Stall kicker - at my wit's end, kicking chains or QuitKick?

Is swapping that horse for another at all a possibility? It sounds like you’ve got a good relationship with the owner, so it’s certainly worth asking, if you haven’t already.

Hopefully getting some airspace behind the mats will help. I’ve also seen that work really well!

Omeprazole does not work for all ulcers nor for all horses. Maybe consider trying one of the other drugs even for a few days to see if they make a difference.

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This sounds like a great idea if everyone else is in all night anyway. Maybe your two could stay in while the others are out if they need some stall time. Or, I agree with Simkie to ask about switching who lives next to him.

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Is turnout an option or not? You say it’s not, but then hint that you can turn him out with the cow.

Or he could continue to hurt his legs by kicking his stall. :roll_eyes: Not surprising to me that he is hock sore.

I don’t think you need this thread to know what the answer needs to be. You know the answer. He’s not happy in his current living environment. And he’s going to continue to protest unless you change it.

I know there are horses who live in a stall, most hours of the day, and I know there are barns and places that don’t have the luxury of wide open spaces. I get it. But personally, I just can’t do it. Horses bodies were never intended to stand in a 12x12 area without moving, for their physical or mental well-being. There’s a reason that prison inmates are meant to be punished in solitary confinement … yet we have no problem doing the same to horses their whole lives? I might strike a nerve with that statement, but just my 2 cents. And yes, my horses live outside 24/7.

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While it isn’t fair to subject the cow to possible harassment, the notion of changing his way of living sounds like what is really needed here.

He obviously objects to stall life and he is showing his unhappiness the only way he knows how.

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He is turned out for 8-10 hours per day - he isn’t in the stall full time. The comment about the cow was not a serious one, as I indicated when I said I wasn’t seriously considering it, plus it would have to be ok with the owner of the cow.

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Blaming stalls for that situation is not necessary.
Plenty of horses do fine in stalls.
It doesn’t seem to be the stall, but the neighbor, that sets him off.

A friend trainer has a set up with stalls and runs off stalls.
The runs have thick wood slats between horses so they won’t chew on their neighbor’s manes/tails, as she gets many colts to start under saddle.

This one mare had been there a while without any problem, when they put a new gelding by her.
Next morning, she had kicked those boards off the fence, broken some!
She and gelding were fine, the fence not so much.

They moved the gelding to another place, all was well after that.

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The gelding next to him wasn’t happy in the more open stalls but is happy in this arrangement so I doubt his owner would be open to moving him and moving my guy to a different stall with a window in the back wall feels like inviting him to put a foot through the window.

The only thing that doesn’t make sense is that he’s had this gelding next to him for years and suddenly now it’s an issue.

Even horses 24/7 turned out that get along for years may one day fight seriously and need to be separated after that, who knows why.

Bet you and the BO will find a way to settle things, just keep trying.

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24/7 turnout might not be an option, but what about a bigger stall? A more open stall? more turn outs? I am fortunate in that most of my horses live out most of the time with other horses, they don’t always get along, but it gives them something to do during the day rather than just turning into a zombie or developing bad habits.

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My mare is a stall kicker. 2.5 years of rebuilding the wall and door and finally my BM just got fed up - mare got turned out over night by herself. Happiest she’s ever been.

The tipping point was that the kicking ramped up significantly one fall. In hindsight, it coincides with pain. SHe has PSSM2 and the colder weather makes her tighter and more sensitive – so her food aggression and hating her neighbors ramped up significantly to the point that she wasn’t damaging the stall at night she was straight out DESTROYING it.

She was subsequently diagnosed with PSSM2, is now managed for it, and is at a new barn (temporarily) where she’s stalled 12 hours a day – no issues except at breakfast / dinner time.

I’d be looking at pain, ulcers or otherwise, as to what caused the sudden uptick. In our case the increased turnout also did wonders for her PSSM2 so she was physically feeling a lot better from it too (but mainly not in her stall nearly as much so less time to destroy)

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Just curious–what is an acceptable way for a horse to express anxiety?

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Can he see the neighbor he doesn’t like? If so, maybe the behavior would stop if you can block his view. I have open bars between my stalls and have put up a privacy screen (plywood) board between horses before who were showing food aggression with the open sight line.

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Anything that isn’t liable to earn them stitches or worse. Stall walk, chew wood, make faces, threaten, whinny. Lots of options.

Same way they aren’t allowed to pick a human up by the shoulder and give them a shake if they’re anxious, they aren’t allowed to try and put their foot through the wall.

It’s alright to have boundaries on what a horse is allowed to do without consequence.

eta: I’m not saying to not fix what’s torquing him off. I’m saying he can’t tear the barn down in the meantime. If I were a BO you’d have two options, either one would have to happen in 24 hours or less - chains or get out.

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our stalls are 14 x 14 - so pretty big - and he is a whisper over 15 hh so it’s plenty large for him, lol.

I’d like to find a way to get him turned out overnight but also want to be cognizant of my trainer’s feelings about having one (or two if we put my other guy out as well) out “unsupervised” overnight. The property is boarded on one side by a state highway that see quite a bit of traffic and we do have a full perimeter fence but I don’t want her losing sleep over the what if’s - she’s already concerned enough over the damage he’s doing to himself not to mention her property. At least she sold him to me and she is invested in his long term well-being so I’m sure we will figure something out, but a deterrent in the short term will likely have to happen.

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Seriously I think I would turn him out, that’s what will cure his stall kicking. :slight_smile:

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I’m a huge advocate for TO. It solves many, many issues.

However… if 24/7 TO isn’t possible without undue hardship (trainer losing sleep, moving barns / programs when you’re otherwise satisfied) then I’d try the kick chains. Like @endlessclimb I’ve seen the ones fastened above the hock. In my limited experience they were immediately effective.

I’ve seen a smidge of Ace given before putting the chains on the first time to reduce risk of panic.

Continued kicking in the stall presents an immediate health hazard to your horse. If kick chains are the fastest way to mitigate that hazard, I’d do it.

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That is not what I would call big, I would call that just barely adequate, assuming he is getting out every day for a couple of hours. Not know all the details about how he spends his day that would be where I would start

Turnout. I use drylots and rarely stall and have not had these issues. I once knew a horse that was a terrible stall kicker. He gave himself laminitis in his hind leg from kicking the stall wall.

If she doesn’t want him in a field, try putting him in a roundpen.

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