Behavior Change in Your Horse

Behavior change can mean a lot of things , like your horse pinning his
ears when you saddle him or he starts to buck at the canter . Behavior change is a change
in your horse that never has been there before and all of a sudden he is doing something
that he has never done. Some times it is to the point of being almost aggressive
behavior. You go out one day and saddle up your horse and start to work on more
training. As you come around the arena you have ridden in for weeks all of a sudden
your horse spooks big time and the same corner or same fence post that he/she has been
going by every day for the last month. You ask your self what in the world you work your horse some more and still the same spook by the same object. You think to your self, what in the world is
going on . You take your usually not spooky horse out for a ride on the trail ,the
same trail you have always used and the first stump that has been there all along turns in to a
horse eating monster. You ride back to the barn and the same thing your horse spooks big
time at the same gate you have gone through a 100 times in the past .

We start analyzing what could be wrong and do a check list .

The weather when it has been hot and turns cold can cause a laid back horse
to act like a frisky horse that feels good. The weather can also cause a laid back horse
to spook, the wind blowing ,rain in the forecast , in fact my horse when it has been nice
out and then it starts raining will get pissed like he is pissed at the world its self. He
will rear and paw at the rain, he will crow hop in place out in the pasture ,, he will be in a nasty mood to the other horse.
Usually when we take and put him to work he will settle down and calm down and be
his old self again. Then we decide that it is not the change in weather that is causing this
all of a sudden change in our horse. We make sure he is not sick or coming down with
something if that checks OK on our list then we have to look further in to what is causing this change in behavior pattern.

I start at the hoof and work up to the shoulders, the neck, the withers ,
the back , the hips looking for hot spots or sings of soreness.
I do some easy test on his eyes to see if every thing is OK or I find that
one eye is different than the other , in doing this test I will be very careful not to
touch the long eye hairs that protrude from around the eye lid. I take my hand and see if there is
a reaction to finger movement on both eyes.
I try to look in the mouth and check out any abnormalities that may have been there
before. If I cant see any thing then I will put pressure along the jaw to see if I get a reaction to it.
If I can't find any thing unusual I will call my vet and tell them of the behavior change and maybe he should come out and check my horse over because I may have missed
something that a vet could find.

Far most behavior changes in our horses that are not normal is a cause for concern and we need to get a professional out to look the horse over.

Know your horses body language from day to day week to week . Know how your
horse acts during weather changes and such . You will be able to detect a problem
right away if you know your horses over all moods and body language.


Article by Connie Beckner of Lafayette, IN

Ms. Beckner would love to hear from you! Please e-mail to her at: pocosonny@msn.com