Aaarrggghh, wood chewing! What to do?

[PurBee]

My gelding did this when young and losing teeth. Continued doing it so i painted all chewed wood areas with black old engine oil, that put him off and curbed what had become habitual.
Yet, at the same time, i did think of mineral imbalances in forage, so upped copper, zinc, magnesium as he was into tree bark too - and trees tap deeper mineral reserves of subsoil, than grass which grows in depleted soils. Hence my mineral imbalance interest.
I often give doses of probiotics too throughout the year and often in winter so potentially there was a gut imbalance aspect…although the added minerals was new and really curbed the behaviour. He had opportunity to eat wood i hadnt painted, and didnt chew it.
That stopped him, and he was as bad as yours, chewing every bit of wood he could reach!

I also cut fresh branches of willow for them to gnaw on as they love doing that in the field.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

yep, if you aren't already try some minerals-Pro earth do a minerals one that I use in the winter, copper is important from what I've read in conjunction with wood chewing. If you can get some willow, birch or beech that might help too.

 

[catembi]

I am really not sure whether to put him through the stress of scoping, with the starvation aspect. I discussed scoping/ks xrays with the vet due to the extreme bucking issue, & he said that he's just young & not very strong & that I should feed him more, start him on equitop myoplast & carry on with the groundwork. I wonder whether the recent worming activity has 'done something' to his good bacteria, hence the massive uptick in wood chewing if he's feeling uncomfortable...? It's hard to know what things to try and in what order.

 

[I'm Dun]

Why would being young and not very strong cause violent bucking?! When will vets stop doing this! You have a horse with an issue and instead of trying to find out what that is, he sells you a supplement that is spirulina and masses of sugar and leaves you to it! It drives me mad

edited to add the ingredients: Algae powder (Spirulina platensis) Saccharose, glucose syrup, corn starch, apple flavouring.

 

[bouncing_ball]

Why would being young and not very strong cause violent bucking?! When will vets stop doing this! You have a horse with an issue and instead of trying to find out what that is, he sells you a supplement that is spirulina and masses of sugar and leaves you to it! It drives me mad

edited to add the ingredients: Algae powder (Spirulina platensis) Saccharose, glucose syrup, corn starch, apple flavouring.

It’s also not a significant amount of amino acids per daily amount fed. Better to feed micronised linseed or tri amino acids. Myoplast is over priced for a pretty poor spec.

 

[catembi]

I’m feeding micronised linseed! Hurray, finally, one thing I am doing right. I have read somewhere today that out of 18 spirulina supplements, 10 were found to be contaminated with something, but I can’t remember what it was.

 

[catembi]

He basically said that I was too heavy for him to carry atm. He is 15.2/3 and I weigh 7 st 12. He was here so saw me in person and watched me lunge him to see how he moved. I explained several times about the bucking. I didn’t demonstrate as I preferred to stay alive. He is a very laid back cuddly horse which makes it so astonishing that he will go full bronco in the blink of an eye.

 

[bouncing_ball]

He basically said that I was too heavy for him to carry atm. He is 15.2/3 and I weigh 7 st 12. He was here so saw me in person and watched me lunge him to see how he moved. I explained several times about the bucking. I didn’t demonstrate as I preferred to stay alive. He is a very laid back cuddly horse which makes it so astonishing that he will go full bronco in the blink of an eye.

I’m amazed at under 8 stone you are too heavy?! Or does he mean horse lacks the muscle snd topline at the moment to carry a rider?

 

[catembi]

Yes, lacking muscle & topline. Hence myoplast which he specifically recommended, and groundwork.

He looks to me as if he's 'holding' himself... I was wondering about an SI issue, but he's not lame & he doesn't seem tight precisely there. There is a tightness or a tension somewhere and no power coming from behind but I am not sure exactly why. I am missing a piece of the puzzle. Fine & relaxed in walk, tense in trot.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I'd scope for foregut ulcers. I also recommend the equibiome test for hindgut imbalance, but the results do take 8-10 weeks to come back. You can crack on in the meantime though, by feeding oily herbs (thyme, rosemary and oregano) plus the equibome prebiotic. All good stuff whatevers.

 

[Regandal]

I felt rotten fasting my horse for 14 hours pre scoping but he tolerated it pretty well, even with his neighbour munching away on hay. Vet reckons over 75% of the horses he scopes have ulcers and roughly half of those have no symptoms at all.

 

[poiuytrewq]

An atypical presentation does not preclude ulcers. I’d scope him, saves second guessing.

I think I’d agree. It’s expensive to treat for ulcers but will be cheaper than the upkeep of your poor yard if this continues

 

[charlotte0916]

Luckily it’s my yard or I’d have been thrown off it by now…

The new boy likes chewing wood. I have only had him since August. My yard and stables are only just over a year old, immaculate until he arrived and now trashed ? He has gnawed the gates, the fence, the chew strips on the stables, nearly gnawed through new post and rail… ?

He isn’t cribbing or wind sucking. They are out all the time, shut on the yard if the field is too wet but never stabled, constant access to 6 stables, hay net in each, fed twice a day. I so much love my yard and he is very swiftly eating it ?

My 5yr old does exactly this. She’s been treated and scoped clear for ulcers, is on a hind gut supplement, on a balancer, has had back x-rays etc and we’ve come to the conclusion it’s a hangover from the ulcers. It’s now an anxious habit when she’s internally stressing/bored. She had it when she had ulcers then stopped following treatment. Started again when she had a night of starvation for a scope then stopped once she was in a settled stable/more work. Started again recently moving yards and has stopped as she’s settled. I compare it to chewing your nails when you’re worrying abs then it becomes a habit. We popped cribbox on some of the surfaces once she’d settled and that was enough to kick the habit because she was no longer stressing.