Please Answer! Need Help!?

Question

Ok! Well Friday night when I went to saddle up my horse, when I went to tighten the cinch on my horse, he started to lay down. Usually when I do that, he just kicks a little. Well when we made him get up he tried to take off running! He tried laying down and running several times before I could finally get his sattle on him completely. Please Answer! Do you know why he is doing this or how to stop him from doing this? Thanks so much in advanced!

Answer 1

well, around our barn we prefer the term cinchy, its when you tighten the girth a nerve gets pinched, making the horse kinda faint...there was this appaloosa i was gonna buy that was cinchy, really its no big deal but you just have to tighten the girth slowly, walk him a little and tighten a little bit more, make sure you can fit a finger in between the horse and the girth...you can't stop him from doing this but if you do it like this every time he will be fine....oh if he does do it make sure you untighten it as fast as possible otherwise he won't get up!

hope i helped ya!..=D

Answer 2

i duno ask a horse trainer

Answer 3

There is a vein that runs real close to where the cinch goes...your cinch could be hitting that. My hubby had this stud that would faint if we hit that nerve...just topple over in a dead faint...he never got hurt though...we sold him.

Answer 4

it sounds like he is holding his breath and he is just being a pain,or he has a pain problem,check your saddleblanket,saddle and cinch for anything that could be poking him,then check when you are tightening up your cinch that it is not pinching him somewhere,tighten the cinch lightly then walk him around and just before you mount take up the rest of the slack and check for pinching again.some horses have a nerve problem where the cinch is and this will also cause a balk,so take your fingers and trace the path that the cinch takes to check for "soft"spots that make the horse jump.

Answer 5

I agree with the other posters, but also have your vet check him for sand.  The large colon is right where you cinch.  

If you catch it early, you can fix it.  If you don't, you can lose your horse.

Answer 6

He's doing this because he doesn't like to be cinched!

First thing horses do is try to avoid.  When he was kicking a little at you that was the first sign that he was in discomfort - you should have been asking then what the problem was.

1. Never, ever start a fresh horse and cinch him right down.

2.  Always ensure he's comfortable at every point - if his ears are even pointed back with head held high, it's a sign he's not happy.

You will have to un-do all the damage you've done and gain his confidence again.  Whether you're riding english or western, you need to start at square one.

Put the saddle on.  Soothe and talk to him - pull the cinch up to the buckle or girth strap.  Do the cinch up only enough to hold the saddle on.

Walk the horse around.  You should never saddle up and hop on.  He needs at least 10 mins to become "ready" - focused on you and warmed up.

Here's what I do:

1.  Put the saddle on and tighten the cinch just enough to hold the saddle on, so it won't slip.

2. Pick up her front feet - just like you're going to pick them out, instead pull he lower leg forward - you want her to pick her knee straight up toward her head - this is stretching and smoothing out the skin under the girth.

3.  Walk to the area where we'll work out - tighten the girth a little more, stretch again.

4.  Go out in the round pen or arena or yard and lung a little.  we practice gait transitions (walk to trot to walk) until she does what I ask on command.  We practice direction changes until she's performing exactly as I expect and we practice moving away from pressure.  These are the basic controls.  Sometimes it takes 5 minutes for her to focus, sometimes it takes 20 minutes - she tells me when she's settled and ready to work together.

5.  Tighten the cinch enough to get on now - again stretching to insure she's comfortable.

Now we can get one and off we go happily.  

Put yourself in that horse's position, would you like a belt put around your waist and cranked tight in a yank to hold your pants up, or do you put a belt on carefully adjusting the tightness of it?

This takes time and patience - if your horse is doing this and you don't know why, you have not enough knowledge about the nature of horses - you better get some books or DVDs on handling horse knowledge.  Western Horseman has problem solving books you might find good use of.  There's a guy names Buck Brannaman who has two books - The Faraway Horses and Believe that are full of short stories of his experiences in his life with horses that will teach you much about horse and human nature - these will firmly embed in your mind - after reading you won't forget.

I suspect if you didn't know why your horse was doing this, he's probably trying to tell you many other things, but your lack of ability to speak horse isn't allowing you to do it.  Get to some clinics by natural trainers who teach you how to speak and listen horse.

good luck.

Answer 7

It's called being "cinchy".  You're VERY lucky he didn't just sit back on the leadrope, break it and take off.

Cinchy comes from being cinched WAY too tight WAY TOO QUICK.

The NEXT time, saddle him up, but don't really tighten the saddle.  AND DO NOT tie him to the hitching post!  

Once the saddle is on then walk him around with it on him and the cinch loose (Not SNUG).  Walk him around a bit, tighten it a LITTLE, walk him around more and tighten it again.

Remember you want to be able to get 2 fingers between your latigo and your horse.  IF you're cutting your horse in two by cinching him so he can' breathe, no wonder he's acting cinchy.

Answer 8

give him some rest and call the vet

Answer 9

Your horse is looking for a way to get out of work. Many young horses try this from time to time. Next time he tries to lay down, kick him in the butt. Once he realizes that this trick don't work he will quit. Most people freak out because they think something is wrong with the horse. DO NOT take the saddle off and put the horse away. It will only encourage your horse to do it more. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

I have been around horses for about six years and I've never seen a horse do this. My guess is that he's just being a pain in the butt, but still I would give my trainer a call and ask about it. Make sure you're not pulling too hard. I've never met a horse who has actually liked having a saddle put on. But I would check in with someone who's been around horses and ask what to do, and just to make sure everything is okay.

Answer 11

Check his barrel for girth galls. A girth gall is kind of like a blister that occurs in the girth area due to a poorly fitted girth or a girth that was too loose. The look like big pockets of water under the skin and normally occurs behind the horses elbows. Run your hands under his chest where the girth goes and look for any signs of discomfort. If it is girth galls, you'll have to ride him bareback for a little bit until the swelling and pain goes away.

It is not normal for a horse to lay down when you're putting on the saddle. I'd say there is definitely more to it than just attitude.

Answer 12

does the saddle fit him alright?

Coul dhave been the weather or something bothering him... check for pain

Answer 13

He might be in pain. you should contact your vet. Either that or he just didnt want to be ridden that moment.

Answer 14

oh good heavens.... this is not all that uncommon. While it is possible that your saddle does not fit well, I think your problem is that you are pinching a nerve when you tighten your cinch. I have had several horses with this problem, and it doesn't necessarily happen every time you saddle up. Try adding some thick  sheepskin  padding to your cinch. Or just experiment with different types of cinches. Every horse is different. I have one who is almost always fine - except the one time out of a thousand when he goes completely bonkers. Or if I try to use a string girth, which is odd because he used them for years with his old owner.

I also had a mare who suddenly developed a sensitivity - she was never a problem, then one day she was getting tacked up & basically collapsed when her girth was tightened. She would/could not get up until we took it off.  We switched to heavily padded girth & the problem went away.

Also, always tighten your cinch slowly and carefully. Make sure you are tacking up in a safe place - not trapped in a stall, or some other small space where you can't get away from the horse if you need to. And make sure you are using crossties that will breakaway if they need to!

Answer 15

Make sure that the next time that you want to saddle your horse, be extra sure that you have brushed him all over and especially check the area of where the cinch is going to be placed.  Did your horse try to lie down or stretch out or buck or anything like that when you tried to tighten the cinch?  It could be something under the cinch, on the cinch itself or you are trying to cinch in up too quickly and if he has a tendency to be cinchy, this will bring it out...when you try to tighten the cinch again, do it in increments...little by little until you have it like you want it, but not too quickly...if you do it too quickly on a cinchy horse, it's like tickle ing them and they can't help but do what they can to avoid the cinch...

Answer 16

Um... I cannot tell you why he is doing this. Maybe he is in pain. Ask a vet about it. Also if he kicks when you usually put the girth on that isnt a good sign. He may just be really girthy. But what he is doing sounds odd. It could be that his saddle hurts him, or that he is getting saddle sores where the girth is. Definately ask the vet. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help. Good luck, hope your horse stops his wierd behaviors!