"Hi, I have a six-year-old Westphalian warmblood gelding. We bought him as a five-year-old and he seemed to be the perfect horse - very well schooled, listened to me when riding and on the ground, very enthusiastic jumper and confident out hacking. However, shortly after we got him we lost our grazing to mud and he lost a lot of weight over the winter, developed mud fever and was severely bullied when we put them in a new field and so he had a couple of months out of work.
Once again our luck was cut short when after being back in work for only a couple of weeks, he had his routine dental check up to discover he had valvular diastema and once again he was out of work for a month for the operation and healing time. He hadn't shown any discomfort at all before this was noticed.

When we brought him back into work again, our trouble started. He had become very attached to our other mare and when we went to take him out on his own he would get very bargy and refuse to be bridled and hacking became a fight with him not working for me, taking off, spooking, etc. We have had his back checked and replaced his saddle, had his teeth checked, changed his bit and his noseband from a flash to a grakle and all seems to be okay now. Except that now he has gone to the opposite end of the spectrum - he has got very quiet and slow. Very unresponsive when riding - he just plods along like a cob, isn't fussed by anything and doesn't even flinch when I use the whip. He routinely gallops about the field and will eventually step up a gear but not without a fight and it takes a lot of effort from both of us.

Could this be him challenging me due to him being young and he has learnt that he isn't going to get me to give in if he is strong and takes off as I never fell off him? Or could it be that he has forgotten what all the aids mean and is a totally confused baby because although he is six everyone thinks he looks and acts about four.

Any advice or ideas in how to get my lovely boy back to him self would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Ealána."

H&C blogger and Olympic bronze medallist Sharon Hunt replies: "Hi Ealána, I'd say that firstly, no, this behaviour is not because you didn't fall off him and it's a little bit worrying that you thought this is why he's like this. I'd advise having his bloods taken to see if he's well or not. I'd also wonder why you want to gallop him in the field when he clearly isn't keen!

I'd like to also check he's not on his own and just miserable from not being with his mate, the mare. I'd also advise to hack out with another if bloods come back okay, also check he's not lame for example – in fact I'd recommend a complete MOT from a good horse vet and then say to hack out behind another each day to get going without any pressure so he enjoys life again. Also check his feed, he may just not have correct nutrition which sounds likely as he lost lots of weight.

Best of luck.

Best wishes,
Sharon."