02/05/2025
"How I accidentally made my horse dangerously spooky, volatile and explosive...
.. And how I accidentally cured her"
Patchwork Total Deja Vu
(TL:DR: It was simpler than you might think)
In 2019, this lovely filly was born. I adored her from the start.
As I watched her mature, I adored her even more. It was no surprise that she was stashed away in the "keep" basket.
Fast forward to late 2022. Time to break in. To my surprise, this filly was impeccably honest right from the start. Never a protest, never tight in the back. Zero buck. Zero dirt. Though never really relaxed. Seemed to just tolerate her new role. I broke her in rather lazily. Rode her once a week for 10 weeks, loads of ground work, and on the 11th week, we were cantering laps at Werribee Park on the buckle. I felt like I had cheated the system and was feeling rather smug about it.
After a "sandbox difficulty" breaking, I spelled her for a few months and brought her back in May 2023. Things were different. Very different.
If you had told me my horse had schizophrenia, I would have believed you. If you had told me you had swapped my horse with another one the same colour, but crazy, I would have believed you.
The difference was night and day.
My sweet, hot but tolerant little youngster had turned into a kite from hell. Every ride (albeit never a buck / dirt) was borderline dangerous. Volatile, explosive, back snapping 180° spook, spin and bolts, blind. A hand walk on a trail ride was incredibly dangerous (she went into flight mode and tried to gallop through a barbed wire fence, with me standing in the way (I very nearly got smooshed).
Even leading her was a challenge. One minute walking quietly, the next, she could explode and potentially knock me down. I also had several spook-rear-flips, fortunately I was not on board for any of these, but she did do a blind bolt on a ridden trail which saw me picking bitumen out of my cheek skin. Down she went, on top of me. Not fun.
She was "that horse" who I had to warn visitors about.
"Be careful, that one is quick on her feet. She looks quiet but... Out of nowhere...."
Every ride she was a challenge. Every ride I was left wondering what I was doing wrong. And this persisted for years with what felt like zero improvement.
I even decided not to compete her anymore until I had things under control (if ever...) after several failed and embarrassing attempts at basic preliminary tests. She was tight to ride, would accelerate out of control if given a tiny bit of rein to stretch into. Canter transitions were explosions at best, hang onto your hat! And I could not put any leg on. At all. The sensitivity dial was way, way up. I have retired from more tests on her than I'd like to admit. My goals were simply to get in the arena and get out in one piece, even if the test hadn't been finished.
There had to be a reason. It was like she was hearing voices, seeing shadows. She was constantly on edge, tight, tense. But she didn't want to be. I could hear her saying "help me."
I tried hard feed. No hard feed. Supplements, riding regularly or irregularly, lunge first, no lunge, ground work, no ground work... Lucerne, no Lucerne. I backed off the riding and did 12 weeks of solid lunging only, transitions as a focus. And I ponied her off my other horse, hoping it would give her some confidence. I did a course of ulcer paste, bute trial...I even got an animal communicator to talk to her. Nothing much seemed to help.
I was baffled and defeated.
Now you may be wondering, why on earth would I bother with a horse like this? Why would I put myself at risk each day? There are so many horses, why waste time with one like this? And honestly, sometimes I asked the same question. It was her honest nature that kept me trying. I could just feel, somewhere in there, she was a good girl. An honest horse.
So...why was this happening??
Quite by accident, I finally worked it out.
Fast forward to the start of this year. Now 2 years under saddle, still dysfunctional and frustrating.
Anyway, I had accidentally foundered another horse of mine on a basic grass hay that he had been eating for 4 years (without any prior issues). 4 years... And clinical laminitis. I was kicking myself! He was also on zero hard feed or grass, and was eating the hay from a slow feed net (2cm holes) yet somehow, a horse without any prior lamanitic history, was now critically lamanitic! Interestingly, this was the same hay that I had been feeding Aspen too.
So, I found myself a Teff supplier, hoping I could help this poor gelding who I had foolishly foundered out of nowhere. And then it hit me.
..what if it's the grass hay that's causing all these issues in Aspen, too?
Turns out, it was.
You can imagine my shock and embarrassment, working out that I had been inadvertently POISONING my horse for nearly 2 years. I don't know if it was the sugar, ryegrass, the clover or the sprays... But something in that hay made poor Aspen appear schizophrenic (and my other horse lamanitic, go figure) Remember, this was the same hay they had both been eating, the gelding for 4 years. The mare for 2!
I swapped to the Teff hay... Within 24 hours, 80% better. The whites of her eyes disappeared. She relaxed her neck and back and hung her head when she walked. I had to drag her in from the paddock rather than tiptoe around her.
Within 3 days, a car drove past the arena in *that corner* with a noisy engine. I braced for impact, and to my surprise, she didn't even look.
The birds in the trees no longer caught her attention.
Horses galloping nearby were not interesting anymore.
Twice daily spooks, spins, saddle slips, blind bolts and potential death turned into "maybe I should start carrying a whip to get this girl moving".
Canter transitions now relaxed and soft over the topline, soft in the contact, harmonious.
A lengthening of the rein now means "lengthen your back and neck, not impersonate a harness horse."
And another side note, she had a chronic rash across her back. Lumps, like ingrown hairs. They had been there for years. Nothing helped. Vets had no idea what it was.
2 weeks of different hay, gone.
And she had always short cycled on a 28mm follicle which was ridiculous.
2 weeks of different hay, 38mm easily.
I'm really interested later this year to see what other changes it has made to her cycle.
It has been several months now having made this change. This mare is rock solid. I have made more progress with her in this short time than I had in the prior 2 years of persistence. Imagine if I had never worked it out. Imagine if I gave up on her. Sold her as a broodmare. Or worse still, she became labeled as a dangerous horse (who couldn't even be led safely) and was put to sleep.
All because her stupid owner was force feeding her something that was making her appear schizophrenic.
How many other horses are out there that need our help?
We have entered a comp in 3 weeks time. For the first time ever, I feel like she's ready.
(Thanks for coming to my TED Talk)
