Misbehavior inthe Horse- or Pain Issues?

 Horses and Pain

Final post of the #horsehealth theme this week. Scroll my previous posts to read about sleep deprivation, nutrition, tack fit, development/maturity & starting young horses, and now I'll finish with the topic of pain.

I was asked to help with this gelding after him being passed off through three owners in a relatively short time.

When I went to load him into the trailer he tried rearing, striking, bolting, etc. I could tell he'd "done this" before to scare the human.

He was always agitated, would bite at anything- human/gate/rope, could not stand still nor focus, would literally walk straight through pressure, was herd dysfunctional, tense all the time, would not lay down to sleep, and much more.

My first assessment was focused on internal gut issues, physio problems, and external pain.

My client caught on film as I was showing her some of what he was holding in.

She'd first called because he'd bolt... To me, the running away is a symptom, not the root cause. My goal was to peel back the layers of pain, fear, distrust, lack of communication, and help him learn to think through scenarios to offer reasonable behavior.

All of his issues were human created. He had a permanent ridge in his nose from a tie down, he'd shake when seeing a saddle, he'd bite at the air if turned loose in the round pen. 

He was reflecting everything he'd been "taught."

The next time you encounter the "problem" horse, rather than approaching with criticism, perhaps translate the dramatic and dangerous behaviors as pleas for help.