Anxious horse

nicole11

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I have had my horse for almost a year and we have struggled trying to keep him calm. He’s a 12 year old Irish draught cross.

Initially he was in a field with 4 other geldings who bullied him, he was stabled at night over winter (in a barn where he could see horses either side) and seemed to enjoy the routine of it, but was desperate to see what was going on outside all of the time and got stressed when a horse or I left.

Following the extensive bullying I moved him field, he’s now in with 3 geldings and a mare and has totally settled. He loves it. He also moved to a larger stable, which is outside so he can hear the barn behind him and see out to other horses and the fields. Initially he settled fine and I thought we’d cracked it.

However, he has become totally unbearable to have in his stable and to handle in general. He’s jumped out twice and is highly stressed from the second he walks in. He paces, rears, snorts and tries to barge out. He won’t even eat or drink at all. Even overnight. I have tried having a full grille up, mirrors, treat balls and nothing helps. It’s got to the point where even tied up outside he will scrape, stamp and try to spin if he can’t see me.

My most recent attempt at helping take the edge off was to introduce a calmer with valerian in it (we aren’t currently competing) to see if it would help him get over the stress, but it hasn’t helped at all.

I am absolutely exhausted and totally stressed by it all. He’s ridden on average 5 days a week and is on a 1/4 of PURE fibre balance per day. He’s turned out for about 22 hours per day. He is the happiest horse in the field and will wander around with you and is always sleeping. I just don’t know what else I can do for him.
 

tallyho!

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A joint?

Failing that i would have a review of his diet. Clare McCleod is good. Theres either too much of something or not enough of something.... sounds seriously unhappy though, you need to try something else.
 

Hack4fun

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I think my horse might be like that judging from behaviour when she is in a stable. She lives out 24/7 with me and does really well on it.
 

Pearlsasinger

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I would overhaul his diet. I have no idea what is in PURE feeds fibre balancer but, especially if it has alfalfa in, I would stop feeding it. He might need magnesium, often horses deficient in that are very anxious and stressed.
 

nicole11

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I would overhaul his diet. I have no idea what is in PURE feeds fibre balancer but, especially if it has alfalfa in, I would stop feeding it. He might need magnesium, often horses deficient in that are very anxious and stressed.
Thanks! Will definitely consult with equine nutritionist and see what we can do for him
 

nicole11

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A joint?

Failing that i would have a review of his diet. Clare McCleod is good. Theres either too much of something or not enough of something.... sounds seriously unhappy though, you need to try something else.
Thanks, I'll try Clare!
 

Shay

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You are feeding 9 MjKg and over 4% sugar. (although no alfafa - thats a good thing...) And you do not seem to have the workload to balance that. Can you switch to forage only to reduce that. You can get the vits & mins from a standard supplement without either calories or sugar.

The first step with something over anxious is to cut calories / sugars. Rats are a good suggestion - but check also for bees / wasps - and even red ants. If you have matting lift than and see what is beneath.

Why can you not leave him out 24/7 and still ride him. Whats the issue there? That might give you a clue to what is happening.
 

nicole11

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Thanks! Forage only was the plan when the calmer didn’t work, he’s getting more than enough from the grass as he’s not interested in hay.

He has to come out of the field to be ridden. At the moment he is not going into his stable at all. I bring him out of the field and tie him up outside to groom/tack up and he scrapes and snorts and panics the second I leave him.
 

nicole11

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You are feeding 9 MjKg and over 4% sugar. (although no alfafa - thats a good thing...) And you do not seem to have the workload to balance that. Can you switch to forage only to reduce that. You can get the vits & mins from a standard supplement without either calories or sugar.

The first step with something over anxious is to cut calories / sugars. Rats are a good suggestion - but check also for bees / wasps - and even red ants. If you have matting lift than and see what is beneath.

Why can you not leave him out 24/7 and still ride him. Whats the issue there? That might give you a clue to what is happening.
Sorry, see my reply, I didn’t reply properly
 

DabDab

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Maybe don't tie him up to tack up?

I never tie up to tack up, as I like to train mine to just switch off when they're tied up so don't do anything constructive with them while they're tied. I also don't tend to tack up in the stable so generally I just stand them in the yard to to get ready to ride and to untack and wash/brush down afterwards. I takes them a wee while to get the hang of not moving about, but that's all good training anyway. Also means it is quite easy to tack up in the field or school if I need/want to as well
 

splashgirl45

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why cant you take your tack to the field and groom and tack up there, lots of people have to do that because they dont have a stable or hardstanding available,,,,,also i wouldnt give him any feed at all until you have sorted out a good routine that both of you can cope with..
 

be positive

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Thanks! Forage only was the plan when the calmer didn’t work, he’s getting more than enough from the grass as he’s not interested in hay.

He has to come out of the field to be ridden. At the moment he is not going into his stable at all. I bring him out of the field and tie him up outside to groom/tack up and he scrapes and snorts and panics the second I leave him.

The horse has to come into a yard at some point and needs to learn to accept he can to stand quietly, a vet or farrier cannot go into a field to treat him and it is the best interests of all our equines to learn to settle wherever we want them to, even if we have to meet them part way there is no long term merit to doing everything in the field and I see very little pleasure in owning a horse than will not enjoy time being fussed with.
If he were mine I would be getting him in as many times a day as possible, just a walk into the yard a pat and out if that was all I had time for, when I wanted to ride I would tack up quickly ensuring everything was nearby so he was not alone but taking a little longer after riding each time before putting him back out, he should be more relaxed when tired and if hot should appreciate a wash off, maybe then a walk in the wrong direction before putting back out.
I would also do a little groundwork with him as often as possible to mix it up, find a place he will stand quietly and build on that to get him thinking, ignore unwanted behaviour and praise good behaviour, he has separation anxiety so will take time to learn being alone for a few seconds at a time is safe and that he is not really alone anyway as you are nearby, most get better but only if they are carefully trained to improve, if he is only dealt with in the field the next step may well be refusing to leave and being difficult to ride so take baby steps to build him up don't avoid it completely.
 

AdorableAlice

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I haven't got any ideas for you but I can tell you about a very similar situation and it may be worthwhile you considering how your horse started life and how it was reared.

Some friends asked me to look at a 15h homebred sport horse a few years ago. It was 6 and never been off the farm it had been bred on. Herd kept with brothers/sisters and brood mares, broken and going nicely at home but never seen anything other than vendors indoor school. I advised against the purchase because of the immense change in way of life for it. It was coming to a yard with just 2 other horses who were often out hunting etc. The new owner had only ridden steady ponies and wasn't experienced enough for a well bred green youngster. The new owner was also in full time education and off to uni in a few years time.

Friends ignored my advice and bought it. The horse literally fell apart from day one. It galloped the walls of its stable, climbed out and even attempted to climb the metal dividers in the inside walls of monarch stables. Turned out it galloped to exhaustion and appeared to have fit type episodes. Riding was out of the question. It had no interest in making friends with the two resident horses and never did. This behaviour went on for months to the point that it body scored 1.5. It took 12 months for it to settle by which time the rider was terrified of it and the parents wished they had listened to advice. It was sold at a 5k loss.

The way this horse had been bred, reared and kept totally brain washed it and actually ruined it. It had no confidence, no manners and had never been taught to be independent.
 

pastit

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I agree with Be Positive. You need to sort this otherwise it will get worse. I'm surprised it hasn't affected his hacking. Excessive desire to stay with the herd is often a result of pain somewhere - check the poll as well as the legs and back - maybe your horse got cast and wriggled free but frightned himself. In that case I can well understand him not going into a stable but not being tied up outside (unless it really is his poll). What does he do if other horses are tied up in the same block? Little and often and in a routine if possible, and try to keep yourself really calm so he doesn't pick up vibes.
 

milliepops

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The way this horse had been bred, reared and kept totally brain washed it and actually ruined it. It had no confidence, no manners and had never been taught to be independent.

I have one that was similar, fortunately not that extreme but had dangerous meltdowns if you tried to stable her, travel her, was so herdbound she wouldn't leave the yard etc. It was a long old journey and I got some pretty frazzled nerves at times, but she is now a fairly well adjusted horse though I will always have to manage her separation anxiety because she still finds that very difficult at times.

I agree with BP though. If the OP wants to keep the horse then he has to learn how to cope with coming onto the yard, being faffed with and then going out again. Making sure the stable is one that suits him is part of the puzzle but essentially this is a learning need for the horse. God forbid he should ever need to be on box rest etc! It sounds like it will require plenty of time, patience and repetition. It will be hard not to get frustrated with him but that's really important too.
 

Pearlsasinger

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I agree with BP though. If the OP wants to keep the horse then he has to learn how to cope with coming onto the yard, being faffed with and then going out again. Making sure the stable is one that suits him is part of the puzzle but essentially this is a learning need for the horse. God forbid he should ever need to be on box rest etc! It sounds like it will require plenty of time, patience and repetition. It will be hard not to get frustrated with him but that's really important too.


He does but OP needs to build up slowly, in tiny steps. I would start by teaching him to ground tie in the field for tacking up, untack him outside the field gate, then tack up outside the field gate, untack in the yard and so on.
 

milliepops

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He does but OP needs to build up slowly, in tiny steps. I would start by teaching him to ground tie in the field for tacking up, untack him outside the field gate, then tack up outside the field gate, untack in the yard and so on.
yep we're all singing from the same hymn sheet, BP offered very gradual suggestions, I said it would take a lot of time & patience ;)

I just felt this was different to the suggestions that he should just live out 24/7. Skirting round the issue is likely to end up causing more problems in the long run :)
 

nicole11

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The horse has to come into a yard at some point and needs to learn to accept he can to stand quietly, a vet or farrier cannot go into a field to treat him and it is the best interests of all our equines to learn to settle wherever we want them to, even if we have to meet them part way there is no long term merit to doing everything in the field and I see very little pleasure in owning a horse than will not enjoy time being fussed with.
If he were mine I would be getting him in as many times a day as possible, just a walk into the yard a pat and out if that was all I had time for, when I wanted to ride I would tack up quickly ensuring everything was nearby so he was not alone but taking a little longer after riding each time before putting him back out, he should be more relaxed when tired and if hot should appreciate a wash off, maybe then a walk in the wrong direction before putting back out.
I would also do a little groundwork with him as often as possible to mix it up, find a place he will stand quietly and build on that to get him thinking, ignore unwanted behaviour and praise good behaviour, he has separation anxiety so will take time to learn being alone for a few seconds at a time is safe and that he is not really alone anyway as you are nearby, most get better but only if they are carefully trained to improve, if he is only dealt with in the field the next step may well be refusing to leave and being difficult to ride so take baby steps to build him up don't avoid it completely.

This is very constructive, thank you. Bizzarely, he absolutely loves the farrier and getting bathed because he enjoys the attention. I think building him back up slowly with ground work and leaving him only for short periods of time is definitely the way to go :) We'll get there and he's too good a horse to lose!
 

nicole11

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I agree with Be Positive. You need to sort this otherwise it will get worse. I'm surprised it hasn't affected his hacking. Excessive desire to stay with the herd is often a result of pain somewhere - check the poll as well as the legs and back - maybe your horse got cast and wriggled free but frightned himself. In that case I can well understand him not going into a stable but not being tied up outside (unless it really is his poll). What does he do if other horses are tied up in the same block? Little and often and in a routine if possible, and try to keep yourself really calm so he doesn't pick up vibes.
I handn't considered casting actually. This would make total sense as he used to lie down a lot and now he doesn't at all. We have an incredible physio on the yard so I think I will book him in with her and have a chat with my vet too.
 
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