RING SOUR HORSE
QUESTION: We leased a 9 year old, 14.1 HH, Hunter/Jumper,
Welsh gelding for our daughter. Apparently the previous
owner hated doing flat, she only jumped him, and he
soured. My daughter works constantly on flat work, (he
always has his ears back doing this) and he has a crabby
disposition. The owner at our barn wants to give him a
hormone shot (it supposedly lasts a year, and improves
disposition) what do you think?
ANSWER: I do not believe in giving hormone shots
or any of the other calming/mood altering drugs.
That is the easy way out for
trainers.
This guy is just plain Ring Sour. He needs a good long
rest from the same old routines. The word "Constantly" in
your question says it all.
He needs to be pleasure rode for a few weeks out side of
the ring. Without continual head set, leg aids and the
same thing, over and over and over. Just rode quietly in
an outside environment. He also if kept stalled, needs
to go live in an outside paddock (at least part of the
time) where he can just be a horse, relax when he wants to
and exercise himself a bit when he wants to.
Ring Sour horses can steadily get more
and more cranky if they never get a break from routine.
Once he realizes that getting ridden can be fun and not
all work, he can be started SLOWLY back into
training. Keeping in mind to not train the same old
routine every single day.
Also, he should have a complete vet check, including teeth to rule out a
hidden source of low level pain which can cause a horse to
become Ring Sour. We just don't know that the way they
are shod or that they have joint ailments or that the
saddle/girth is pinching them or that their back (spine)
is sore or that the bit is bothering bad teeth. All these
things have to be ruled out also.