OP - If I were in your place, I would try to establish a routine and then use it to interrrupt the Crazies. Always show up with his favorite treats and establish a particular way of calling to him (or whistling, if you’re good at that) as you approach his field. First of all, he might anticipate the treat and decide not to go tearing around. But if he does, if you can start calling to him LOUDLY right as he starts wheeling around for his gallop, you might be able to disrupt his pattern before he really gets going. I did this with a very (very!) exuberant youngster coming off stall rest with a fair amount of success.
I had a gelding in the past who HATED to be cold. He would do the exact same thing as you are describing. Usually, he could eventually be enticed with a few treats. Once I got a halter on him, he would stand there shivering. I always tended to blanket him a touch heavier than I thought the temps called for.
My mare will run when she’s cold, or thinks she’s cold. I too blanket her sooner, and heavier, than the others.
I know you said he’s blanketed according to the temp, but one thing that helped my mare a great deal was to add a high neck sheet on top of her blanket. High neck was key, both for cold and wet. It’s not adding much of anything in terms of grams of weight/warmth, but the air pocket between the blanket and sheet adds warmth, and it’s protecting her whole body a bit more from the wind and/or wet.
Another great tip that I already practice:) he knows my whistle from a mile away, and usually comes for it, but these crazies are something extreme! It’s something very odd.
I’m quite sure he’s warm but I’ll try dressing up a bit
That’s a good idea, his heavy weights have necks but not the sheets, I’ll try that
Maybe it is a cold/dark thing?! Now that we’ve had some colder days I’ve seen similar behaviors in my two. My young horse won’t stay out when it’s cold. Comes running to the gate when sees me pull in the driveway from work. Paws the gate, shakes the gate. However, when it’s warm out, you can’t drag him in. If you ignore him, he will eventually run. I throw more hay or give up and bring him in and clean around him.
If it gets dark, my other horse now stays up close to the barn and whinnies at me the whole time. Again, when it’s nice out, no problem. When we had the weird warm weather last weekend, they both stayed out well past dark and I had to go find them.
I don’t have run ins either and work all day, horses in back yard. Sometimes I have to adjust their turnout because they are whimps:(
He is cold and hungry. More blanket. More daytime hay.
Marcee, when you are responding to a specific post, either post the name of the person or use the “reply with quote” button at the bottom right of their post so they/we understand what you are responding to.
OP:
You say “they come in together”
But how does that happen when Arctic(love that name:)) starts running laps?
Do you then bring pony in & go back for Arctic?
Could you bring Arctic in first then go back for pony?
Or change it up: pony first sometimes, Arctic first sometimes, wash/rinse/repeat
I have one (of 2 at home) who sometimes goes Walkabout when I come down to feed.
He takes his pony minion with him, but pony is very food-motivated & will come in on his own after a lap or two.
I just ignore Mr NotComingInYet and he does then come into his stall by himself.
My place is setup so pastures/sacrifice paddock surround the barn, stalls open 24/7.
But I have closed off access to stalls from pasture when one or the other decided being caught was not an option, went about my (barn)business & returned to find the misbehaver standing at the gate.
IIWM, unless Arctic’s turn-in behavior is causing a problem besides not fitting your program, I’d just let him have his fun.
He doesn’t sound like he is having fun though, he sounds stressed, and if he runs himself into a sweat, he could get a chill (if she cant’ bring him in).
When I first got Izzy she was like that if I tried to leave her out after dark. I think she was just more reactive to sounds/sights in the dark and it made her paranoid. For her, the solution was to find her a friend that she seems to trust to keep her safe. I am guessing that is not a possibility for you though!
If your horse is strongly food motivated, then maybe taking the pony some treats may be enough to catch Arctic’s attention?
He does sound like a princess and I would definitely try JB’s come back later approach. I’ve had a similar experience with TBs I’ve had and it worked very well. One got in a snit because I changed up the routine of just letting her make her own way to her stall rather than leading her. She had started bolting from the pasture to the barn and it was unsafe. So she lost the privilege and was going to have to be lead. That pissed her off so then she wouldn’t be caught and then ran around like an idiot. So I ignored her, took all of her friends away and fed everyone but her. She then decided she would be caught.
I love my guys a lot but they’ve got a great home and I am not their slave and I reserve the right to change the routine whenever and however I see fit. I’ve found that as long as they have shelter and good eats (grass or pasture) no one has a nervous breakdown if their next meal isn’t exactly on time. I work too and keep the horses at home.
If he only does it when it is super cold out, maybe he would just prefer to stay in on the days when the temperature drops below a certain temperature?
Put up a run in shed and leave them out. My guys love to be out on the cold, windy, nights. They tour the field and eventually return to their hay.
[QUOTE=AKB;8446572]
Put up a run in shed and leave them out. My guys love to be out on the cold, windy, nights. They tour the field and eventually return to their hay.[/QUOTE]
If you read the OP a shelter can’t happen until spring.
OP I really like the “too bad, stay out then” approach and come back later. Does he go out in a leather halter to make catching easier? That changed an attitude of a hard to catch horse I dealt with. He still had his fun but having a halter left on meant he wouldn’t run around like a fool when it was time to come in because he was “already caught”.
