Cold Weather Craziness?

[acoustic11]

I'm posting this for a friend of mine who is new to LJ and can't figure out how to join the community. I've ridden with her my whole life and she is a very capable rider and trainer. However, neither of us can figure out what is up with her latest project. She's hoping that someone here has dealt with a horse like this before or as any ideas as

Comments

[glitteredhorse]

My pony is EXACTLY the same way! If it's cold, he has a fire under his ass and will be spooky, buck, etc. If it's warm/hot, he's perfect or even lazy.

My only inkling is that my pony has arthritis and I assume when it's cold his joints act up and hurt more. It might also be that horses deal with cold better than hot so he's got lots of energy when it's cool and he just wants to lie around going "GAAAH IT'S HOT" when it's warm outside.

[wagrobanite]

Have you checked the air pressure? I knew a dog once that acted exactly like the horse and it turned out that he had a birth defect in both ears where there was a pin sized hole in his ear drums. But the tiniest change the air pressure and he was like ADD dog. Couldn't sit still, didn't listen, would bark. it was especially worse outside. I don't know what the owners eventually did, as they moved away.

I would also check the air quality? Maybe if it's dry, it affects him?

[acoustic11]

Huh, interesting. I'll have to mention that to the owner and see if they will bring that up to their vet.

[wagrobanite]

Yah I don't know how common a hole would but I do know that there are some animals that react to changes in air pressure

[miladyelizabeth]

It could also be a hole anywhere in his skeletal system. For instance: I have a tiny spot in my vertebrae where it didn't fuse correctly following my first back surgery. That was in 1991, and it still hurts like hell for a few hours every time there is a dramatic change in air pressure.

[buymeaclue]

Guess you know how he ended up at the auction, eh?

Maybe there's something I'm missing, but...

he’ll ONLY act up on brisk, windy, or colder days.

...that sounds pretty typical to me. Sounds like he gets a little fresh with the weather change and has figured out that doing so is a pretty sweet deal. I'd ditch the stopping him and just put somebody up who can stay on and ride him forward through whatever--not aggressively, but very business-like--and see how he does with that ride for a while.

[acoustic11]

I thought it was pretty typical, too, being around horses all of my life. I know how it goes - nice chilly day, horses are all up. It's just the drastic change in him - 70 degrees one day and you need two inch spurs to get a trot out of him, 63 the next day and it's like a rodeo.

We've tried just riding him through it and riding him forward, but that just puts the track in his head and he turns on the gas and wants to run forever.

[buymeaclue]

So you bend him, you pop him off the inside leg, you put him on some figures, etc. Unless he's hurting--which sounds unlikely--it doesn't really matter why he's doing it, you know? If he's spooking and bucking and bolting, you just ride him like you would any other spook-buck-bolter. So he's a little more reactive about it than most horses. 's okay. He can still learn to handle himself appropriately.

[acoustic11]

True that. I agree with you.

[lurath]

He MAY have arthritis and/or joint issues. I know that my bad joints are especially touchy when the weather and pressure changes a lot day-to-day. Have you had him thoroughly gone-over by a vet? As an OTTB I think that NOT having some kind of issue is what's rare, not the health issues themselves.

Either that or he is just an extreme case of cool-weather freshness. It does seems suspicious and unusual that he seems to get MEAN rather than just hyper, however.

Perhaps this is why he was at auction?

[acoustic11]

Yeah, now we know why he was at auction. He has been looked over pretty well by a vet, although I don't think they had Xrays done. He's totally sound, but it does seem like that's something to consider.

[lurath]

My barn owner has a horse whose behavior changes radically towards being rather bitchy (more so during cold weather) and was totally sound. They finally discovered that her hocks were having issues.

If it was just bucking and being spooky and fresh, I'd be less likely to be pain-related.

It wouldn't hurt to rule it out, because joint pain can be helped and fixed!

[young_modern]

if it was arthritis or some similar physical issue, he probably wouldn't be leaping and running around quite like that. he'd be more stiff, cranky, unwilling to go. you'd also see signs of it on the ground, like aggressive behaviour while being tacked up or having blankets changed.

[acoustic11]

I'll definitely bring that up to the owner. He's been vet checked, but I'm not sure if arthritis was specifically looked for.