough over a couple of days for everything to have settled. That's assuming you can still get it. Now I will duck!

devan;237334 wrote: Thanks swaggie, do ya wanna give it a go? I can always float him over to your place and if he upsets your horse just flag it and go home

Poor Billy is just desperate for some company, but I don't think he wants any trouble in ''his'' paddock either....

Rescue remedy, for him and you.

And yes, I'm weird, but talk to him. Why's he doing it? Is it because he's excited? Scared? Anxious? What? Ask him.

Haha, I love it when all the presumptions about TB's are wrong - and they usually are! When I did the Great NZ Horse Ride my horse spent the first hour doing stupid stuff, then he settled really quickly when he realised we were out for a long ride - about 8 hours actually, each day for 7 days. At least he has a bit of spirit - surely you don't want a doormat?

Oh, and make sure you have some gloves if he's likely to pull!

I was trying to see if M's horse was in the paddock, and thought of you and if you had picked it up and taken it home as new company?

Devan my old boy that i took to camp was a standy as well...

LongRidge;237321 wrote: Any chance that the other horse is in season or coming into?
Was there a bit of a breeze where you were? Our equines were crazy in the wind yesterday afternoon.
Has he just come off fresh grass?

Kinda not the right time of year to find a mare in season

Diane

devan;237330 wrote: He is grazed next to other horses, i haven't put him in the same paddock just to avoid any injuries before the trek, i did give him 2 teaspoons of magnesium in his feed the last 3 days to try and settle him cos he had a spooky day the other day but it was really windy and we were on unfamiliar turf. I think i am just so used to him being a plodder and forget that he is still quite young (5 1/2) and young horses can get silly. Its the bucking that is really bothering me, i tried to ride him through it but he kept stag leaping and bucking even though i gave him his head and pushed him on (we were going up hill so i was a bit braver [])
What do you guys do when your horse bucks?

Never give a bucking horse its head! A horse that cannot put its head down cannot buck, plain and simple. To ride thru' a buck, get your seat deep, and shorten up the reins. If the horse starts to throw his head up, drop your hands towards your knees, but don't let the reins slip thru' your hands. Push with your seat and legs for forward motion and/or try to make him circle.

Diane

Magnesium can help settle them too, some horses seem to need heaps. You can buy a liquid onTM that you can administer the morning before you require.

When my horse bucks it's generally when he's a bit fresh and I ask him to canter, if he tries to buck I stop him immediately, usually somewhat ungraciously. If he does it out hacking then I usually turn the swine in a tight circle. It happens less and less these days (touch wood) as he grows up and has learnt that he has to go forward into his bridle.... I do sympathise as it's not much fun. Also if he has started bucking just recently might pay to get his back checked. I found that was often the reason my horse bucked when being asked to canter - his back was out and he just wasn't strong enough.

Otherwise ride the swine every day before your trek, lock him up with no grass and just hay to eat - that usually helps with sanity...

Also think the tip about singing is great. If my horse is unsettled, I talk all sorts of sh*t to him, gives him something else to think about.

oskatd;237617 wrote:

Also think the tip about singing is great. If my horse is unsettled, I talk all sorts of sh*t to him, gives him something else to think about.

I have E doing that to Billy to calm her nerves. SOH reckons its like a werlizter on 4 legs......

When I was teaching little-ees to ride (PC) I got a tip off an english instructor over here for a working holiday ... she said *never* say relax .... say breath or concentrate on your breathing ...OR sing which you have to breath to do .. actually makes a real difference AND I have always sung to my horses anyway:)
Cheers

Thanks for all your advice guys, i tried a few of those things on friday night when i rode him, he was really well behaved cos i was riding on my own, but when we cantered he bucked, so i turned him around, walked him back down the hill and cantered him back up again. 4 times i had to do it but in the end he figured it out and cantered nicely

The ride went fine but when i was nearly back home i got off to open the gate and my mobile rang, stupid me answered it and wasn't paying attention and i was leading bounce thru the gate when the gate blew shut while he was half way through, he freaked out and ended up with his back leg thru the bars of the gate and ended up lifting it off its hinges and was kicking like crazy trying to get the gate off his leg. Of course i was in the middle of it and ended up getting kicked again! luckily he got me to the right of my spine cos another inch to the left and he could have done some serious damage i think. So i have another spectacular bruise lol, but no where near as bad as last time. Poor bounce had a very sore leg and took some skin off but he was lucky too cos if the gate had fallen the other way it would have broken his leg. He had some swelling but i hosed it heaps on the weekend and put some special gel stuff on it and he seems ok. I'll lunge him tonight and see how hes moving but i think he'll still be ok for the trek.
I have been giving him magnesium and will keep giving it to him and i'll pop into fiskens and see if they still have that stuff [] The bucking when going into a canter is something he has always done so i guess we'll just have to work thru that .
Hopefully i can ride with the guy down the road tommorrow providing poor bounce is ok so will let you guys know how he gets on

Good grief, sounds hideous! Poor horse, poor you.... How are you both doing now?

The whole bucking when canters thing is a pain in the arse, and the McLean method has a good way of stopping it, don't know if you are familiar with the method, you can get the book and read about it.

Crikey Devan, out of my knowledge and confidence base but can I help in any way?

Thanks swaggie but we are ok I lunged him last night for 10 minutes at the trot and he looked ok so i'll take him for a quiet walk down the rd tonight and see how he is. I got some gel stuff called stay cool which is working nicely for both of us lol. Tho i did think i might have to make a panicked phone call to see if i could borrow billy for the weekend []
Oskatd i've never heard of the mcleans method, where would i get a book about it from?
Thanks for all the advice guys...oh and i got some of that kava calm last night too, will prob end up sucking it all out of the tube myself [:0][]