Almost one year ago I bought my 5 year old Throughbred mare, Rosie. It was all fine until recently, she has started swinging her head around and attempting to bite, kick, and be a general B*tch. 

If this has just started, it sounds like she has some back pain, maybe sacrum-related. Pain in the sacrum can also be evidenced in the poll, which might account for the bit issue and the head tossing. Back pain could account for the kicking and biting. When you put a thick set of pads on her she might be reacting to that, especially if you tighten the girth to the same hole you used with no pad or a thin pad.

There are multiple possiblities, but I agree that a check with your vet may well be warranted -- you can spend a lot of time and energy and money guessing or you can bypass all that and get a professional to help.

If I understood right, you can ride her in the saddle with no pad and she is fine?  But then you add a half pad and she is not?  Then it is possible the half pad/other pad is adding too much bulk and making the saddle pinch.  Many horses are very sensitive about their withers.

As for the bits, when I see a horse cycling through a lot of bits but going back to the same behaviours, I look to the rider's hands.  The truth is, most problems are caused by us (ohhh, it is painful to admit that one, but true!) so I would ask, "How am I riding?"  Make a video or get a ground person (trainer or knowledgeable friend) to watch you and determine what you may be doing to contribute to behaviours.

When we have had our horses for a while, we tend to fall into patterns of riding and behaviour within the relationship with the horse.  It takes an outside eye to break those patterns and keep us moving in the right direction.

Wow! Thanks for replying so quickly!

It might be that the saddle fits her just right and adding that extra half pad makes it too tight for her.  I know that Boy does not like the pad to sit on his withers, I need to make sure I pull it up in the gullet of the saddle.  The strange muscling you're talking about is most likely not from the saddle but from her compensating for some other physical issue.

Has she seen a dentist?  If she's got hooks or ramps, it could be that she can't flex at the poll that could give her a headache and also make her sore in her upper thorasics.  I would also have her seen by a massage therapist and a chiro (on the same day, preferrably right after the massage) they hold their adjustments so much better after a good massage.  The mt/chiro can tell you where your horse is sore and a possible cause.

I would also look at her feet.  Is she barefoot or in shoes?  Many times when we think our horses are getting a nice balanced trim before a reset they aren't.  What happens to you when your feet hurt because you're wearing shoes that are too small, too narrow, or that make you walk funny?  It makes you're whole body hurt, especially your back.  When they are out of balance the horse has to do things with their body to compensate and this makes them sore.  Sometimes all it takes is a discussion with your farrier and sometimes it takes getting a new one.  Feet are so important, but get over looked all the time.

I also agree with Solo on the bit cycling.  Look at yourself and make sure you're not using your hands for balance and riding off of her mouth.  SO MANY people have this problem and don't know it.  I rode for years and had no idea what correct was until I found my wonderful trainer (who sadly moved south!).  Thoroughbreds are typically very sensitive horses and will let you know when they don't like something.  She's a mare also...so double that.  Listen to her and she will make you a better rider.

Ulcers also come to mind with what you're describing.  What's her diet (be very specific please) and her turnout routine?

Is there anyway you can get us some video of you riding and some pictures of her feet? 

 

I can't figure out how to put a picture on here! She's Barefoot with trims every 6-8 weeks, and She eats 3/4 lbs of Legends Show and Pleasure Textured and 1/4 lb of Triple Crown Senior(she won't gain weight!). She's turned out for at least 4 hours, up to twelve in the summer. She lives with a gelding and a pony who bullies her off the hay(the pony is a little brat: she stays penned up most of the time). Her workout routine consists of 2-3 days of jumping/poles/gridwork/cross-country. The rest of it is dressage, with bending, flexion, extension, collection, and tons of circles and transitions.(if you want to count stirrupless, that, too.)

Go to the list of forum topics--General, Horse Car, English, et al--and at the very bottom you'll see FAQ. On that forum you'll read how to do many of the things you want to do on posts. I'm pretty sure it tells you how to post pictures and links.

You might try putting shoes on her first.  If her feet are sore, this will have a huge impact on the rest of her body.  I don't know very may TB's that can go barefoot and be in full work (insert my TB here).  I actually do know one, but she's definately in the minority.  You can try just front shoes first, but most likely she will be happier shod all the way around.  She might not look lame or ouchy, but her feet could sting when they hit the ground.  Have the farrier check her with the hoof testers next time he/she is out to make sure she isn't sore but, I would put shoes on her no matter what the farrier says.   

Her feed, is that 1lb total per feeding or per day?  Either way from what you're telling me she's getting in the feed department doesn't sound like being close to enough for what she needs to gain weight, especially for the workload you say she's on.  My TB gelding gets 6 lbs (a 3qt scoop of TC Senior = 3lbs) of Triple Crown Senior a day along with 1lb of Buckeye Ultimate Finish and Omega Horseshine and he's not doing anything right now.  If you're new to feeding a TB sometimes it's hard to wrap your head around how much they need to eat just to stay in good weight.  They burn calories just standing around.  Triple Crown Senior is a wonderful feed and you can feed that to her even though she's not a senior.  It's high fat, low starch, low sugar and easy to digest.  It will put weight on her without making her crazy.  The legends is probably not doing much for her, so I wouldn't even feed it to her.  I would steadily increase the TC Senior till you see her start to gain and keep her there until you get her where she should be, then you can back off a little.  As far as they hay goes...can you spread enough piles around so that if she gets chased off of one, there's always an extra pile for her?  Like if you have three horses, put out 4 or 5 piles so she always has one to go to.  It's so important that they get as much hay as they will eat and they have something infront of them all the time.  Their digestive system does not work properly without the fiber and they need it to keep warm. 

Looking forward to pictures of your girl!   

I have had many TB's over the years and struggled with keeping weight on them as well as bitting and saddling issues so I totally sympathize with you. I also agree with the other commenters in that these issues often arise because TB's are so sensitive. We started feeding one our TB's (and any horse who need to gain weight) feed with Lysine in it. (Lysine helps them gain weight in the right way 1. skeletal tissue 2. muscle and then 3. fat thus helping horses gain good weight like a top line and muscles without getting a hay belly or 'high'). Many feeds/ supplements have lysine in them you just have to do a little research. One way is to feed a cup of soybean meal. Also a rice bran is great because it helps them gain weight without making them 'high' we have used both a supplement with lysine and ricebran on our TB's and it really helped our TB's put on weight.

I have also been a big believer in finding a saddle that fits a horse, this can be kind of tricky because you'll need to find a saddle fitter who has experience in you area that can come out and look at your horse and in the end you may have to buy a new saddle. I have had several Amerigo saddles that worked great for me and my jumpers. One main thing I remember being told by a saddle fitter is that you should be able to fit 3-4 fingers down the tree of your saddle otherwise it may be too narrow (with a TB it may be different because they aren't usually as big as a warmblood). And also don't put your saddle too far forward (believe me I always have a tendancy to do this) as this can restrict or create pressure points on a horses shoulders.My saddle fitter said put saddle on the horses back (without a pad) start way far forward and let it slip/slide back to a natural resting point. That is approx where you should be putting your saddle (then when you put your pads on try to get back to or near that natural point). Again every horse/saddle is different depending on type.

As for bitting in my experience you just have to try different things. I saw a great video on EquestrianCoach.com all about bitting where they talk about different bits, common misconceptions and different approaches (for example one really strong horse actually lightened up and was happier with less bit not more- a real shock to the rider) that you may find really helpful and insightful. I did! Good luck! 

You stated she goes 28 days and wham she has another hissy.   Vet check, she may have cyctic ovary.   If she is having pain she'll display as resistance and irritability.   I had a great AQHA mare who had them, she was a world class B**$h.   We treated her, and I leased her to a student and while at her barn turned out with "geldings" ended up getting bred.   She came home bred, and after foaling she seemed to have more normal cycles for the rest of her life.   she was still a very bossy mare, and did have noticable cycles, but regumate when she was competing relieved all her symtoms and attitude.

Saddle fit - if she has great differences in musculature where the pads are, then you are causing too much padding and pinching the back, withers, etc.  Its like wearing your favorite shoes, one pair of socks is all you need... put on 2 or 3 and your feet will ache, and after you take off the shoes (having walked several miles or gone dancing)  your feet will swell and be miserable for days.   Thats what over padding can do to your horse's back.   Over padding with half pads, takes away the purpose of a raised gullet, the spine area gets friction and pressure, where as with a single pad, the saddle over the spine is raised, and the air flow helps.  2 pads, and your 2nd pad basically becomes a bridge over the spine from one panel to the other, and your horse has no relief over his spine.

 

Thank You all for the help!!

 

 Yay - I'm glad you got the answers you needed here and got to the root of the problem.