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- Horses by nature are not generally nasty.
Question: I have a 12-year-old gelding whom I have had for about a year now. He has always been a grumpy fellow. If you go to pet him anywhere he pins his ears and tries to bite. From what I can gather, people who have been around the horse before I had him said that's just his personality. He even acts this way when you walk by his stall. He is a barrel horse, and I do inject his hocks. He is a very high strung horse with a lot of pep to him, but he rides nicely. I feed a half-gallon of 12 percent sweet feed and a half-gallon of 12 percent pellets, twice a day. He is on Senior Flex for horses, and I add 2 ounces of Equine Merit Horse Mineral in his feed each time. He usually picks through though and doesn't really eat much of his mineral. Why does he act so mean?
Answer: Horses by nature are not generally nasty. Occasionally the personality can match that of a grumpy person, but the desire to bite and his behavior in the stall tells me he is uncomfortable. Usually the reason for being nasty is due to pain. However, he is also getting a lot of sugar in his sweet feed diet, and most horses get worse with added sugar. Just go to a grade school the day after Halloween if you want to see cranky, grumpy high strung kids.
Horses who are naturally high strung are even worse with added sugar or molasses. The first thing I would do is remove all sweet feed (and I would do this for all horses, the sugar is only detrimental). A few horses will object to eating unsweetened food, but if you hold out, most horses will make the switch, and if he refuses to eat for a few days it will not hurt him. Make the switch gradually over about a week.
Also, look carefully at his weight. Many horses do not need as much grain as we feed them. Even the carbohydrates in the grain get converted to sugars in the digestive tract. So if his weight is on the high side cut back on the grain and give more hay. Do not fall into the trap of feeding mostly grain to give him energy. He will have plenty of natural energy to work if he gets just enough grain to keep his weight at a normal level but has most of his food as forage or hay. Read the article Holistic Equine Nutrition on my website about natural feeding. For his minerals you may be better feeding him a free-choice mineral such as Rush Creek mineral where he can decide whether he wants to eat it or not. Plus, check out the special report "Is Your Horse Too Fat?" in the February '09 issue of EQUUS magazine.
Next, your job is to see why he may be hurting. Many horses with attitudes have back pain from work, an injury or a poor fitting saddle. Other grumpy horses have ulcers which give chronic pain. He is getting a lot of grain so his gut may be overloaded, which can lead to ulcers. Some vets are less familiar with back pain, so you may want to consult an acupuncturist or well-educated equine chiropractor (see Alternative Healthcare Organization Links). Some horses have foot pain; some have arthritis in more places than just the hocks (which you said you had injected). In many cases, if the horse has arthritis or joint pain on both fronts or both hind legs he will not limp until the vet does a nerve block on one side to numb it, then you can see the lameness on the other side.
For further reading, see my previous EquiSearch.com Ask the Vet articles on back pain, poor saddle fit and ulcers as well as my website article on saddle fit and the book The Western Horse's Pain-Free Back and Saddle-Fit Book.
Dr. Joyce Harman is a veterinarian and respected saddle-fitting expert certified in veterinary acupuncture and veterinary chiropractic; she is also trained in homeopathy and herbal medicine. Her Harmany Equine Clinic is in northern Virginia. Visit her online shop.
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