We put down lots of equine behavioural issues to being ‘naughty’, but your horse could be trying to tell you something.
Regular check-ups
According to horse whisperer Kelly Marks, pain is often at the root of behavioural problems. Think how grumpy and groggy you feel when you’re not at your best. If a personal trainer showed up and told you to drop and give them 20, chances are you would ‘nap’ in response.
“I like my horses to have a twice yearly physiotherapy check and treatment from an ACPAT (Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy) qualified practitioner,” says Kelly.
There is a ‘gold standard’ register of animal musculoskeletal therapists at www.rampregister.org. Or you should ask your vet to recommend a practitioner.
“If your horse starts to behave out of character a vet check is the place to start,” Kelly adds.
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Brain, pain or training?
As well as getting your horse regularly checked, it is important you are aware of how he is feeling on a daily basis. The key is to this is knowing what ‘normal’ behaviour looks like.
“As an owner it can be difficult to determine the cause of bad behaviour,” says Kelly. “Last year I contributed to the book and DVD Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training, which explains how you can figure out for yourself whether it’s pain or behaviour, and where to go for help.”
Is your horse in pain?
Physiotherapist Sue Palmer, who put the book together, compiled a comprehensive questionnaire consisting of 50 questions, which will help you assess your horse. We have listed some of them below.
- Is the issue worse at the beginning of the session, and improving towards the end?
- Does he kick or bite, or is he generally nervous around people or other horses?
- Is he ear-shy or head-shy?
- Does he need to be sedated to have his teeth checked?
- Is he difficult to catch, clip, or load?
- Does he pull a face, swish his tail, move away, or otherwise indicate displeasure in relation to bridling, saddling, girthing, rugging or mounting?
- Does he only lie down on one side, or is he unable to roll right over?
- Is he only ever ridden in an arena?
- Is he grumpy, aggressive, or otherwise generally miserable, at all or any specific times?
- Does he misbehave for the farrier or trimmer?
- Is he shod at intervals of greater than six weeks?
- Does he wear a particular type of noseband in order to stop him from opening his mouth.
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, your horse’s behaviour may be affected by pain.
You can get more great advice from Kelly Marks on Horse & Country. We have a number of training programmes with Kelly, covering everything from napping and loading, to hunting and showing.
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