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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
 
| I have a horse that is truely hard to ride. I've given him years off because he is so hard to ride. I'm back on him again, he has amazing talent but he is so hard to keep going. He feels so heavy like it is hard to keep going. He's soft in the mouth moves off leg it just seems like it takes him so much effort to move. I was thinking today maybe I should have some blood taken to see if he's deficent in something. Are there deficiencies that are common to horses? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| Iron? Could possibly be anemic? Does it feel like he is missing his get up and go or just slow footed? |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | Well depending on the soil in your area and what you feed, horses can become deficient in selenium, magnesium, iron, and calcium to name a few. They also can get overloaded with these though, so I definitely recommend having the vet check before changing your horse's diet.  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
| We have very high selenium in our soil otherwise I maybe would have started off with a red cell type supplement :)
I forgot to mention, he "looks" incredibly healthy. His coat is wonderful, shiny. His hooves are solid and in great shape.
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Is he bored??? When you haul him somewhere does he perk up? My young horse is very much like this. At home he acts like he literally cannot take another step. He has no forward motion AT ALL. I have to literally peddle him every step he takes, but you hook that trailer up and he comes alive! When I haul him somewhere he's very alert and ready to compete. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
| no, he's the same hauling somewhere else. He will get on the muscle in the gate to run and run, but not to his full potential. But warming him up is still the same, like every step is effort. Maybe he is just super lazy. Thought Id rack everyones brains just in case. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Mountains of VA | oranges - 2015-09-08 1:06 PM I have a horse that is truely hard to ride. I've given him years off because he is so hard to ride. I'm back on him again, he has amazing talent but he is so hard to keep going. He feels so heavy like it is hard to keep going. He's soft in the mouth moves off leg it just seems like it takes him so much effort to move. I was thinking today maybe I should have some blood taken to see if he's deficent in something. Are there deficiencies that are common to horses?
If he is heavy on his forehand/frontend and hard to get to go forward and motor from behind...........stifles comes to mind then hocks. A horse can be soft in their mouth but still be heavy in the front. However, looking at his overall nutrition would help too. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | What does his diet consist of? Perhaps he's not getting enough "energy" from what he's eating or has poor nutrient absorption and unable to utilize what he's eating for fuel. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| I the horse is very fat and you don't feed him much, he could have a thyroid problem. |
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Common Sense and then some
Location: So. California | Run a complete blood panel
Soundness exam
5 panel test
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | If the horse is healthy per the vet it could mean that he is just not meant to be an athlete. Unfortanately, I had this very same problem. Tested for everthing imagineable, lameness tests, xrays etc to rule out health issues. Found nothing. She could turn an awesome barrel and smart as a whip. She just didn't have the athletic ability to be a long time barrel horse. It always felt like I was having to hold her up on the front and keep her going. Very dead headed. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Sounds like mine--it was SI. Hocks were always an issue but didn't see improvement until I got the SI injected. Now he has power and the ability to keep that front end light. |
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Common deficiencies among horses?