What's wrong with my horse?

[Gemma]

Hi again everyone, and thanks again for all the extra advice.  I’ll try to answer everyone's questions

Breeding - her damn is Dutch Warmblood KWPN registered (keur or ster grading?) - Cali has TB, Gelderlander, Holsteiner, Selle Francais in her lines, and her sire - Talents Asa - was 'British Warmblood' (although his parents were both Danish Warmblood) and has Trakehner, Hanoverian, Swedish Warmblood in his blood lines.

I worked out, theoretically, that Tutti is made up of the following:
TB 22%
Gelderlander 19%
Trakehner 19%
Hanoverian 19%
Swedish warmblood 12%
Holsteiner 6%
Selle Francais 3%

Not sure if any of these breeds stand out as 'problem' horses?

I will keep a diary, as it’s hard to remember the good things – like I just remembered the other week she walked through a stream (after much persuasion and making the dog walk through several times!) before Cali would even go near it!  I also think she, or Cali, is in season at the moment as well, so that could be contributing to it.

Paddock – she is on a small paddock by herself during the day to keep her weight down, but out with the other two at night.  I do think it has helped with the ‘separation’ problems as she doesn’t seem bothered now if Cali isn’t in sight.

Shoes – I think I will get them put back on when the farrier is due shortly – at least it will rule out the feet if she does continue to behave the way she does.

I will up her work – I can lunge before riding but at the moment I wouldn’t be able to exercise twice a day separately.  I did actually get back on and ride today – just in the school for a bit – she was fine – trotting around calmly but then after about ten mins she decided to start stopping having said that, she seemed to be quite affectionate towards me today – like what happened on Tuesday had never happened – that’s what is good about Tutti – when something bad happens or she heats up the next day she’s back to her loving, characteristic self.

If the behaviour carries on after trying lunging, more work etc, after a couple of weeks I think I will investigate the ulcers again – it’s just the vet was so adamant because they healed so quickly with the antibiotics that they wouldn’t come back again because the bacteria had been treated.  Only prob is ulcers are excluded from her insurance now

Thanks again for all your great and understanding advice it’s really helped and I don’t feel like a ‘bad’ owner thinking the things I have done about her lately.

Will keep you all updated,
Gemma

[Tabitha]

... Can't really say much about the breeding without doing google searches as am not familiar with the stallion.  But in terms of her makeup, she - like most Wb - has a lot of 'working' breeds in her.  I'm generalising now, but WBS basically came off the fields or were originally carriage horses, used to long working days.  They've since been diluted with TB and other breeds to try and turn them into the modern sports horses we see today - with better stamina - but they've on the whole not lost their work ethic and in my experience need more stimulation than some of the other breeds.

My last horse was something like 2/3 gelderlander, and they can be hot if only because they're incredibly bright and bred for hard work so they can take the mick if not worked properly.  Don't know much about holsteiners, but am assuming the same.  And hanoverians and trakehners are beautiful but again bright and bred to work.  Trakehners tend to lighter horses though as were bred for the cavalry rather than field work.  I don't know enough about the others in her make up and to be honest with the WB studbooks you'd need to try and find out about her bloodlines through internet research and contacting the studs.  It can be done, but is time consuming...  But any I'm waffling again - WBs are bred to work and be worked.  They' have a tendancy to be bright, challenging, wonderful, frustrating, stunning, sharp, loving, all at the same time. 

So what I'm trying to say is don't beat yourself up for having a hard time with her... try upping the work, get some lessons with long reining (it's a huge help if they have a tendancy to go backwards or stop) and take it from there.

... and of course keep us updated! 

[Jo*]

Hi Gemma,

Its great to see you back on here I don´t have any additional advice to everything thats already been said, but I just wanted to send you some :hugs: and send you all my wishes for you to be able to work out the best solution for you both. This is supposed to be enjoyable for you, don´t forget that. If you want to work on your groundwork but don´t feel particularly inspired by it, how about getting an instructor to teach you to long rein, or refine you lunging/free schooling, it sounds like she´s really good at this and it could be a way of making working with her fun and productive again

[Mossy]

Just a thought, and it may be way off line. I had my mare on  Mg calmers and a vit and min supplement. I had accepted she was sharp and spooky. etc and was willing to accept that that was her. My daughter suggested I try topSpec balancer instead of the supplement I was using. No calmers needed. Yes I still feed very sparingly , no hard feed and she will always be sharp but the difference is amazing. I also tried the barefoot thing and she was just not happy, so the shoes went back on. Good luck

[Gemma]

hiya,
how much balancer do you feed your mare?  i did use baileys lo-cal for some times a few years ago, but cannot remember now what she was like then.
how is it better than feeding supplements?
thanks

[Gracie]

We have a mare by Asa out of an IDxTB mare, she couldn't be more laid back! Absoultely stunning, but a personality to die for!

Good Luck   

[Gemma]

ah wow! a half-sister! how old is she and have you got any pics? tutti does also have a 'wonderful' (yet sometimes odd!) personality

here's a link to some pics of tutti http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=732444082#/album.php?aid=91023&id=732444082 (hope it works)

did you know that asa had to be put down some time ago? i heard it was some kind of tumour on his spine??

[Mossy]

hiya,
how much balancer do you feed your mare?  i did use baileys lo-cal for some times a few years ago, but cannot remember now what she was like then.
how is it better than feeding supplements?
thanks

About 2/3 mug full. The rest of her feed is chaff and garlic. I hav ejsut started giving her a little hard feed as her workk rate is increasing and their field is equivalent to an hour's schooling a day. Up and down an edge of Dartmoor field the majority of which is a 1 in 2 slope!