Even my old girls (26& 22) get a little amped up once in a while and need to go out in our big paddock, about an acre , to run around. They are usually in about a quarter acre sacrifice area for the winter. My 4 year old, who is the most laid back baby I have ever seen, has spent 12 hours a day in a pen slightly larger and when it’s time to go out, she patiently walks with me to her field, waits calmly for me to remove her halter and exit the field and then WILDS OUT bucking and running. Luckily, I only had to do that for a short time until I had fewer horses and didn’t have to rotate turnout. Now she is out 24/7and still gets a little bouncy sometimes.
[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3803844]
Yeah, I’ve seen it too. And then the cribbing, pawing, weaving, and acting up under saddle that comes with it too. :([/QUOTE]
OK, but then wouldn’t her behavior happen all the time, not just at night?
[QUOTE=mp;3804103]
And ulcers. Don’t forget ulcers…[/QUOTE]
I do have her on gastro ease. Since studies show that the majority of horses have ulcers I have her on supps to help. Just incase. I feel if ulcers were the problem, my mare would be more consistent with her flipping out.
[QUOTE=mp;3804103]Jumper, I don’t know where you are, but is there any chance there’s a varmint’s nest or insect infestation in your horse’s run in? You might also check the wiring in the run-in, just in case she got a shock. Horses are very “associative” about bad experiences – and she may be associating a sound, a place in the run-in or even a time of day with something that startled or stung her.
Just a thought …[/QUOTE]
We live in CA and her blanket does hang out in the open. May be there is a spider or something on her blanket that’s biting her when it’s put on and that’s why she doesn’t always flip out…
I don’t think her needing more turn out is the problem. She does one of two things in turnout. Roll, then just stand there OR jump out and head back to the barn (or me if I’m closer.) She also used to live in a 12x12 and never had any problems. When I’m riding her she’s well behaved.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestion and keep the ideas coming. They’re giving me lots to think about. - Trying to figure out how to video her that fun to see what she’s doing all day when I’m not there.
Oh and I was out there today during the time she’s be flipping out. Of course, nothing happened. She was her normal chill self. Lets see what happens tomorrow.
[QUOTE=CatOnLap;3804269]
Half right.
The CSNB (congenital stationary night blindness) in appaloosas is generally associated with NON-SPOTTED homozygous patterns, which would include so-called “few spot” and near few spot, snow cap and blanket patterns when they occur without spots. It can also occur in solid appaloosas. But horses with those coat patterns are not all night blind. however, if your horse also has distinct spots, it is not going to have CSNB.
My snowcap gelding is not night blind and he has no spots.[/QUOTE]
This isn’t quite right either, at least not the way it is worded. All appaloosas homozygous for LP have CSNB. They may have a few spots on them even if they are homozygous (so I wouldn’t call them non-spotted) but the horses that we think of as being true leopards and blankets with a lot of spots are not homozygous. Few spot leopards and snow caps can have a few spots. The homozygous roan also has CSNB and their body may be entirely solid (although it usually does roan). It has to do with being homozygous for LP - the gene that allows spots to be expressed if the horse is carrying PATN. The biggest indicator of homozygosity is if your appaloosa has amber colored hooves on pasterns/legs that are not white (ie. no socks). If your horse has white on all four pasterns/legs it is harder to tell. You can see an example here with my few spot mare. She has a few spots and although she has dark color on her pasterns her feet are amber. http://www.altamontsporthorses.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=560&linkpath=http://khenning.web.aplus.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Cricketwithnewbornfilly.jpg&target=tlx_pichx64&title=Waps Skip N Line with 2007 part Trakehner filly
CatOnLap - Regarding your snowcap gelding I would venture to guess that either 1) you cannot tell he is nightblind because he is so well adapted and confident (I have one like this) or 2) your gelding is not a true snowcap. There are some heterozygous patterns that when combined with sabino can appear to be snowcaps but they are not real snowcaps. And because all four feet might be white due to the sabino effect it makes that observation useless for determining homozygosity as well. Also, some horses with certain roan variations may appear to be snowcaps as well.
To the OP, when I first read your post I also wondered about vision problems. It might not be CSNB but there are other eye problems that would effect night vision and she might be easily startled in low light because of that or generally just anxious at times. I have 3 horses with vision problems and two of them get anxious when the sun starts to go down. And the other one is losing his vision due to ERU so in the late afternoon he startles due to shadows, the dog coming up behind him, etc. and will be irritated enough to buck, toss his head, etc. when there really isn’t anything there. He started doing that in the last 2 months.
Not necessarily. It depends on what the other horses are doing, or what is happening at the barn.
And one person’s “freaking out” is another person’s “just getting a little hyper and being a normal horse.” Reminds me of the chick with the selle francais gelding who began denying her horse ALL turnout after he cantered around his paddock and knicked his leg with a shoe. Tiny little scrape, but she had a FIT. I was standing there when she talked to the barn owner and said that from now on, the gelding is NOT to go outside. He’s to be in his stall, PERIOD. She CANNOT afford these vet bills, and take chances on this horse getting “ruined” because this is going to be her daughter’s show horse! Dammit!
If that were “MY” horse, I’d have said - nice move dummy, and never thought about it for another minute. Horses DO tend to canter on their freetime, and ocassionally knick themself or get a scrape or bruise. But to that woman, it was life threatening and shook her world, apparently. :lol: Alrighty then.
Horses (especially a 5 year old), DO have a license to just get hyper and go nuts you know. 
There’s nothing saying that a horse should stand perfectly still in their 24x24 or 12x12 enclosure and stare off on the horizon for month after month without ever getting a little nutty. They don’t have to do it everyday, but horses are horses. They are goofy animals with tons of energy. They are built to wander 20 miles a day searching for food. You bottle all that energy up, and you WILL have explosions from time to time.
I guess some people would have a heart attack if they saw my three galloping around at Mach 9, bucking and farting and givin’ it hell like the world’s ending tomorrow. Then they sound that warning snort with the tails flagged, then 5 minutes later they have their noses buried in the grass, eating. That’s just the NATURE of a horse. That’s why we can domesticate them and ride them in battle, pull a plow, or gallop 15 miles on their backs. They have AMAZING energy, stamina, and willingness to MOVE.
Just my gutt instinct, but if it were MY horse doing this, I’d get her butt in a bigger pasture.
But if a horse changes behavior suddenly, I think it’s good horsemanship to try to figure out why and make sure everything is OK.
And not everyone has bigger pasture available
Op, Is her blanket put on at night and taken off in the morning. Does this behavior coincide with blanket being put on/off?
Well of course it’s “good horsemanship.” :rolleyes: It’s also “good horsemanship” to realize that a 5 year old is being kept in a 24x24 pen, the temps in the last couple of weeks have dropped all over the country, and perhaps it would be good to actually SEE what the mare is doing before assuming that some wild beast is harassing her in the wee hours of the night, and on top of that assume she’s blind or has terrifying spiders living in her blanket and biting her. Just because the horse has been a dead head in the past and now she gets hyper doesn’t mean there is automatically something wrong. Cold weather, good food, less work, no room to move, they’re all reasons that a youngster gets hyper. Good grief. But whatever. It never ceases to amaze me the people that keep horses in a kennel like they’re a dog and then wonder why they get hyper. If the horse were turned out with others in a big pasture, and she is still having episodes of rip roaring fits, then I’d be more apt to think something serious is going on.
Of course there might well be something wrong! But the OP should observe the behavior first and then determine if it’s really a problem. I wouldn’t just rely on 2nd hand info that the horse is having these fits. If her fits involved her getting injured or tearing the fencing down and getting so wild and frantic she can’t be calmed or caught, then I’d be much more worried. Bucking, rearing, and screaming would make me think the mare needs more work, more room, and more friends. It’s classic behavior for a young horse that’s got WAY too much energy. And there are probably triggers like the cold weather, other horses coming and going, etc.
Oops, I didn’t proof what I wrote. I meant to say snowcap, not blanket. I have a snowcap and a fewspot that are both night blind, but neither seem to be spooky at night.
Like another poster said, I vote for something prowling around, are you in Mountain Lion country? Most horses go “berserker” over mountain lions. I have also seen the same reaction to coyotes, even in horses that are fine with dogs. They seem to know the difference. I’ve have also observed that mares can be more inclined to “alert the herd” to predators. Hope you get this resolved.
[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3806518]
Well of course it’s “good horsemanship.” :rolleyes: It’s also “good horsemanship” to realize that a 5 year old is being kept in a 24x24 pen, the temps in the last couple of weeks have dropped all over the country, and perhaps it would be good to actually SEE what the mare is doing before assuming that some wild beast is harassing her in the wee hours of the night, and on top of that assume she’s blind or has terrifying spiders living in her blanket and biting her.[/QUOTE]
Actually, California is having record heat! :eek:
What will it be when the mare quits acting a fool in a few weeks when whatever’s bothering her, resolves itself? When the terrifying spiders, terrifying ants, terrifying bed bugs, terrifying werewolves, and/or terrifying temperature changes …cease to bother her and she goes back to farting around her little world, happy as the proverbial non-terrified clam.
Can’t call it horsemanship.
Darn.
Can’t call it abuse, no, not really.
Can’t even call it a cab!
I’m terrified just pondering the terrifying terrible possibilities of what we might call it.
Me, I’m calling it a day 
well, for starters, give it a rest about the turnout. Not everybody can provide it. That’s like trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Predator was my first thought, hormones my second. And obviously the OP had no idea it happened until she was informed by staff. Of course, one persons nutty moment is another’s high spirit.
