What if your horse is going through a rough patch? Menke Steenbergen, who specializes in equine behavioral problems, says that for horses that are going through a mental slump, there is certainly still hope: "It's mainly a matter of giving the horse positive experiences again," she says.
If your horse is going through a mental slump, it's probably because he's associated jumping with a negative experience or possibly even pain," she begins. "When a shoe is pulled, it sometimes happens that a horse also gets a slight bruise. I suspect that was the case here as well, but I wasn't there myself so it's very difficult for me to assess the situation properly. Horses can't really develop PTSD, they don't have the same mental capacity as humans. However, they can make associations, so if a horse gets injured while jumping, it's indeed possible that he'll associate jumping with pain. Horses that are very smart make that association faster, which is of course more negative in this case."
However, according to Steenbergen, not all hope is lost: "Now it's a matter of giving the horse positive experiences again. This can be done by immediately rewarding the horse during jumping so that he associates jumping with something fun again. If he has suffered a more severe 'trauma', it may be advisable to start again by laying poles on the ground and slowly building up again. It will depend on the horse and the approach how quickly everything evolves, but I am sure that he will jump again in the future," she concludes.
If your horse is going through a mental slump, it's probably because he's associated jumping with a negative experience or possibly even pain," she begins. "When a shoe is pulled, it sometimes happens that a horse also gets a slight bruise. I suspect that was the case here as well, but I wasn't there myself so it's very difficult for me to assess the situation properly. Horses can't really develop PTSD, they don't have the same mental capacity as humans. However, they can make associations, so if a horse gets injured while jumping, it's indeed possible that he'll associate jumping with pain. Horses that are very smart make that association faster, which is of course more negative in this case."
However, according to Steenbergen, not all hope is lost: "Now it's a matter of giving the horse positive experiences again. This can be done by immediately rewarding the horse during jumping so that he associates jumping with something fun again. If he has suffered a more severe 'trauma', it may be advisable to start again by laying poles on the ground and slowly building up again. It will depend on the horse and the approach how quickly everything evolves, but I am sure that he will jump again in the future," she concludes.