Living situation and horse behavior?

[Mydaughtersgroom]

I need opinions on how much living situations affect horse behavior. The back story is my daughter bought a 7 yr old tb in October . He was a lesson horse and very chill and doh dee doh in his personality. Moved him for a month to her trainer’s barn where he was the same way. Then we moved him to a barn with an indoor so she could ride all winter. First couple weeks same horse. Then she had a week where she couldn’t get out to ride for 4 days, they started feeding really green looking 4th cutting hay, hunting season started with people tramping in the woods and shooting near the pasture, and the leaves fell off the trees causing the highway sounds to get really loud , oh and the weather turned bad and they have been getting very intermittent turnout. all of a sudden he is a spooky mess and he started weaving.

This was in November. We have modified his diet which helped some, treated for ulcers which helped some and worked with her trainer about working through the spooks which helped some . But I am concerned that part if not most of the problem is the environment and how the barn is run. I am looking at places that are quieter and have more consistent turnout but I guess I would like to know about other people’s experience with horses behavior and different barns.
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[FraggleRock]

Diet, environment, stress etc definitely can affect horses behavior. I’d get him moved to somewhere with good turnout ASAP!

[mountainhorse]

Yes, his living situation would definitely affect his behavior and habits he is developing to ‘cope’ with the current living situation he is in. I would move him to a quieter barn with turnout asap.

[Cataluna]

Not all barns are suited for all horses. My mare thrives on a consistent schedule. Current barn feeds at 7:30 pm sharp, every day no matter what. Old barn fed anywhere from 6:00-11:00pm (not cool). New barn is quiet with only a handful of boarders and private coaching. Old barn was a full-blown lesson barn by the time we left (busy, crowded arena). New barn blankets the horse based on their individual needs for the weather that day. Old barn wouldnt usually touch blankets even if the horse was too hot or too cold (pretty much a self-care barn disguised as full-care…). New barn feeds unlimited hay and minimal grain. Old barn rationed hay to the point of restriction and fed more grain to keep weight on (mare is ulcer prone but a fairly easy keeper, and eats a TON of hay for her size).

If my mare was hardier and less of a worrier, old barn probably would have been sufficient… but she’s a bit of a princess (as am I), and needs a lot to be “just so” to keep her happy, and comfortable. Which in turn helps keep me sane :).

Your boy seems to be telling you that he needs a different barn. Good for you for listening!

[Kolsch]

Consistent tuen out is obviously a huge factor.

The only thing I’d suggest if you haven’t already, is to put him back on the feed he was on at the old barn. I’ve had certain feeds make horses silly, even when fed what seems to be the exact equivalent from another company. (When comparing starches attn sugars, fats and proteins) I’ve never been able to figure that one out, but it seems to be consistent and reproduceable for me.

[EmilyM]

Yes. I had a mare at a college. Once football practice season happened which she could see far away from her stall and the ring, I could barely ride her.

[nu2u]

Living conditions and the physical and not so physical characteristics of the day to management/schedule make ALL the difference in the world. If your instinct is this is just not the right fit then you are probably correct.

[betsyk]

Definitely, living situation can make a big difference, but also the amount of hard exercise he is/was getting. If he came from a lesson program and is now one person’s personal horse, and that person can’t get out to ride as much as he’s used to, that could be a factor as well.

[csaper58]

Lesson horses are typically ridden many times a week by many different people. This adds significantly to the school horse’s de-sensitization and laissez-faire attitude. If the schoolie gets out of line a trainer or advanced student gives them a quick tune up.

Being owned and ridden by one person typically reduces their work load and gives them the ‘one on one’ time to get to know how to push an owner’s buttons.

I think the change in how often, and by whom, he is ridden could be a big part of his attitude change

[DunByMistake]

Absolutely living conditions can have a HUGE effect on a horse. Even just moving to different pens on the same piece of property.

My horse lives on my farm and he has a preferred corner in his pen where he likes to stand and watch people access the forest service roads behind our property. He will stand there all day when he’s not eating. I had to lock him out of that pen last week due to the sitting water that he was drinking and gave himself a bit of a bellyache. He became a lunatic. Pacing and calling on the fence line. Every time I walked out of the door, he would lose his marbles looking for attention. Not drinking. Not eating. I was panicking there was something really wrong with him.

Then I had a brilliant idea to put him in my arena which is right next to his special corner but he can’t get into the standing water. First thing he did was immediately roll which he hadn’t done in days. Then he walked around a bit and went to stand in his corner. Drank a bucket of water and ate the rest of his breakfast that I carted over for him. Kind of a pain to carry hay out there and I had to hook up several hoses to get water over there but I don’t care! Better than having a dehydrated horse running around in a panic. I cannot determine what is so special about that side of the property but he NEEDS to be able to access it.

My SO and I refer to my horse as The Prince.

[joiedevie99]

Calmest, most adaptable/portable horse ever went nutty when we moved to a barn with an indoor this winter. Every time horses were turned out, the world was ending. Moved him into the stall across the aisle - literally directly across from his stall - and he’s fine. Could care less who comes or goes, doesn’t mind being the only horse inside. Stalls look the same - only he will ever know what is wrong with that first stall.

[Pocket_Pony]

It all matters. Feed, turnout schedule, riding schedule, who is handling the horse and how, season, outside activites, who their neighbors are, all of it. If you think something is not right at your barn, see if you can figure it out. If it is something you can change, give it a try. If it isn’t and you’re not wedded to that barn, consider looking for somewhere else that fits your horse’s needs.

[Scribbler]

If a horse gets a lot of bottled up energy due to not being ridden for a few days, I’ve always found the best solution is “free longing” or “attended turnout,” basically put the horse in an arena, shake a whip a few times if needed, and let him run and buck out whatever is in there. Much better than longing, where you are teaching the horse to bolt buck and play on the longe line. Just let him get the wiggles out, give him a bit of a cool out walk, and he will probably be in a much calmer mood the next day.

If your barn has no turnout area where you can do this, that is a big problem. I would move.

[LilyandBaron]

Living environment and the stress of that barn’s climate absolutely can impact a horse, but I have a horse that would get weird issues each fall. The timing of your issues makes me want to mention his case. I bought him in CA, then moved to Ohio, and thought his issues were related to the season. He’d get ulcers some years, he had a virus once - just a cold/fever thing that passed. This winter, I thought it was ulcers again, started treating, and no improvements. That’s when I had the vet check him for other culprits, and found this year he had Lyme, but in my mind, more telling was that he was low in Vitamin E.

Vitamin E is in green grass, not so much in hay. So all the old horsemen’s adages about cold weather making them spooky, etc. - I now wonder how much a vitamin E deficiency could be the culprit? So, I do think the environment is important, but I’d also check his bloodwork - mine was fine on magnesium and selenium, but a lot of those imbalances can cause spooky behavior, and I suspect the dietary deficiencies cause the other issues, like ulcers, or Lyme due to a depressed immune system.

I’d talk to the vet, rule out any physical causes for the worsening behavior, then start barn shopping, if needed.