The Beast Otherwise Known as Leo

Oh, temperamental horses are something else....Leo has been a pill the last two weeks which is a flashback to when we first arrived at Oak Hill one year ago. He was a total asshole for weeks. It must be something about Leo's "cycle" - this is the second June I have owned him and his behavior simple sucks.

Maybe it's the grass? Leo is actually quite fat right now (for him anyways) so I cut back his grain in an attempt to manage his behavior better. 

His bad behavior started 2 weeks ago. After going to the Fork we've been taking it easy since there aren't' any competitions on the horizon. He has more days off during the week than he normally does. This could be part of the problem too. Maybe he needs to be in work 6 days a week.

What is Leo like when he's an asshole? Basically, he just gets super resistant and throws tantrums the more you pressure him to "follow orders." He gets behind your leg and eventually just stops moving forward at all. Won't accept any contact with the bit or the leg, and basically spins in circles. It's REALLY annoying and frustrating because he simply won't respond to anything. Recently, I was actually proud of him because he would freak out mildly and then go back to work. But not these last 2 weeks. He just won't go back to work after his freak outs. 

After talking with Ashley, I started hacking him around the property before I rode - in an attempt to relax him and loosen up his muscles. Then we would go to the ring to work for 15-20 minutes. Nope, Leo would have none of this. So rather than fight with him under saddle, I put him on the lunge for most of last week. The first time he was a total ass and wouldn't accept the side reins at all - trotted around for 30 minutes with his mouth and back completely braced against the bit. He is SO HARD HEADED. 

Then the next lunge session, he was more normal, though still resistant at the canter. By the end of the week he got a lot better. You can see his body visibly change when he stops fighting everything. His canter strides look comfortable and relaxed; when he braces and fights his canter strides look painful and rigid. 

Today I was back in the saddle, but only rode for 15 minutes. I quickly cantered in both directions near the beginning and then went back to trot and did a lot of serpentines and changing directions, working long and low. It was the most willing he's been to work in 2 weeks. So I quickly stopped on the good note (things can change for the worse really quickly with him) and hacked him around the property.

I hate it when Leo gets like this because I start to dread riding him. That has got to be the worst feeling in the world. I'm debating whether to spend the week alternating between lunging and riding, or spend the rest of the week riding. I also need to get a jump school in this week and need to figure out an exercise that will work for his mental state right now....