angry horse in stable

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el_Snowflakes

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so,

i would say this has been going on for a number of months. Its certainly fairly new behaviour in the 2.5 years Ive owned her. She is 16 and is pretty good with other horses- never had any problems although she does like to be the boss. She will throw herself around the stable doublebarreling the crap out of the walls at the horse next to her. She only has 1 horse next to her but the area to the other side of her is where the hay is stored so alot of folk tie their horses up to the side of the stable which is causing her to go ballistic (and no, most folk dont have the sense to tie their horse somewhere else when they see my horse is very upset:()
It doest matter if she has hay or not - she will still act like this and Im worried she will hurt herself......she has now kicked her auto drinker & smashed it to pieces:(:(


Does anyone know what could cause this change in behaviour?
I am considering blacking out the sides of stable so she cant see whos next to her.
 
Imo she feels the other horses are invading her space. Not all that unusual for a mare, especially one that likes to be boss. I'd cover up the sides of her stable between other horse & the hay bit. Try throwing a large rug or blanket over tonight & see if it makes a difference while you're there, then put something safer up. On the hay side if you can trust the other liveries, you could leave it open but keep an old blanket handy, & ask them to throw it over when they tie their horses up. (assuming there's a high but see through barrier already)
 
Yes, cover up the space so she has a "wall" there.

The trend for open stables came about because people realised it was better for horses to have contact and a view of other horses while in - but they took it too far, and some recent research has shown that horses should be able to have an area of a few feet where they can touch/groom another horse, but not a whole wall. In effect, what you're doing is putting another horse "inside" your horse's personal space bubble, and not allowing them to get away. Horses, like people, enjoy having other horses around, but not right in their face all the time.

So close up the part of the stable where she's feeling "invaded" and she should settle. Otherwise, maybe ask for a different stable :)
 
Knew it would be a mare. They in general like their space. My mare hates anyone around her space. If you came into my barn you'd think, holy crap, she's a psycho. Walk under her chain and she's like ok. I do all my work with her without a headcollar and she falls asleep while being brushed. But other than that she is not a snuggle bunny and likes being left alone. This is something she really got bad with while away. Having seen at the end what that trainer was capable there is no telling what she might have gone through. So i really don't care how she is because it's mostly a tough girl act. She is very good if you know her. Really if I had any priceless valuables I'd probably leave them in with her. Ain't nobody going in there to get them! LOL!

Terri
 
I think there is a stash of it at the yard, Jock will know, he knows all :).

Hopefully it won't cost you anything more than another drinker, which hopefully aren't too expensive.
 
We have talk bars between stables and there was one mare that could not cope and did like yours does and booted hell out of the walls. We ordered some cut to measure OSB board and slotted it over to cover the talk bars by using kick bolt attachments (the part that the kick bolt slips into). Two at the bottom and two at the sides. This made them easily removable but very secure.
 
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply :)

I have blacked out the bars on her stable (on the sides) with black plastic sheets. However apparently this hasnt made any difference. (I have to take others word for it as she doesnt tend to do it while Im there!)

She is by no means a 'grumpy' mare. Extremely friendly however bossy! I am more concerned with the reason for this sudden change in her behaviour. Im presuming it is hormonal as Im pretty sure at this time she should be having her final season before winter time. If I remember correctly she was at her most hormonal this time last year. She is 16 by the way and has never had a foal.
 
My mare who was good friends and always turned out with my daughter's mare always kicked at the wall when they were stabled next door to each other. She would NEVER have dreamt of acting like this in the paddock. In the end I had to close up the talking grille, as my back lady said it was misaligning her pelvis on that side time after time. It stopped once I blanked the grille. Is she on a good general vit + min supplement? There could be something missing in her diet making her more anxious or possibly hormonal?It may be worth buying a pot of Oestress to see if it helps.
 
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Could you move her to a stable out of the mainstream,sounds like my mare, kicks the stable wall like mad when I put my gelding in his stable next to her,but when I tried to put her in Angels old stable(bigger box) she went mental,so she back into her own stable(had Angel pts nearly 2 weeks ago) so shall try again in a couple of weeks,just to give my gelding a rest from the hassle:):)
 
My gelding is exactly like this when he can see other horses from his stable. He trashed numerous water drinkers, went through several walls and generally wrecked a few stables over it. Rugs over walls didn't help, it had to be a solid wall between them. He's now in a small barn with only 3 other horses and has a breeze block wall between him and his neighbour. He can't reach the horses opposite and this has stopped him doing it.

I think he started doing it because a horse next door to him used to kick constantly and this upset him, but of course I'm not sure. It started very quickly though and was awful for ages. The only thing I could identify that had changed at the time was his next door neighbour who was the kicker.

Might be worth seeing if you can move boxes. Sorry. :(
 
thanks again guys,

unfortunatly moving her would be little help as the stables are all in a row so theres none that are 'tucked away' as such....and yes, I will try the Oestress, thanks ;)
 
I was just going to mention oestrous (sp sorry) - sounds like she needs help in that department. Until it kicks in, I would try Naff Magic calmer too - seen good results very quickly.

Let us know how she gets on, sounds like she'll be hurting her legs kicking the walls like that.
 
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