Repeat After Me: When A Good Horse Suddenly Quits Working-SOMETHING IS WRONG!
I’ve never come across a good performance horse who’s been working hard, then suddenly quits without having a darn good reason for it.
Horses will work through a lot, especially the good ones. But when they’ve reached their limit, something’s gotta give.
How else are they going to tell you? It’s not like they can sit you down and chat with you about their feelings. They obviously can’t share with you what’s bothering them. So it’s only natural that much like a toddler, they would simply act out.
The Problem
Too many times I’ve seen a great performance horse do something out of left field. Followed by a rider insisting on more work and more drills after their horse acted out. This usually ends in a hurt horse, or a horse that acts out even worse. It only amplified the problem. Punishing a horse in pain or a horse that’s freaked out about something is never the solution.
Now I’m not talking about colts or horses still in training; unpredictable is part of the territory there. I am talking about finished, hard working performance horses that suddenly do something uncharacteristic of them.
The Solution
So if your good performance horse quits working. Start asking yourself what could be bothering them. Chances are, something is wrong.
Hi, my name is Sierra Ferguson-Green. I’ve been a horse professional for over two decades. First as an Equine Chiropractor. Then as a Farrier for 10 years before retiring from that. I’ve been a horse owner, trainer, breeder and competitor for most of my life, and I’ve seen just about everything you can imagine over the course of my career.
So many times when a great horse is acting out. It simply means they’re in pain. This is their only way of trying to communicate to you that something is very wrong. Otherwise they’d be happy as a horse right?
If you’d like tips on how to spot the subtle signs a horse is in pain, GO HERE. If you’d like to read about a brand new product that is completely transforming the lives of horses each and everyday, GO HERE.
