So, I have a 6 y/o gelding. We recently moved to a new barn, and he was turned out with another horse that he had ridden with, and knew, but had not been pastured with. However, he has always been very calm, definitely the alpha, but no issues, no vices, nothing. The other gelding (A 4 y/o OTTB) is a super sweet, submissive love bug. Since I am in college, and we were kicked out of the dorms for winter break, about 2 weeks after moving there, I had to go home (2 hours and over 100 miles away). I have only been able to do one day trip back, but it has been one day in about 2 and a half weeks of not being there, and it will be another week at least before I can go back out. Since I had left, he beat up his pasture mate (multiple bites, kicks, etc), so we moved them around to turn him out with an older, not so easily pushed around gelding. He beat him up too, so we moved him into a different pasture with 2 older geldings, and apparently was running them off too. He is now isolated, but I am very worried about this. Does anyone have any idea what could cause this kind of behavior? He has never been violent, ear pinning and head shaking at the most, and only then to tell the other horses to stay away from his hay pile. My friend suggested maybe a magnesium deficiency, and getting a blood panel done? My vet thinks that since he is very bonded to me (He was… a sort of rescue- standing in 8 inches of mud, horrible feed, feet rotting out from under him from thrush, contracted heels, and not seeing a farrier in 10 weeks, not given proper attention or care, etc.) He is very bonded to me, and trusts me completely. This is the longest I’ve had to go without working or seeing him, and she said that maybe he is worried that I dropped him off here and its abandonment issues? I’m getting the vet to come out, but I don’t know what to ask them to do? Does anyone have any suggestions?
While horses certainly can bond to their owners strongly, I’d be more inclined to think either a) ulcers or b) competition for resources.
Even if everything else is equivalent care-wise, the stress of a new barn can be enough to exacerbate GI issues, which can make horses VERY crabby. The vet can address this more, but there are also a number of affordable OTC methods to treat ulcers (Nexium has become a personal favorite).
Also, it’s my personal belief that horses tend not to fight if they have “enough” of their major requirements: food, water, space/shelter, companionship. Sure, they may not get along… but if they are repeatedly getting into physical altercations, they need “more” of something. Maybe there is competition for forage while turned out. Or maybe there is just not enough space and/or shelter so he feels like he needs to fight for it. Even a bad pasture design can create competition for space in an otherwise sufficiently large area (i.e. having to stand by a gate in a narrow alley to come into the barn for feeding, etc).
I recently brought home the sweetest goofiest gelding in the world. OTTB, brought home to where my fat easy keeper had been doing well for 7 months.
After 3 uneventful weeks, the barn informed me that he was “too aggressive” and had hurt the BO’s lead mare (no one saw this, no vet was called and mare was lame for 1 day- but they decided he broke her shoulder?) - so he had to go out with the meaner gelding to be “taught a lesson” That gelding ripped a palm sized chunk out of his back THROUGH an 1800D blanket. BO refused to move him back, to separate him, or to let my mare go out with him to shield him.
He was with them two days- on day three we packed up and moved barns, paying double board.
He was not being aggressive. Mare is not hurt. But he was clearly miserable. The new barn is a MUCH better fit. It may just not be a good fit for this horse, and he may be acting out upon insecurity. Either way, he is not happy, and it’s not getting better. Change something.
I’m almost 3 weeks in, still rehabbing these injuries.
This - or both. Not sure if you’re in the Northeast but with this extreme cold my horses are eating nearly double what they ate a few weeks ago. Horses don’t always love each other but get along peacefully - competition for hay will certainly make them more likely to fight.
I’m inclined to think you just got an adult horse. Horses fully mature right around 6 years of age both physically and mentally. He was dominant in his prior circumstance and now is exploring his world to see how far he can go.
It’s also worth remembering that gelding a horse does NOT change their base temperament; it simply means there’s less fuel for aggressive behavior.
Put him in with three, crusty old mares and see what happens. He just might the “education” he presently lacks.
G.
Thank you all for posting suggestions!
We are in eastern NC, and the temp has dropped to wicked cold (20s and below- which is much colder than it ever is until like late January), but that has only been in the past few days. Apparently this has been going on for a couple weeks, but it;s been in the 30s and 40s then, so I don’t know?
“While horses certainly can bond to their owners strongly, I’d be more inclined to think either a) ulcers or b) competition for resources.”
He is pasture boarded- he gets sand clear every 3 weeks for a week, and a little bit in addition during the meantime because the soil here is pure sand, nothing else. They have it set up so there is a shedrow barn of 4 stalls, and 2 horses share an acre paddock with 2 stalls (the grass they have is very durable, so there is still ground cover, it isn’t mud or anything). They get 2 separate hay piles of REALLY nice hay 3x a day, and the water trough is cleaned and refilled each day. They are also separated to grain. I doubt its a competition for resources, but I don’t know why else he would be running other horses off.
I really hope he doesn’t have ulcers, but I will talk to the vet about getting him scoped. I’ll ask about Nexium, it definately soudns more affordable long term than u (It looks like it would be about $12 a day instead of $33). I’ll call the vet out- he’s currently isolated and I don’t want to risk being kicked out. Any idea how much scoping would cost?
Nexium is WAY less than $12/day. Check out this thread:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…-equine-ulcers
There is research behind the suggested 60 mg/day dose… making a month of Nexium doses cost around $40.
How much hay is he actually getting in weight? Just because it’s “nice” and “3x a day” doesn’t necessarily mean he’s getting enough, especially during this cold snap. And 2 piles for 2 horses can lead to aggression if they are inhaling it as fast as possible because they know it is ephemeral.
He gets a thick 2 flakes, (over a foot thick) it feels like its around 12-15 lbs? So probably around 36-45 lbs a day, and they have increased the hay and grain since it has been getting colder, but I haven’t been able to be out to pick it up and see how much it weighs now. It takes them about 2-3 hours for them to eat it all down, so there isn’t much time where they don’t have any. It’s also worth mentioning- he is a little guy, he’s barely 15 hands even, and just about 1000 lbs.
Oh wow, that is a lot cheaper! I’ll ask the vet- I definitely want to scope him before treating, but that is WAY more affordable than the almost $1000 a month for ulcerguard. I am surprised that only 40-80 mg of a medicine worked for a horse though, that doesn’t seem like much!
I make sure that all new horses are put in a pasture or turnout next to new pasturemates so they can meet each other across the fence line first. When they are turned out together there is usually a minimum of posturing before they settle down.
I have a mare that is not alpha but not low man either, and is used to living in a mixed herd. Several years ago I sent her out for some training. Within hours of arriving the barn owner put her into a pasture with 3 other horses that had been together for years. The other horses proceeded to run my mare around, cornered her and beat the snot out of her. She was terrified, but thankfully not badly hurt. Ever since, she gets really defensive when meeting new horses.
I’d be shocked if a boarding barn was feeding 30-40lbs of hay per horse. Or, is that the amount for 2 horses?
I agree that I never put out only 2 piles of hay for two horses - the dominant horse will tend to claim them both and run off the other one. The rule of thumb is at least 1 extra pile of hay than number of horses in a turnout - I usually do at least 2 extra piles. I suppose if they are far away from each other it might not matter, but in a reasonably small pasture it does. My dominant mare will move through all the hay piles, pushing the other horses off them. Then she’ll eat a little bit from her pile, and do it again. With a few extra piles it makes everyone happier; if there was only just enough, it’s likely that the lowest herd member wouldn’t get enough.
Sometimes it just takes time to find the right pasture mate. Good riding buddies don’t always live well together. I realize that no-one likes to let horses fight it out and get the pecking order established because we are worried about injury . It could be a food issue in him thinking he isn’t going to get enough.
Or he is still adjusting to being in a new living situation and all the changes it has made in his world and he is hyper sensitive, plus you aren’t riding him or even there to attend to him. All familiar things are gone.
Since he is alone now maybe use that time and put a suitable pasture mate along side him and let them really get to know each other and then try putting them out together in a few weeks when you are back.
