Ok Folks, I need some good old fashion help from others in the horse world. My horse, Arctic, is a fantastic eventer gelding, 13 yrs old, 16.2H, I’ve had him since he was 5 years old and we have a great partnership. However, every once in a while (ONLY when it is cold or windy out, I will NEVER see this in the months from April-September) I go to turn him into the barn at night and he loses his mind-he wants to come in, stands at the gate, and then when I get there he runs full tilt around the pasture screaming at the top of his lungs for a good 10 minutes, then once he calms down decides he doesn’t want to be caught.(now I know he doesn’t want to be caught after the running around because he is worried he’s going to be in big trouble, but I’ve done my best to be unreactive to it)I should mention some things-1. he LOVES his stall, really. Its roomy and clean and he loves his grain and hay and loves being pampered and groomed. 2-he is at my home barn, with only one other horse, a small companion pony that he loves and who doesn’t understand what is happening when Arctic takes off running around the pasture. 3-he only does this once in a while (more often now since it is cold out), maybe once every 10 days or so. 4-he is turned out at 6:30am and turned in at ~4:00 every day (nice solid routine) and on the days that he loses his mind it is always windy and colder. Now, I know I could avoid all of this if I brought him in earlier on those nasty cold days but I just cant (work schedule.)He is blanketed for whatever temperature it is, but there is no run in currently in his pasture and there wont be until the spring. Im wondering if anyone has ever encountered this before? I can’t be home earlier to turn him in, and I just don’t understand WHY he is doing this (running around insanely) when he really does WANT to come in? Any thoughts or wisdom from anyone?
Thanks!
Do you have time to just leave (out of sight) when he leaves to go run? Then when it stops (anywhere, but hopefully the gate) you approach again?
Is there an option to just leave him out? Or come back an hour later and try again?
I know “teach him a lesson” sounds like punishment, but honestly, sometimes you just have give them a bigger virtual slap in the face. I have one horse who does something similar, but not lately as he’s too creaky and just doesn’t want to. I’d just leave him out there for an hour, or however long it took for him to come stand by the gate again, and then I’d try again. And yep, a few times he just didn’t get to come in for breakfast (which is the only time they come in, so it wasn’t like he was anticipating a full day/night in a stall he didn’t like or whatever). Just food.
It didn’t fix him in 1 or 2 times, but by time 3 or 4, he quit. And like your guy, this was fairly unpredictable, though only in cooler/cold weather (and usually raining, which made it more miserable for me).
Does he have pasture mates who are already in? Is he calling to another horse?
If he does have pasture mates who are already in, it might make sense to bring him in first (or in the middle if it’s more than one other horse).
If he’s the only horse in the field or on the farm, then it would make sense perhaps to vary things a bit for a while. Go out mid-day and bring him in, and then immediately turn him out. Do it a few times in succession until it starts to get very routine, and then do this multiple days in a row.
I’d say that when you do succeed in catching, assuming that he actually allows you to catch as opposed to you essentially roping him, make a big fuss over him and be as positive as possible. Maybe do some brief groundwork with him to get him focused on you, then turn him back out. Basically change the routine and you may be able to change the behavior.
Good luck.
My horses occasionally do this and will run themselves into a lather. Then they can’t be fed until they are cool again. I would go to the gate as soon as I got up to the barn and give the horse his favorite treat and then bring him in. If you need to do stalls or he is in the way in the barn, tie him up. Keep giving him treats as you are haltering, or even leave his halter on while he is turned out so he is easy to catch. I’m guessing you have some chores to do before bringing in? Maybe he just gets anxious about coming in, and gets himself all worked up while you are getting set up. I’d never discipline a horse after catching it.
Is there a possibility that some scary wild critter is in the barn at night taking shelter?
A few suggestions.
You could try to diffuse/distract him by putting a small amount of hay out in the pasture (scatter it about). Do this before he has time to get into the "running pattern. If it works, it will just take the edge off and allow you to halter him after he’s been snacking for several minutes.
Sometimes having hay/grain waiting in the stall is counter productive. If the waiting food is contributing to the issue, change the rutine to feeding the small snack in the pasture, and don’t have the grain in the stall. Feed the hay first and grain later…(even ten or fifteen minutes would help), so the horse doesn’t associate coming in with grain.
All this will only help if he’s getting keyed up about food, of course 
I have an 18yo TB who will do something similar. My only turnout rules are that he MUST go out and come in first. The other two horses, it doesn’t matter where they are in the line-up. For some reason, my TB just gets in a tizzy. I’ve had him for 11 years. When he’s out in the pasture, he loves grazing, will meander around with the other two, but when it is time to come in, you better bring him in first or he’ll run around like a lunatic. It is what it is. He also used to do this in the rain but has since mellowed out about that. Silly man.
[QUOTE=Posting Trot;8444547]
Does he have pasture mates who are already in? Is he calling to another horse?
If he does have pasture mates who are already in, it might make sense to bring him in first (or in the middle if it’s more than one other horse).
If he’s the only horse in the field or on the farm, then it would make sense perhaps to vary things a bit for a while. Go out mid-day and bring him in, and then immediately turn him out. Do it a few times in succession until it starts to get very routine, and then do this multiple days in a row.
I’d say that when you do succeed in catching, assuming that he actually allows you to catch as opposed to you essentially roping him, make a big fuss over him and be as positive as possible. Maybe do some brief groundwork with him to get him focused on you, then turn him back out. Basically change the routine and you may be able to change the behavior.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
OP states there’s just one companion pony there.
OP, if pony goes in first, that would be a nice, easy reason for Arctic acting up, but I’m sure you’ve already looked at that. Maybe you could reorder the bringing in, or bring them in together.
But I dunno…sometimes horses are just idjits in windy, cold weather. :mad:
Try throwing a half flake of hay to him in his paddock to eat until you get him.
Thanks, I’ll try the come back later approach!
It would have helped it you read my post. It is just him and his buddy on premises.i do tons of groundwork. He is normally the best horse to catch except for these few times, everything in his life is positive positive. I’m not a normal horse person, I WORK and can’t bring him in mid day (please read post!!)
Thanks for the advice!
Seriously?? That may be the most ridiculous thing you could reply with
He has hay already
IME, most horses will run off the “wiggles” and then be very happy to comply with what you want. My Paint is like that, on the rare windy cold days that she decides she wants to act like an eventer, not like a dude string pony . We might have cavorting in-hand walking to turn-out, and some great run & buck in turnout, but once she gets puffed, she is perfectly calm again.
But TBs (if that’s what yours is?) or other hot horses can have a different reaction to running. I’ve seen them get a “running bug” in their brain, run themselves into a lather, even into heatstroke, in turnout, yet still be super hyped up. And then not relax, but keep pacing the fence, screaming, sweating.
Not wanting to be caught is a tricky one. You already have positive re-inforcement for coming in (dinner, nice stall). How do you have negative re-inforcement for not coming in? You can’t punish him once you’ve caught him. Also his is not the kind of horse that you can chase around or walk down: he will just get more and more excited.
The various tips here sound potentially useful. You could also leave him out all night one time without dinner, or leave him out for an hour or two, then come back. If he was pacing the fence line (you don’t say he does that, I’m just imagining what a hot horse might do), though, and getting himself in a lather, that might not be great.
The question wasn’t “is he the only horse”. The question was whether a pasture mate was already in, or still in the field with him. Suggestions on things to try will be different whether you’ve already brought the buddy in or not.
I’m not a normal horse person, I WORK and can’t bring him in mid day (please read post!!)
You ARE the normal horse person who works. I don’t think anyone said bring him in mid-day?
Your post was fairly hard to read with everything running together, so it’s easy for some details to have been missed. I had to re-read very carefully after reading it “normally” the first time. Paragraphs help a lot
Thanks for the tips, unfortunately the only thing I can think of doing for negative punishment for not coming in is to keep him out-except the pony needs to be brought in and if I leave the crazy one out he will run himself to death…
They come in together
Nice thoughts but I’m already doing them…I never discipline when I do catch him, and chores are already done so he cant use that as an excuse…,I think this might just be a case of princess ottb who doesn’t like the cold…
Is it possible he does not like being outside in the dark? You said he only does it in the winter months.
We had a horse like this who wasn’t this bad but he did NOT like being out in the dark. Dark = time to be inside the barn. We’d find him standing under streetlights when he’d get out, and in other situations, when it was dark at turn in time, you just needed to wave the flashlight and he’d be there in a hot second.
He did not do this every during daylight.
