Most of the time he is calm and happy in his stall. He doesn’t stall walk, eats well and poops in one corner. He can see the horses across the aisle and others if he sticks his head out. In fact he has more company than in the barn I got him from. He plays a fair amount in turnout with his neighbors.
The issue is when a horse is crosstied near him and when his routine is messed up by bad weather. I am wondering if he is being territorial about his stall and if a solid door would make him feel less threatened.(He would still be able to see through the stall front and his window) Since the BO has the door she may give it a try.
Longed and rode a bit today. So far my back is holding up.
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“I guess I don’t understand” so I mentioned some logistics that prevent horses from being out 24/7. And not all horses thrive in that situation, buttercup
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What part of CT are you in? What discipline do you do with your horse? I am also in CT and see ads fairly frequently for places with some 24/7 shed type turnout and nice indoor/outdoor rings…
100% agreed. Thank you.
I think, luckily, many people are realizing they aren’t doing their horses any favors by treating them like antique cars.
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The issues you are asking about are a pretty easy fix. He’s bothering other horses in the crossties. You say his stall can’t be moved to an area where there are no crossties. So you need to make it so he can’t stick his head out anymore. Put a solid door on. Other clients in the barn shouldn’t have to deal with your horse bothering theirs when they are using barn areas. Will this make your horse happier? Probably not. I am generally of the opinion that horses are happier the more they can see, and locking him in restricts his ability to see into the aisle. But you have to keep him from bothering other boarders and their horses.
In terms of his herd bound behavior if he is left in for the day or a horse is taken away at night . . . he’s a horse. They get herd bound. Some more than others. I have one at my place that often loses it if she is taken away from her friends to be alone, or if a friend is taken out of the paddock to be ridden, or if her friend leaves the barn at night for a ride and she stays in her stall. . . she often weaves and paces until friend comes back. Nothing you can do about that, it’s her brain and its the way she is. We minimize her stress as much as possible but there are times that she is just going to have to deal with a horse leaving the barn for a bit at night to be ridden when she isn’t going along. However, this horse is still in a barn full of other horses that they can see. Yours seems to be isolated where he can’t.
I think you are neglecting to see the bigger picture that this particular barn setup is not the best for this horse. You say he’s happy most of the time in his stall–great. But you also say he is turned out alone in a paddock and when they stay in the barn staff turns horses out individually in the indoor. This is not an acceptable living situation in my opinion, and it isn’t in your horse’s opinion either. This barn does things a certain way–fine. That is their prerogative. But I don’t agree with individual turnout for the vast majority of horses, whether inside or outside. They are herd animals and need to be together and socialize–and not just over a fence or across a barn aisle. If you are not willing to shop around for options that will give him more socialization, you will have to accept his behavior as is–it isn’t going to change unless you give him what he wants, which is not being alone in the specific circumstances you have mentioned.
I have to say that I’m surprised by how negative many posters have been.
OP: you mention I think that this horse is relatively new to you. What I would be most concerned about is if his behavior has actually changed. Has he become more nervous? Less tolerant of being in the stall? Is he acting out in other ways?
I’d also be concerned that, if he does occasionally bother others whose horses are in the cross-ties, the people who own those horses may be trying to discipline him, using their own ideas about what might be appropriate. That, in turn, might be increasing his anxiety as he anticipates something bad happening.
If that’s even a possibility, there may not be an easy fix. If his stall can’t be moved to a quieter location in this barn, it might be worth looking for other situations, other barns that might work better for him.
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I disagree with the negativity. I think the majority of posters, including you and I, are saying the same basic thing. The barn that he’s currently in doesn’t seem to be working well for him.
I missed the new horse piece and that is certainly a valid point to look into if that’s the case.
Perhaps, it seems “negative” because so many people are so used to the common practice of stall kept horses that they don’t even consider that as a possible cause of “jerk” behavior. When the reality is (what people are trying to point out here), it’s NOT normal or natural for any horse. Horses don’t know that they are expensive show horses or free pasture pets. They’re all horses and desire the same basic requirements of food, water, herd interaction, and frequent movement. It’s for human convenience to put them in an easily accessible, clean, injury free box stall…not for the benefit of the horse, as was mentioned by someone else.
I think it’s easy to misinterpret a typed post on the internet but I do believe most people on this forum truly mean well. I certainly do and I’m sure you do too.
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I have had horses do that so I just filled a full hay net while a horse was in front of there stall.
Not all horses like to be out all the time…really they dont.
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Your horse seems to have anxiety for (at least) 2 distinct reasons.
He doesn’t want to be alone and he is protecting his private space (food and drink included)
I’ve dealt with both and while it’s not that easy to manage, things can be done to reduce the bad behavior.
You’ll need the cooperation of the barn staff. and it won’t be perfect.
This is the worst thing ever to do. That and having horses run like crazy at the end of the lunge line…
I don’t even understand why people do that as it is the worst counterproductive thing to do.
Your horse is anxious.
You allow him, encourage him, to go crazy in the indoor. You are teaching him that this is the behavior he should have in the indoor. The indoor is a place the go crazy…
Anxious horse is being asked to go crazy… you think this is helping his anxiety?
And you are wondering why he can’t go quietly in the indoor.
Here is your reason.
Going « wild and crazy » won’t make your horse tired… physically, he’ll gain endurance and mentally, he’ll just learn that his behavior is ok. Same goes with your training. Think about your training plan… If most of the ride is geared toward fast, quick and high energy exercices… it won’t help an anxious horse to calm down at all. That’s not how you teach mental calmness. High energy horses need to have a training plan that make them work hard (muscling) in a really quiet and boring way. The energy has to be controled at all time and redirect in detail oriented, positive exercices. Gymnastics, perfect transitions, steep lateral work, working in a slow but strong way.
In turnout he has over-the-fence buddies that he plays with. It is a boarding barn and the paddocks are not large. So far nobody else wants him in the same paddock.
Playing is a big word. Most horses don’t play much… and considering your horse’s behavior, I think he might not be as much playing as he is protecting his space.
He wants his privaty. He wants his space. Put that door up. Make it his space. My mare is not so cranky with other horses, but at shows, I always put up her privacy drapes. She loves her space and always lies down a few hours during the day at shows. Before I found that, she was frantic in her stall, screaming for others, pacing and squealing… Mares!
For a horse I had in training that was acting up like that, despite full board plank walls (there was cracks where the horse next door could be seen) I even made the adjacent wall electrified to stop the kicking and all. Well, after that, he started lying down and sleeping down. He was allowed mentally to lower his guard down. His behavior changed ao drastically… I felt he was exhausted of being on his guard 24/7… His training then improved as well.
For another horse, just changing the waterer, the food bin and the haynet to the back of the stall, « away » from any other horse, was enough for the horse to calm down.
And I am also of the opinion that he will just have to deal when turned out in the indoor.
And if he injured himself? Do you think it will be easier if he has to be on stall rest?
Teach him to be quiet in the indoor, it’s your job. He’s a horse, if left alone to deal with it, you might not like the outcome…Take charge.
While cleaning stalls, instead of putting him in the arena, where he gets frantic and could really injure himself, why not putting him in another horse’s stall? (a dirty one) Or on cross ties? 10 minutes is not a big deal and easier than to put him in the indoor. It takes a little management, but I’ve always done this successfully.
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I doubt you’re going to be able to make it work unless you can do something to make him feel safe.
We moved a horse to a new facility and she seemed fine except she started attacking horses outside her stall. I bred this horse and had never seen anything like that behavior before. We ended up moving her back. It was months before she was normal although she never tried to attack another horse after moving.
I really think a lot of the problem was the overall energy of the place. There was no alpha mare human that let all the horses know it was ok. Plus the management didn’t know how to manage the horses to promote feeling safe. I know that sounds weird but there are ask kinds of little things that make a difference and this place didn’t have “it”
In your case, the fact that they let him run and scream in the indoor is a sign that these guys don’t have “it” either. That is very poor management.
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