Greetings. I'm new to the forums and come here seeking some advice.This is a long and complicated question, so please bear with me.

 I own a 21-year-old Thoroughbred mare named Piper. I've owned her since she was 13 and have done everything from dressage to jumpers to Pony Club with her. She has always been very much a packer -- calm as could be and easy to handle. She had Thoroughbred mare moments on occasion, but was overall an angel.

She lived by herself in a big field at my parents' house in Virginia until this June when I moved her to a boarding farm in Pennsylvania where I currently live because of my husband's job. For one year, Piper was a pasture ornament in Virginia because I could not afford to keep her in Pennsylvania. :(

 Thankfully, I was able to bring her here in June. She now lives in a stall during the day and is turned out in a large field at night. We are slowly working on getting her back into shape. The process has been tricky; she has arthritis in both hocks, an old bone spur above her right front coronary band and pulled her left front superficial flexor tendon five years ago, so she has a host of lameness issues that make her sore on occassion. She is on a senior joint supplement and receives monthly glucosamine shots to keep her comfortable.

Now that you have the background, here is the dilemma: She's literally lost her mind. She is EXTREMELY tense when I get on. She occasionally has good days, but mostly she jigs around, throws her head up when I ask for contact, constantly breaks into the canter when trotting, runs sideways, and is just a mess overall. I've tried to jump her twice and both times she raced at the jumps and flung herself over them. Her behavior is dangerous to both of us.

 Lunging doesn't help at all. She is extremely quiet on the lunge most of the time. Even when she does run, it never wears her out and I don't want to run her into the ground and risk hurting her.

More turnout isn't an option and my trainer and I have ruled at this point that she probably has more mental energy than physical energy. It's definitely a nervous type of energy.

 Her teeth are being check by the vet next week. She is due to have her teeth floated, so maybe he will find something that could be causing her pain. I have a massage therapist coming out this week to work on her, so that might help her to relax, too. I tried a calming supplement and it didn't work. I'm trying a mare supplement next, as her heat cycles cause her to be even more ridiculous.

 Does anyone have any suggestions? Have I overlooked anything? For now, my game plan is to stay away from the arena, which seems to be causing her extreme stress, and hit the trails to try and get her to relax. She loves trail rides, so I'm hoping that will help.

 I'm at my wit's end, so any advice would be wonderful. Thank you so much for reading this novella and for any responses in advance. :) I want my old horse back. :(

Jenni (and Piper!)

Welcome to the forum Jenni.

 Thanks, Jayne. I've used this saddle on her for five years, but it's possible her muscles are coming back into shape in a different way, and that could be causing the saddle to fit differently. I'll have the massage therapist check the fit when she comes out. Great idea -- thank you! :)

She sounds like a lovely mare, and I'm sure you're going through these problems once you finally have her close again! It sounds to me like she is in pain as well. I agree with what Jayne said - If she was off for a year, she probably lost a lot of muscle definition, and changed shape. Obviously if she needs her teeth done, that could add to the discomfort as well. I'd get a qualified saddle fitter out there, and give her a little time off to get over the soreness if that is the problem. Good luck. :) 

 I'm hoping the massage therapist will help her with any pain. I've never worked with a massage therapist before, but I've heard great things about her and am REALLY hoping it helps.

 The sad thing is trying to figure out how to manage her pain. I can't give her bute every day. And regular work is important to manage her arthritis. But if she's in constant pain and I can't find a way to keep her comfortable under saddle, is it fair to ask her to work like this? I don't know what to do. :(

 In Virginia and Pennsylvania we turn out at night in the summer because it's cooler and then flip flop that in the winter when it's warmer during the day. :) It just has to do with the seasons.

That makes sense, I'm sure on average it's much hotter where you are. We have some days of high, high heat but it's mostly just humid all summer. 

This sounds like a major adjustment for an older horse, and I think your idea of many weeks of mellow trail rides should help. When I was bringing an older broodmare back into shape, she was very jiggy and sucked back and behaved generally foolish initially. We spent a lot of time walking on the trail, until we could walk for an hour on a loose rein without jigging and acting foolish. Then I would add in some collected trot work, and an occasional gallop where the footing was really nice. After about a year (I know, ridiculous) we could walk/trot/canter at will, alone, bareback on the trail. Then we started a little over fences and dressage work in the arena. Bringing an older mare back into shape with a major move like that can be hard, just try to be as patient as possible!

 I'm thinking along the same lines as FCP. She was alone for a long time in a very low-stress environment, it sounds like. Now - how many horses are in her environment? And remember she can smell and hear a lot more than she can see. How close is the arena to those other horses, and what else is going on there?

I'm an old girl mysel, and I can tell you big changes aren't that appealing to me any more, either. From June to now is only 3 months. It may seem like plenty of time, but maybe not to her. I'm not saying to ignore the possibility of pain, because it's always worthwhile checking that out, but I'd try to have lots and lots of patience with her. I know it's frustrating. If only horses could talk!

Being an old gal myself, I also have arthritis. Mild to moderate work/movement is very helpful for it, as long as you allow time for warmup. Trail riding would be wonderful for that, too. I don't remember if you said you had her on glucosamine/chondroitin?

The first thing that jumped out at me was: she's fine on the longe line, but wacko under saddle. To me that says PAIN, either from the saddle or the bridle. You said the vet will float her teeth and a massage tech will do some work on her soon, which might make a big difference, but also the saddle fit might be contributing to her pain. You say she was a pasture potato for a year, which is certainly enough time for body changes to occur that would effect saddle fit. Her age can also effect her teeth more quickly than a younger horse, making the bit painful, too, even after just a year of no riding. The massage tech should be able to detect pain that is caused by weight on her back, i.e. when you're on her, riding.

Hi, and welcome!

I'm going to go with a saddle fit issue.  You can test this out when you lunge her.  Do you lunge her tacked up and does she get tense?  Try lunging her with and without tack to see if there is a difference.  If you can't see any difference without your weight in the saddle, get someone to lunge her with you on.  Did she tense up with you in the saddle?  It's possible the saddle doesn't fit very well any more and is causing some kind of pain for her.  If her cycles also cause her some discomfort, the problems from the saddle are adding to the pain.

Has the massage therapist been out yet?  Hopefully, they can help you out and pinpoint a problem.  She might be "out" somewhere in her pelvis/spine/neck that is causing her back muscles to be tight and uncomfortable, therefore making even a well-fitted saddle to cause pain. 

I hope you can find answers to the problems you're having and get your "old horse" back!  Good luck and let us know what happens! 

 Thanks for the great responses! I do lunge her under saddle and she is very relaxed and comfortable (she does play on occasion), so it's very possible adding my weight to her back is causing her to be in pain. Do you think the massage therapist could evaluate the saddle fit? I'm not an expert in saddle fit by any means.

 The massage therapist is coming out on Saturday (hopefully!) or Tuesday; that's the soonest I could get her.

Another idea is that she is in pain and/or psycho from her heat cycles. She was alone for so long and has been cycling quite frequently now that she is around other horses, so that could make sense. I picked up some Mare Magic this morning and will start her on it right away. 

Does anyone have other recommendations for dealing with crazy heat cycles? I know Regu-mate is a great product, but it's SO expensive and I really would have a hard time affording that.

Also, she gets SmartFlex Senior, which has glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronic acid, MSM, devil’s claw, bromelain and phenylalanine. I also give her a shot every month of generic glucosamine.

And just so you can put a name with a face, here we are. :)

I agree with what everyone else has said.  I would also add to check her eyes.  More of a gut feeling than anything, but I think the longe line could be kind of guiding her, and with it gone she's kind of freaking out.  Like I said, mostly a hunch.  Hope you get things resolved quickly!

I was going to suggest having her sight checked too.  She's at the age where it will start to change, and that may be frightening her.

 Eyes and pain would be my guess.

 Also, if you can put this horse on 24/7 turnout it will be a BIG help to arthritis.