The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

cranky horse

4K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  stefie 
#1 ·
my horse hates being curried. I try to curry him only with soft curry combs now because he flinches and his back concaves with the harder ones. He grinds his teeth and pins his ears when I curry him.

I try and curry along his neck and crest, and he seems to like that more (as a friendship kind of thing) but I still have to curry his body :[

he also is extremely girthy, he runs all around on cross ties and grinds his teeth when I tighten the girth around him..

any suggestions as to make him happier?
 
#2 ·
I would say you have to curry him lightly even with the hard curry- it sound like he have the sensitive skin or so. There are possible that he have the back pain but I doubt as you did not mention that you have a problem to ride him anyway.

Tighten the girth - do it slow...make sure it is enough but not finish so the saddle will stay on and walk to the place where you will mount your horse so your horse will some time to breath then you can finish it before you get on your horse.

On the other hand, you can give some treat to your horse when tigten the girth. one to two treats will do just fine (not too much, please or you will found yourself a sick horse with colic).

Hope it will help you a bit. Good luck.
 
#4 ·
yeah, he does have sensitive skin, so I always try and curry lightly.

as for my girth I pull it up slowly but even still he gets mad. I will try tightening it all the way after I'm on him though

my saddle fits him fine, my trainer made sure it fit him right.^^

thanks :]]
 
#5 ·
Everything you described sounds like a bad saddle fit - flinching when currying the back, aggression with tightening the saddle. I would possibly question your instructors knowledge on saddle fitting by maybe getting a second opinion.

Also, since your horse has sensitive skin when currying, I would perhaps get a different curry in addition to currying very lightly.
 
#6 ·
I have one question for you - do you have a problem when ride your horse? If yes, then it is pain in his back so that is why he do not want to his back to be touch with the curry so find a right saddle fitting or better pad (not to make it fit, it is for prevent from rub his bacK).

Or, your horse do not like the curry...I know all horses need to be curry but hard brush do no difference from the curry...myself I have not curry my horses for nearly 1 year now and they are still look beautiful because the hard brush do remove all dead hair, skin, and dirt.
 
#7 ·
sw98989898989 could be right about his back I have seen this a few times.
If he dose not like to be curried then don't not all horses like it.
There is not to much you can do about him being cold girthed you have to tighten it slowly then walk him and tighten and walk him and tighen pain in the butt, but there are a lot of horses like that.
 
#8 ·
under saddle he's a completely different horse.. he's willing to do everything with a happy forward attitude..

I'm sure it's not the saddle that's bothering him, it's a nice Pessoa
http://www.doversaddlery.com/pessoa-a-o-saddle/p/X1-15202/cn/1721/

I think it's just part of his personality *shrugs*

but I will try using different curries and tightening the girth gradually :]]

thanks guys ^^
 
#10 ·
My horse used to to that, he ended up just being really sensitive. :( He just needs to be curried lightly. I made him less bitter about the whole thing by making a curry brush motion with my hands really lightly across his problem areas until he began to like it, then eased him into the curry brush again.

EDIT: My horse is girthy too (people marvel at how well this saddle fits him fyi.) I had this suggested to me, and it works wonders. When you put the saddle on, while being really matter of fact about it, don't brace yourself for repercussions, just be prepared for them and deal with them as they come. Just buckle the girth at the loosest hole, and walk him around in it for a while before you tighten it. It divided the saddling process so it wasn't this horrible thing that happened all at once, my horse seemed to take it a lot better.
 
#12 ·
hmmm by the sounds of it he might have a back problem or the saddle does not fit properly, one way to find out if its not is to put ether a nappy or a white towl under the saddle and saddle blanket and it will show up where it is rubbing or anoying the horse.

because he has sencitive skin to the curry comb i would sujest use a rubber curry comb and dont go round in circles use it as a normal brush or just dont use a curry comb at all, the dandy bush can work just as well as a curry.
just also remember that horses can be tickelish round the flank and where the girth goes
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top