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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
  
| I will try to make this short. Last year we sold a 14 yr.old gelding to a friend who their boy runs barrels on. This gelding was always very laid back and good to travel. He has been hauled quite a bit with the new people and they haul with mares and geldings as we did. Slowly over this past year he has gotten terrible about being seperated from any horses that he hauls with. They have to take another horse with him to the alley and back to the stalls. He does the barrel pattern fine,but has become almost dangerous when he can't be with the other horses. He was born and raised at our place and never had this behavior. I know they take very good care of this horse and are concerned for their son as we can understand. Has anyone had a problem like this?? Is there any kind of hormonal issue it could be? I am open to any thoughts or suggestions.
Thanks  |
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 Cyber World Challenged
Posts: 2526
Location: My Own Little World | I have no clue. But being overly buddy sour is sure not a good thing. Maybe the way they keep their horses is different than you. Can you take the horse for them for a month? Haul him and see what he's being like. Or go with them and see. Sometimes the way people handle their horses at home and at shows is very different than you |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
| Thanks for the suggestions. We have been with them at some shows last fall and saw how he was becoming buddy sour. I couldn't see them doing anything really differently. But,we haven't been able to travel to any big shows during the winter and none recently and they said it has gotten a lot worse. Maybe our horses weren't pretty enough for him:) But,joking aside,I know this is NOT good!! We are trying to figure this out.
Edited by express52 2014-04-12 4:29 PM
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 Night Watchman
Posts: 5516
Location: Central Montana | Can they seperate him from the others at home so he gets used to being alone?
How about vision, hearing, or lameness issues?
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| My suggestion is to haul him alone. Make him independent. I have owned several like this, and the hauling them alone makes them a totally different animal. Teach the horse to hobble too. You'd be surprised how when you teach a horse to stand still when he wants to act out, how it settles their mind. Have an experienced horse person do the "lessons" on hobbling. You can hurt a horse if they are not done under the proper conditions, and correctly. Hobble him at home, and use that as a testing ground by removing his buddy. You should separate them at home at times. He just has to be made to know you will not accept that behavior. Once you get him hobbling ok at home, do it at the shows, at your trailer. When he is able to be hobbled at the shows, then you may be able to bring his buddy back w/him. But always hobble him when you remove the buddy so he learns he simply has to behave. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Vet check, I bet he is hurting and has connected pain with being by himself |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I owned my finished gelding for about 3 years when he suddenly developed severe separation anxiety issues, he was approx 12 yo at the time. He turned into an absolute nut case when left tied alone at the trailer, would rear up and buck and kick in place, not to mention he would NOT be quiet!
This behavior stopped after we discovered that he had arthritis in his front legs, which was extremely painful. It had eventually caused him to start ducking his 2nd barrel, before we figured it out. Once that was taken care of, his laid back personality returned.
I would have a thorough lameness exam/vet check performed. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
| Thanks for all the suggestions,I will let them know and see what we can find out. I appreciate it. They are very good horse people and have some great competitive barrel horses. Also,good friends:) |
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 Veteran
Posts: 151
| I agree with a lameness eval. My gelding suddenly started this out of the blue. He is usually so easy going. But got insanely buddy bound, trailer bound, arena sour, etc. not him at all! Then I noticed gate hesitation and much more anxiety overall, even at home. Vet suggested treating for ulcers and hocks injected (he never showed soreness at all during runs or workouts)...
NEW HORSE! It took a few weeks, but he got over almost all of it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 529
| I would rule out any lameness first, but also some horses just don't get the confidence from their riders that they need and can behave like this...Ive seen this more than once with horse/rider combinations. Horses will look to other horses for their comfort...herd mentality... If he isn't hurting anywhere, he may need a more confident rider better suited to him. JMO  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
| Thanks for your reply. When they get back from their big barrel race,they will look into these options. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | I agree on checking the pain issue. If that doesn't show anything, I wonder if it could be the boy's nervousness? Some horses are fine with a confident rider because they take comfort in that. But when they're with someone that's not confident, they tend to panic because they're not confident horses themselves.
Something has changed, that's for sure. |
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seasoned gelding with progressively worse seperation anxiety