Misread, Misjudged and Misdiagnosed...
- Jenny Paterson
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Horses are so often, misread, misjudged and therefore misdiagnosed and then, mistreated - meaning inappropriately treated...
Even horses who have been abused or neglected come around very quickly - so long as their nervous system is functioning normally (when they are not Grass Affected) - of course there will always be a few on the end of the spectrum who pose more of a challenge than others.
When there is insufficient fibre in the diet, there is insufficient fermentation in the hind gut to produce enough of the critical vitamins required to run the nervous system.
This often first shows up in the horse's skin which is densely populated in nerve endings. When these nerve endings are all 'on' the horse is hyper-sensitive to touch to varying degrees and will not want to be touched or brushed.
Such issues are outward signs of internal disturbances to the horses bio-chemistry and are therefore ‘metabolic disorders’.
Resolving these issues is principally about correcting the horses environment and nutrition BEFORE any training, riding or breeding begins. Of course a person also has to have a good approach.
When thus ‘Affected’ it is a waste of time, unpleasant for the horse and potentially very risky, to be trying to 'work through' any of these issues because they are not training issues.
Rather they are bio-chemistry issues affecting the horse's nervous system including all his senses: his eyesight, his hearing and his proprioception, his co-ordination and ability to properly operate his muscles.
Hence not only his perception is altered, but also his awareness and his sensitivity. When he is thus affected he will be having a whole different experience to what he should be having!
He will tend to ‘react’ instead of ‘respond’, which makes him appear to be 'shut down' when really it is a chemistry issue. He just needs to be put somewhere safe on suitable forage/feed for the time it takes for his metabolism to return to normal again which can take anywhere from weeks to months.
For over-reactive, hyper-sensitive horses, body-work and other therapies are best postponed until the chemistry of the horse’s nervous system is back to normal. Some horses cannot stand to be touched and will be aggressive towards people; they are best untouched apart from basic care over this time, usually 7-10 days.
Some people say they tried taking their horse off the grass 'but it didn't work' however, on investigation, there are three things that stand out to us.
There is still grass, albeit short or just around the edges
They have only taken them off it for a short time - just as it took a while for these issues to appear, it takes time (weeks to months depending on the issues) to resolve.
The hard feed or hay is still contributing to the issues (ie the hay contains lucerne or clover or the hard feed isn't properly balanced).
Most people don't realise how meticulous you have to be when the horse's metabolism is compromised - it can take 6 months to a year on the right forage and feed to really see the true horse.
Take Ben for example, who was going 'on the meat truck on Tuesday' if we didn't pick him up beforehand.
This was because he couldn't be caught or touched, he would front-foot people and was overall, a 'difficult' standardbred. He had been through the standardbred rehoming program twice (under a different name)
It did take several months for him to become the lovely, calm horse he is today - in fact he became so easy going, he was used for years as an Equine Assisted Therapy horse with Salta Horses!
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