Weanling filly keeps jumping fence.......what to do?

[florida_foxhunter]

This is a serious question! My six month old pinto filly by Colaire (by Voltaire) keeps jumping my 4 foot wooden fence! She was weaned about a month ago and stays with an older mare since I only had this one filly this year…they get along fine.
However, I have a 3 and 4 year old filly together across the fence…and when she decides she wants to go play with them, she just makes a circle, gets a running start and there she is!!!

This morning I’m just letting her stay there for now…but hope the twos company, three’s a crowd thing doesn’t cause anyone to get hurt.

Bigger question…now what should I do? She’s obviously a bit strong willed (usually nice, but has her moments)…I’ve never had a youngster do this!!

[Auburn]

If she becomes too much of a pain, I would be more than happy to take her off of your hands! :yes:

I had a mare who would jump out of any fence, if she wanted to go somewhere else. She jumped a 5 foot stallion fence, because she wanted out of the dry lot and into the lush, green pasture. She was only 14.3 hands.

I love a horse/yearling who wants to jump on their own. Brave buggers!

[Marla_100]

My yearling filly did this 3 or 4 times until the last time, she got stuck- front end on one side and hind end on other side OVERNIGHT. She had 4-6 manure piles under her so she probably spent the night re-thinking this trick.

She never did it again, but I was seriously worried about what I’d do next.

[tuckawayfarm]

[QUOTE=Auburn;6673596]
If she becomes too much of a pain, I would be more than happy to take her off of your hands! :yes:

I had a mare who would jump out of any fence, if she wanted to go somewhere else. She jumped a 5 foot stallion fence, because she wanted out of the dry lot and into the lush, green pasture. She was only 14.3 hands.

I love a horse/yearling who wants to jump on their own. Brave buggers![/QUOTE]

It really doesn’t take a lot of scope to jump a vertical. Paddock jumping can be dangerous. A friend’s GP mare, who was a dedicated paddock jumper, slipped on take-off once and ended her career.

I’d try very hard to figure out a way to nip this habit. My fences aren’t quite 4’, but they are hot and I don’t have any shared fence lines. Every horse on my farm could easily jump them, but they don’t. Can you put her where she doesn’t share a fence and put up a hot wire?

Edited to add: I also am very selective about pasturemates and would hate to see a youngster without an appropriate playmate. If the older fillies are reasonably kind, I’d leave her there, maybe even with her nanny.
Good luck!

[Chestnut_Run]

I would leave her with the younger mares. The older mare probably isn’t enough fun to play with.

For what it’s worth, I had a stallion years ago that did the same thing, but he wanted to play with the mares! :eek: He jumped over a 5 1/2 foot stallion fence and then across the 12 foot alley over the 4 foot mare fence. After we chemically aborted one of the two mares who had been in heat that morning (the other owner decided she wanted to keep the foal if tha mare had gotten pregnant!), we retooled his fencing to look like we were keeping in a velociraptor and switched him from the hunters to the jumpers. :winkgrin: To redo his fencing, we nailed 8’ tall two by fours to all the fence posts and then strung electric fencing to a height of about 7’ from the ground. He didn’t get out again.

Sheila

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Marla 100;6673845]
My yearling filly did this 3 or 4 times until the last time, she got stuck- front end on one side and hind end on other side OVERNIGHT. She had 4-6 manure piles under her so she probably spent the night re-thinking this trick.

She never did it again, but I was seriously worried about what I’d do next.[/QUOTE]

Mine got stuck on the wrong side of the fence without his buddy. He had worn a track down. The fence was on a hill and much higher going back. He never tried again after that but it was a problem before that. I was going to run a hot wire as he never tried a fence that" bit him", only the solid ones.

[RunningwaterWBs]

If they get along, I’d consider turning her out with the older fillies. I know some don’t do it, but I’ve always seen good socialization come from small groups of different ages. I had a similar problem one year when a 2yo filly kept jumping the fence to get in with that year’s foal and his dam (and she wasn’t a jumper – she just crashed through the fences ;)). The older mare didn’t mind, but let the filly know her boundaries. I think the broodmare actually appreciated that someone wanted to run around with her colt. It worked out fine and they were quite a happy little group. I’ve repeated this with different horses.

Maybe your filly is trying to tell you something.

[EquusMagnificus]

I’d also leave her out with the older fillies… I leave the weanling with the 18 month-old and the 2 1/2 y/o and they are having a total blast.

Mom is glad to be back alone with the small pony mare. The two “older” gals are glad to FINALLY be able to eat quietly without being disturbed by youngster antics!

[Gayle_in_Oregon]

I have all 5 foot fences with electric tape a foot higher so its 5.5-6 feet and that really discoureages them. So, raise your fence or let her stay with her friends. THey really dont like to be alone and horses need to have ‘tactile’ contact with other horses. Ever notice how they push and bump each other all the time?

[florida_foxhunter]

She spent the day with the two younger mares…I guess I’ll leave her with them, although all come in stalls at night. Both of them are in training, so each get pulled from pasture for riding each day, leaving the other with her…
My original hesitation was those two are so close, I didn’t want them to pick on the filly. However, it seems she could use some picking on (herd disipline) haha!

[columbus]

If it were a colt I would re think but fillies are much less aggressive. Leave her where she is but if she doesn’t stay there then start fencing for the velocirapter. It is flat out dangerous to not respect fences. PatO

[sfstable]

My Concorde / Calvados filly will jump right out of the pasture if you try and seperate her from her favorite friend. She will stay in the pasture and has never jumped out when the other filly is with her. We just find it easier to keep the two of them turned out together. We bring the Concorde filly into the stall when we work the other filly.