My 5 year old OTTB gelding got diagnosed with a malformation of his C5-C6 vertebrae about a year ago and is mostly retired. The problem I’m running into is that he’s a bit weird about other horses. On one hand he loves to play with other horses and is super playful and loves having another horse with him but at the same time can be very mean with them. He isn’t happy being turned out alone (even with a shared fence line) and he will cover other horses in bite marks (I mean several a day) if he’s out with another horse. Sometimes he gives no warning by pining his ears or anything he just goes straight to biting. If another horse defends themselves against his antics or play he gets mad and goes after them. He loves people and is a super good boy besides this one problem. I feel lost. I don’t want him to spend the next 20 years unhappy and bored but at the same time I don’t want to spend the next 20 years watching him hurt other horses. I love him more than anything but I feel so awful and lost over what to do with this situation. He is out 24/7.
Sounds like he should be alone if he can’t play nice.
Could you turn him out in a muzzle to limit the injuries to other horses?
He’s going to meet the wrong horse one day and get seriously injured if he goes after them, plus if it was my horse getting harassed by yours I would change pastures or barns.
While I agree he should be alone, he’s going to be mostly retired for the rest of his life. He’s been alone for a few months and just isn’t happy without the socialization and stuff to do. He gets so bored he starts acting up.
I have never used a muzzle before, would it still allow him to eat his hay and drink safely as it would most likely have to be on 24/7. I hadn’t even thought of that and honestly where it’s mostly biting that’s the issue that could make a huge difference.
If I was a boarder and he was harassing my horse I would be pissed, understandably. That’s actually how this started with him a former pasture mate harassing him non stop and when I moved him he just had no more tolerance for other horses and these behaviors started. Before that experience he could be turned out with any horse just fine.
I also recommend a grazing muzzle. Just keep in mind that he can’t defend himself so he should be turned out with gentle horses. Maybe if he’s out with a grazing muzzle for a few months he will learn how to socialize properly, and then you can remove the muzzle. That would be ideal!
Has this happened with a lot of horses or just one or two? Sometimes its about finding the right companion. My mare’s best friend loves her but attacks pretty much anyone else. There is one other horse on the property that she is okay with and that’s it. It’s something the owner has always had to keep in mind when moving her/introducing her to new horses. Seems the ones that work are the ones that just kind of stand their ground/don’t react and eventually she gives up.
Is there any chance that chronic pain is causing his irascibility? It is a symptom of chronic pain in both humans and animals. Of course it doesn’t mean that chronic pain is a certainty, just a possibility. I wish horses could tell us verbally how they feel.
@Weezer I am going to pick up a grazing muzzle and give it a try, it honestly seems like the perfect solution (even just temporary) for this. It’s 99% his mouth getting him in trouble, he doesn’t normally kick out so I think this will be super helpful.
@greywithchrome It’s happened with a few. I have 2 young OTTB’s him and my mare, so far my mare is the one he’s the best behaved with but he does leave regular bite marks even though most of the ones with her are from him wanting to play and it never escalates. She can’t be out with him without a blanket, only rambos hold up without ripping and even then I can see all the marks from him biting the blanket and just how much it happens. When he bites the blanket she doesn’t feel it and just ignores it, which I feel like only makes it worse because she never tells him off for it because she can’t feel it. He’s extremely playful with his gelding neighbors and they regularly play bitey face over the fence with no issues. It’s definitely selective and imo strange.
@OverandOnward Honestly, I have no idea. He’s grumpy about his blankets getting put on but besides that is a total puppy dog cuddle bug towards people. He does love to put everything in his mouth but I chalked that up to his age. Diagnosis was made due to excessive tripping that led to a neurological exam and neck x rays. Neurological symptoms were mild but x rays showed he was born with full bilateral fusion of the C5-C6. Tripping and other symptoms have improved a lot over the last few months so much so he seems completely normal now. The vets didn’t believe it would progress or be painful for him, but I guess we really don’t know for sure. One thing he used to do pre-diagnosis when the farrier was there was when he’d lift his front legs to do his shoes my gelding would look like he was glazing over and need me to practically hold his head up like he had been sedated. Each time the foot was placed down a few seconds later he would look alive in his eyes again and each time it was picked back up he’d glaze over again. As his symptoms got better he stopped doing it, but I always thought it was extremely strange like it was pinching or hurting something.
Is he sound enough to do anything that might work his brain a bit? I used to have a boarder horse who was just a pet and every now and then he’d get pushy in the herd and with me. I’d do some in-hand exercises with him that would give him some structure and remind him of his manners. I found it really helped him behave better if he was reminded that he’s not the boss. I just did simple stuff like teaching him to walk over a tarp, to lead blindfolded, etc.
It sounds like he needs turnout with a herd of mares. Honestly, my mares are of the opinion that a gelding must have manners. Any nipping would be quickly responded to with pinned ears and a kick.
It sounds like your mare doesn’t correct him either. That’s absolutely no help. I’m of the opinion he will just have to be bored in solitary confinement or you need to buy another mare to teach him manners.
I actually have a mare that’s a bit quick to kick… She’s like “get out of my way now!”, immediately followed by a kick. Not the nicest mare towards other horses because she doesn’t give them much time to flee. She’s in limited solitary confinement. Gets turned out with my boss mare for a couple hours at a time. Honestly the boss mare is nicer to other horses then her. The boss mare tends to warn/threaten before kicking and that allows the other horses to leave first. I just got tired of her kicking someone and put her in solitary. Much less drama this way.
To me the horse sounds unhappy and quite possibly uncomfortable. In my own circumstances, I would jump directly to PTS especially if the neck issues have already started to affect the horse neurologically. BTDT and glad I did. I’m pretty sure mine knew his limitations but instead of getting aggressive to protect himself, he was a shrinking violet.
If you don’t feel ready for that, try some heavy pain relief along with gut support to see if that changes his perspective on life.
What I would absolutely not do is continue to allow him to munch on other folks’ horses and I would not turn him out with a bunch of mares to teach him manners. If he does have pain/limitations because of him neck, this could be disastrous for him.
All in all it’s a tough spot to be in. I feel for you. It would be so much easier if they could say, “I’m angry because I HURT!” or, “I feel ok and just want to play and all these guys are jerks for not wanting to join my game.”
Regarding the grazing muzzle suggestion; how long is he turned out for each day and how much hay/grass does he normally get during turnout? Most of the OTTBs I have had experience with have been harder keepers. You may need to be very careful if yours is; a grazing muzzle limits intake quite a bit. If not, no worries, but something to keep in mind. If you can make up the difference while he is stalled, then maybe no problem.
As @sascha mentioned, I would also be considering his quality of life too.
I second the caution with a grazing muzzle-- they really do limit the amount of food a horse can consume. My gelding has never mastered eating any hay with his (Greenguard brand) muzzle. He may need to wear it while turned out with another horse, but be separated to eat.
My boarder horse is a biter-- he is aggressive toward my boy at times, and I have to separate them if he gets too forward. He liked two horses that I’ve put him with and absolutely tried to kill the one mare who was next to him-- it was scary! You may have to experiment a bit with whom he is placed.
It sounds to me like he’s bored and trying to get the other horses to play with him. Horses, especially young geldings, play HARD. I’d suggest some sort of exercise/handling routine with him to give his mind something to do and tire him out a bit, along with some toys. Have you ever tried one of the giant balls? That might give him something to chase, bite and ‘attack’ in the place of your other horses.
You have my sympathy. I have one in the barn that bites/chews on everything and everybody. His owner NEVER corrects him. I do. I think it’s getting better. He goes alone. I have another who can bite through a muzzle. I do not know how he does it, but he absolutely can. He now goes out w mares.
I would honestly look at euthanasia as well, as someone else suggested. He could live 20+ years as an unruly pasture pest and I would wonder if it hurt him, that neck. I mean in the meanwhile, he must wear a muzzle, but it may frustrate him so much that he gets violent in other ways. I wouldn’t want to be any part of sharing the field with him with my cream puffs.
This would be another concern in my brain too.
I euthanized a horse shortly after his seventh birthday bc of neck issues that were causing a carousel of lameness issues. His personality had also started to shift towards more paranoid and I was told that this can happen when a prey animal feels compromised.
Mine was 6. It was awful. Add to that the (thankfully few) people who questioned my decision and gave helpful advice like letting him enjoy a nice summer (um he was already a bit afraid of his companions and had already had one fairly major stall incident) and then put him down when he started to get uncomfortable or lose his balance. Uh, yeah, no, he lived at a sort of a semi-co-op barn. I couldn’t have him injuring some other boarder who happened to be bringing in horses that day and definitely didn’t want him injuring himself. So yeah, the totally right, but horribly difficult and heartbreaking decision 
Honestly I made the post because I felt crazy even considering euthanasia but I was thinking it. Part of me feels like it’s what this is going to lead to because nothing I can give him is going to be enough for him to make him happy being retired. I wasn’t sure if I was jumping the gun or not though. I am also gonna try some no chew sprays on a blanket first to see if it’s enough to make him knock it off.
He’s on 24/7 turnout with a round bale. I looked at some grazing muzzles online and most of them say not to use with hay just for grass which would definitely be a problem.
Ahhhhh yeah, I wouldn’t think that would be the best approach then.
