I was going to suggest tacking mesh wire fencing to the outside as well (removable). But wire attached to corral panels are brilliant and even more temporary. Well done!
Why thank you! Honestly though, the 16’ corral panels are expensive and heavy and a pain in the ass, so I wouldn’t recommend that as a solution unless you already have some you aren’t currently using for anything else, like I did.
I use the same idea, hot tape on the outside of the barn that the horses can access (and like to scratch on). It’s not the prettiest look but isn’t terribly noticeable. It is incredibly effective though. Mine is hot all the time as it was convenient to set up that way.
I don’t think solid soap disappears that quickly. The rain might actually help spread it around a bit for you. 
I can hope! I’ve had visions of going through several bars of Irish Spring per week. It took almost a full bar to treat the shed wall, and a bit of the frame that had tooth marks which may have predated my mare.
I’ll see tomorrow how it works. Today fell into inertia. We’re Jewish, so tomorrow is just a nice extra day off - which I will spend with my mares.
2 Likes
Can’t speak about horses eating evergreens but a couple of my small holding paddocks have good grass YEt my horses have
nibbled/trimmed the edges of the lower branches of a dozen
medium sized Oak trees…
I’ve watched them at all times of the year.
So even a few oak branches would probably entertain OP’s horse.
I may have to get one of those for my mischievous weanling who is using my saint of a gelding as a play toy. Wonder when my saint will say enough is enough. The mare has already said no rough play with her but she will gallop all over the fields with him.
To the stop chewing I’ve used Irish spring soap successfully, but it does need to be reapplied on a regular bases at first. Found over time the chewing just stopped. If you have access to horse safe to eat branches that keeps some from chewing the fences/buildings.
1 Like
Considering you can get if for next to nothing around her at the local dollar stores, it’s a cheap fix. I hope you enjoy your day off!
we have had two young horses recently, Socrates (Prairie Hill Socrates) was the first, he would squeak that chicken relentlessly, after he was lost in pasture accident at age three we got his half brother Fig.
Fig (Prairie Hill Imagination) squeaked it so much he wore it out (actually beheaded it)
We got both as weanlings and could not be more amazed at their calm willingness, very easy to work with.
1 Like
We have an entire field of horses that identify as beavers. Within 6 months, they ate multiple wood posts around their pasture and their shelter - 4 horses on over 4 acres of grass, 24/7 turnout and supplemented with hay and cubes.
We painted the posts and shelter in No Chew, Vaseline with Cayenne pepper, Irish Spring soap and even used engine oil and diesel fuel. They had mineral lick tubs and salt. Those silly horses kept on chewing.
Eventually, someone told me that horses don’t always lick mineral enough to get a sufficient amount if they’re deficient and that the grass in our area is notoriously lacking in a specific mineral that escapes my brain. I ended up going to Co-op and buying loose pasture mineral with garlic and dumping a few bucket fulls in a trough for the horses to eat as they wanted.
We were going through a 40lb bag a week for the first bit and now it takes a few weeks, but the wood chewing has 100% stopped.
7 Likes
Huh, that is interesting.
It appears that the Irish Spring is working but after two storms in 3 days, I may have to reapply it.
1 Like
So a couple of weeks since initial application outdoors? not too bad!
I have “touched it up” a couple of times. One nice thing about Irish Spring is that it’s really sticky – light rain won’t touch it.
Old mare is a funny old thing – she is not a habitual chewer, but just did it for a few days. After I applied the soap, she seems to have stopped. Just like how she is with her hay. Most of the time she eats every scrap; other times she sifts out the bigger stems and doesn’t eat them, which is not easy since she’s fed from a net.
2 Likes
All of a sudden, EVERYONE in one paddock is chewing the wood. It used to just be the cribber and maybe one other horse, but now it’s all of them. Mine is supplemented based on best guesses and has started licking the mineral block (really it’s out there just as a toy) so I guess he is missing something??
I’ve not heard of loose minerals. I’ll have to go look.
@Foxglove can you please provide a link for what lick tub you use? A quick google search is coming up with either ClariFly added or ones listed specifically for cattle (which I’m not sure are safe to offer to horses. ??)
Thanks!
@Laverne77 Here’s the link. I buy 200 pound tubs that are delivered to my outdoor sheds for an extra $10. I buy one per horse per year. It says they can be left outside, but I found the rain turned them into soup, so I keep them under cover. I think there are also “stall size” blocks. ADM has a horse nutritionist on staff who answers emails. I met him one time at our feed store when he put on a presentation on ADM products. Subsequently, I emailed him asking about the difference between two products ADM offered to put weight on my old horse (One was a “senior product” the other was a regular feed that I fed using a supplemental weight increaser --my question was “which was better for the horse.” He answered the next day and said the two products were equal in calories and nutrient content if fed as required --the Senior Product required less feed per day than the regular feed with the added supplemental weight increaser. However the Senior product was more expensive. So, bottom line, all things equal. I continued to feed the regular feed with the supplemental weight increaser as it was easier since all my other horses ate that too --point is, they guy is a PhD in Equine nutrition and answers emails) You might want to shoot Dr. Latimer an email and ask which lick tup he recommends based on your horses, what you currently feed, and your hay. Free advice from an expert!
Link
