Christie and Deuce: Frustration! (LONG)

I am experiencing a bit of a puzzle, and then some frustration, with Deuce. I had a very short ride on him last Thursday, because a friend got kicked on the arm by her horse and needed some help, but I thought our ride was good.

I got on Deuce Friday, and that is when the problems started. Deuce would walk a few steps and then stop and park out like he wanted to pee. So I would get off his back thinking he just needed to pee. I even took him over to one of the spots in his pasture where he usually pees. At this point my husband and a friend who was watching told me that he wasn’t even dropping, and that he was almost going onto his toes behind. I tried once more to get him to really walk forward nicely, but he was still stopping to park out so I dismounted and began trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

I untacked Deuce and palpated his back. Normal reflexes and no pain even with deep, hard pressure. He was not acting colicky at all during this entire time. I had my husband jog him out for me, and there was no apparent lameness. It was getting dark by this time, and I didn’t think I would really be able to see well if I did flexions on him, but I thought putting him on a circle would be helpful and thought I could still see well enough to do that. This is when the other issue started.

Deuce has not been lunged by me except for one other time (and one time briefly each direction checking to see if he was off like I was trying to do this time, and that time he did fine.) The time that I lunged him went okay except for the fact that I wore myself out trying to get him to go forward, which is the primary reason I have not done it again. (Yes, I definitely need to learn more about doing groundwork, and I need to learn to do it correctly! I have lunged horses, though.) Well, Friday night he only wanted to go to the right, not the left. At this point I am frustrated that I can’t get him to go to the left, and I don’t know if the problem is training/behavioral or if it is because of whatever physical issue he is having. He would lunge to the right fine, but going to the left he would go a little bit and then turn and face me, plant his feet, and turn right every time. I was having trouble getting my body into position to turn him back to the left, and he was also snaking his head, bucking some, and even backed up and reared as I tried to get him to turn. So I finally let him go around nicely to the right one last time and called it a night. He was no longer parking out and seemed fine physically at this point, but I did not feel the problem was solved.

There were storms Saturday afternoon so I couldn’t go out and actually work with Deuce, just check on him. So yesterday I went out, and the first thing I did was clean his sheath and check for a bean. The bean was small, and there was nothing else remarkable. So I took Deuce down to where I normally ride him, and got on him bareback to see how he acted. He walked around just fine.

Stubborn person that I am, I decided to put him on the lunge to see if things would be any better. It did not go very well. He would go right again, along with some bucking, pulling, and general silliness at first during which he did pull loose from me a couple of times (and I was wearing gloves.) I attributed most of this to him being green and, I hope, feeling good. He still did not want to go left. I eventually got him to go right very nicely, walk trot and canter. I got him to go left some, and he was not off in any way that I could see, but he would go left for a while and then just stop and turn to face me, plant his feet, and start right again when I could get the feet to move. He would normally do this at the spot where he does not want to go left when I am riding him, too. (When I am riding him, he pops his shoulder and refuses to go forward at this spot, but there is a sticky spot in the pasture each direction where I loose his shoulder like that. It does not happen when I can ride him in a ring.) There is a bank and some pine trees at this spot that I tried to use to my advantage to help turn him left, but he got this panicked, trapped look on his face and chose to blow past me through what space was left between me and the bank rather than turn left! A couple of times I got him into position to do the “changing eyes” type of exercise that Alex has described. Again, he would do it well to the right. To the left, I could drive him forward, he would get a little “stuck” straight ahead, and finally turn around left, but would not continue left, even with me (I thought) in position to keep him moving left. I was having real trouble keeping my body behind his shoulder and driving him forward, especially since he would stop so suddenly and face me. I was finally about so done in that I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk back up the hill, so I got him to go left nicely a couple of circles without stopping and called it a day…but still frustrated.

I would appreciate any ideas, suggestions, etc. I know I am not a trainer, and I REALLY do need to get some help with my groundwork, especially with my greenie. I still do not know if the problem that was causing the parking out is resolved. As for the lunging problems, I am not sure how much is ME, how much is training related (still me!), and how much, if any, is related to a physical problem. Ideas? Suggestions?