The Current State of Affairs

Oh man it's been a while since we actually talked about TC on this blog. About two weeks I think. And there's a reason for that. I'm going to try to get this all into this post, but it's going to be long. Because TC has been rearing.

Not this, the most perfect young horse ever? I can't believe how
dark he still is, dude you're turning 6 this year!

Here is the fast and dirty time line:

Friday December 16th to Sunday December 18th- We have the best rides! They were so fun and he was the best baby horse.

Monday December 19th- TC was a spaz at night, though he was great in between being really spooky and bolting a lot.

Tuesday December 20th- TC was great in the beginning, but then we took a walk break and then TC bolted basically through the rest of our ride.

Wednesday December 21st- TC was really really good, but he was behind my leg to the left and I mentioned him wanting to skitter right. I didn't mention it in the post, but it was mostly in the spooky corner and pretty much only to the left.

Thursday December 22nd- TC was very much behind my leg and balking, he did a small rear and the ride was going downhill quick before my friend spooked us and he went galloping around the arena. Then we had some really nice work.

Friday December 23rd- It was pouring rain so I just walked TC for 45 minutes

Saturday December 24th- TC begins by balking and running backwards at the mounting block. I kick him and he rears up, much bigger than Thursday. I rode him forward to another rear, then really lay into him and got him moving forward. Have the best ride ever once as he's in front of my leg.

Sunday December 25th- Decided that my safety was more important than his soundness and turned TC out in the covered round pen with the questionable footing. He bucked a LOT and had a blast. Didn't ride him.

Monday December 26th- Talked to the local vet in the morning who also does chiro/acupuncture, made an appointment for Thursday. That day I turned TC out, then rode him. He threatened to rear but I kept it very casual and didn't bait him to do it. Left the arena and got some really nice forward work in the field (though he still felt stilted and flat, but he was actually in front of my leg).

Tuesday December 27th- Turnout round pen was taken but the outdoor round pen was open. Took TC out there saddled up but with longeing stuff. He was quiet on the line, but forward both with and without side reins. A horse trotted over to him in turnout and he did what I considered a very docile bolt/spook/play. I got on after to just walk around and he was okay as long as I didn't put my leg on at all and didn't touch the reins. Any time I'd touch the reins he'd slow down and any time my leg went on he'd stop and look back at me. Went out in the other field (the one where he's usually nuts) and he was happy to trot away from the barn but when turned back, he would stop and pin his ears if my leg went on. A horse exploded in turnout and he casually picked up a canter and shook his head (unusually docile response) so I put my leg on to encourage him and he slammed to a halt and pinned looked at me.

Wednesday December 28th- Once again tacked up for longeing and had a GREAT school on the line in the round pen. He bucked and played a bit but I got some amazing work out of him. Thought it was all over, got on, and he would barely walk undersaddle. Same behavior as the day before. I didn't even try the field. After working I threw him in the round pen for turnout where he had a lot of fun. That night I hung out with Kate and she gave me some pop rocks just in case TC needs to be started on them. Decided to try chiro first and talk to the vet.

Thursday December 29th- Local vet came out and did chiro/acupuncture. She's sort of switching her focus from veterinary work to half vet and half chiro, which is really nice. I'm not the world's biggest believer in chiropractic work with horses, but having her also be a vet gives me a lot of peace of mind.

She checked his teeth and said they were okay, not bad enough to warrant a sudden change in behavior. Apparently chiropractically, this horse is a mess. He was way out in his poll and TMJ, out on one side at the C4 and the other at the C5. Out in both shoulders, though the left more than the right. Out in his sternum. VERY out in his lumbar area (and after the adjustment, his roach there went completely away...). Out in his pelvis, it tipped majorly down on the left side. And out in his sacrum.

Well okay. Whether that was enough to explain the rearing, she didn't know.

His back has never been this flat

So in the last two weeks, we've seen this: a horse with a confirmed bolting problem that has persisted for over two years, suddenly and completely changes his MO from bolting to rearing/balking over a period of two days.

Gone is the horse who wants so much to work and do his job, but is sometimes too amped up to stay with me mentally- he's now docile and his poor attempts at bolting are stopped when I put my leg on to encourage him to go forward. Gone is the horse with the flashy, sometimes terrifying, gaits- he's now completely flat and stilted both under saddle and loose if he's willing to move forward at all. Gone is the horse who always says yes, perhaps sometimes a bit too expressively- he now won't work under saddle at all, even when I'm giving him everything he's ever wanted- free reign to gallop around in the open.

Still happy to be longed though

And some of what I've heard from a few people is that he's being a jerk. Because they know him as this problem horse. He's rearing because he's five. Because he's trialing new behavior to get out of working (but um he never wants to not work). Because it's cold. Because it's raining. Because he's a naughty horse. Just longe him, don't ride him, leave him in his stall until the trainer comes back and let him ride out the rodeo and teach him that he can't rear (which is an appropriate thing to do if this was purely behavioral, don't get me wrong- I'm not opposed to that).

And I know that on this blog and if you've talked to me in person, this horse comes across as the ultimate asshole. It's been very un-fun to write about him here because I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship trying to justify to you and to myself (and my family) why I keep doing this. On good days, he's so good and sweet and perfect, I mean he just hits me sometimes and makes me hate myself and think I'm a terrible rider/horse owner. I'm sure every day you sign on to read this blog (if you still do, it's so painful to reread for me sometimes) and wonder whether my post is going to be about how the horse is showing me the true meaning of connection and elevation (he's seriously SO FUN) or whether I'm at my wits end with his physical or behavioral issues.

So throwing this new behavior into the "TC is an asshole" bin and sending him to a cowboy, or using it as the last straw to get rid of him, would be so easy. There goes TC again, Problem Horse(TM), back at it with a new naughty behavior.

Refusing to move when being told that he can
gallop around in the field with me

But I KNOW this horse. And I know horses in general. In all my years of riding and training, I've NEVER had an unprovoked, completely random change in the fundamental tendencies of a horse. Horses don't just change who they are just to be assholes. Because this horse LOVES his job and his go-to behavior for the last TWO YEARS is bolting, NOT rearing. He's reared only when I've blocked him from bolting, he's pumped full of adrenaline, and there's nowhere else to go. And that is a normal response for a dressage horse (never met a well built dressage horse who didn't rear now and again), he's built upright and uphill and rearing is easy for him. But it's not his go-to behavior. And to not only have the rearing suddenly start... the bolting (under saddle) has suddenly disappeared, as has his amazing work ethic. Suddenly. Without reason.

He's not a person. He's not thinking in his little pea brain "I bet rearing would get me out of doing work" or "I should abruptly stop bolting and start rearing, that would fuck with her." It makes more sense that he's got a pain issue that started in the first week and keeps getting worse. He NEVER pins his ears. Even when he goes to bite or kick (he doesn't like his sheath being touched but fuck him, I'm not paying a vet to sedate him to clean it so he thinks I'm rude and picks up his feet when I do it), his ears are forward or he's making that stupid look on his face.

To me, this just screams ulcers. The vet confirmed that he's at a ripe age/workload for ulcers.

I want so desperately to believe that the bolting problem all along has been ulcers, but I know better than to think that. But the reality is that it could have started as early as plucking him from his pasture and moving him to the east bay. Or it could have started when he was on bute and in the tiny stall at rehab. Or when he came home and started being worked. Or when he had the stifle injury and was on bute/had a drop in exercise levels. Or when I started riding him in the morning before breakfast (horses produce stomach acid 24/7). Or it could be that as our relationship has been cracking over the last year and a half, the ulcers have been slowly developing.

Where is my horse?!

The answer to those things is the same though- fix his lifestyle, treat the ulcers, prevent the ulcers from coming back. So he's been started on ulcerguard and then will switch to the pop rocks for additional treatment too.

I've also ordered aloe gel for him and we're hoping to move to a new paddock this weekend when trainer gets back and can help shuffle horses around. I'm still looking into more supplements for him, so please share any experiences you might have had with ulcers and what worked out for you.

Hopefully all of this works. If not then I have other plans that I hope I never have to tell you about. Fingers crossed (AGAIN, my fingers are getting sore after the last year of keeping them crossed) for TC.