What do you do...?

Question

My horse breathes reallly loud and he starts to try to bolt and he starts to lather up and he is very damp by the end of the ride. he likes to go in front but when he gets in front or to far back he "hypervetalates". any suggestions?

Answer 1

You might want to call a vet about this. By themselves, these behaviors are somewhat less serious, but together, these could be symptoms of something serious.

If there is nothing wrong I would ask a trainer about this. The info provided isn't really much for me to answer what training I would do, but a trainer can evaluate and see what is causing these things. I do know that if your horse isn't ridden regularly, he could be doing this because he doesn't want to ride and is testing you. If you haven't had this problem before and he is being ridden regularly, check the temperatures outside. If you've got high humidity and/or high temps then your horse shouldn't be ridden for more than 30 minutes or so (not including warm-up/cool-off time).

Other than that, all I can tell you is to try to think about anything that has changed since your horse first started acting this way. Hope the vet can find a problem though, as that will be much easier, and I hope it's nothing serious!

Answer 2

Teach your horse how to relax. The behavior you are describing is synonymous with the flight response. Teaching a horse to relax is as simple as teaching it to lower his head on command, and being consistent at it until you prevail.

Are you riding with a tie down on his head? Is your horse difficult to bridle?

If you answer yes to these two questions then you must go way back to the beginning because your horse has never been taught to accept the bit and cannot be taught to relax until bit acceptance is established

A tie down is a management tool not a training tool.

Your handling of the reins needs improvement as well because you asked this question you do not understand how a bit is actually supposed to work.

Here is a short tutorial,

High head = flight response
Low head = relaxation response

Bit technique, is a touch and release. Not a constant pull. As your horse is lathering and racing ahead and breathing hard you are constantly pulling to slow him down, thereby creating more tension and anxiety in the horse.

Touch the rein, feel the bit in the mouth, when the horse responds to your touch by giving to the pressure then release. When the horse gives to you, you give back to the horse. His head will go down before it comes back up.

Keep doing this technique on the ground in front of him until he consistently gives to the pressure of the bit and you consistently give back to him. You are teaching him to relax at the touch of the rein on command.

Answer 3

i Would have a vet check him out he could be diabetic