Anxious in stall - how to help?

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Penny_lane

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My one horse can sometimes get anxious in his stall. It has gotten a lot better overall, but on really windy days it seems to worsen. When I went to lead him out of his stall this morning, he was already pacing before I even entered. He kept looking out his window and was very anxious.

I put the halter on and decided to wait for him to calm down a bit. He kept turning his head away from me to look out the window, so I gently added pressure to bring his head back to center toward me and released the pressure when he did. A couple of times, he tried to rush out the door, which he’s never done before. He’s usually very good about being patient when leaving the stall and waiting for me, even if he’s full of nerves.

Each time he tried to rush, I asked him to back up a few steps, focusing on releasing pressure as soon as he gave to me. I could feel that he was very tense even when standing still, so I walked him around once in a small circle, then stopped and waited for him to relax. My goal was to redirect his focus and give him something to do.

I was trying different methods to help calm him down, and I didn’t want to leave the stall with him feeling so stressed. It felt like he was trying to flee the stall, and I didn’t want him to feel like he needed to do that. I thought it might be better for him to calm down a little first and work on being still and present before leaving.

Was that the right way to handle the situation? Should I have just put the halter on and walked out as if nothing was different, or was it better to wait for him to calm down? If I do wait for him to calm down, should I focus only on being still and gently backing him up if he tries to walk past me, or should I keep his mind busy by walking around the stall once and then stopping to see if he relaxes, repeating that until he does?

Also, when he turns his head to look out the window, should I gently encourage his head to come back to me and stay there until he relaxes or should I allow him to look where he wants? I don’t want him to feel restrained, but I also want to help redirect his focus from the thing that’s making him anxious.
 
Imagine if something outside of your bedroom window was terrifying to you. And someone said you couldn’t leave until you relaxed. Is that likely to make you relax?!
I'd be trying to address the issue by removing the source of anxiety rather than trying to override the anxiety. What is his set up and routine?
 
Thank you for the reply! I’m trying to work on being more present around him and being confident in those situations in hopes that he feels my energy and knows that he doesn’t need to worry. I did wait today for him to put his head down a little and there was some licking and chewing and that’s when we finally left the stall. He was a little rushed and tense still walking through the door, but he didn’t run past me and I didn’t want to push him any further than what he was comfortable I just wanted him to have a small moment of calm, so that he could learn to self regulate better in those situations and know that he’s okay. I don’t know if I’m going about it the wrong way, but I feel that when he pushed passed me through the door that wasn’t safe and I needed to address that and make him back up out of my space and let him be still for a moment or two and then try leaving the stall again. His routine is mostly consistent he gets 12-16 hours of turnout a day depending on the year and weather. Last night we got record cold with strong gusts of winds so we brought him in around 10 pm last night and he’s usually out at night, and this morning when I went to turn him out it was still windy and he was anxious to get out. I feel bad if what I was doing was making him more stressed, but I felt also leaving the stall rushed and full of nerves was reinforcing that feeling of anxiety in the stall. I might be wrong, and that’s why I’m wondering what the best way to handle those situations are because I want him to be comfortable and I never want to force that on him either, but I do want to help him work through those moments so that he can feel more relaxed and secure in his environment and surroundings.
 
Penny_lane said:
Thank you for the reply! I’m trying to work on being more present around him and being confident in those situations in hopes that he feels my energy and knows that he doesn’t need to worry. I did wait today for him to put his head down a little and there was some licking and chewing and that’s when we finally left the stall. He was a little rushed and tense still walking through the door, but he didn’t run past me and I didn’t want to push him any further than what he was comfortable I just wanted him to have a small moment of calm, so that he could learn to self regulate better in those situations and know that he’s okay. I don’t know if I’m going about it the wrong way, but I feel that when he pushed passed me through the door that wasn’t safe and I needed to address that and make him back up out of my space and let him be still for a moment or two and then try leaving the stall again. His routine is mostly consistent he gets 12-16 hours of turnout a day depending on the year and weather. Last night we got record cold with strong gusts of winds so we brought him in around 10 pm last night and he’s usually out at night, and this morning when I went to turn him out it was still windy and he was anxious to get out. I feel bad if what I was doing was making him more stressed, but I felt also leaving the stall rushed and full of nerves was reinforcing that feeling of anxiety in the stall. I might be wrong, and that’s why I’m wondering what the best way to handle those situations are because I want him to be comfortable and I never want to force that on him either, but I do want to help him work through those moments so that he can feel more relaxed and secure in his environment and surroundings.
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He also always has access to hay and has two windows in his stall, so he doesn’t feel claustrophobic. We did have one of the windows closed last night because of the cold and wind, so that probably didn’t help either.
 
When he’s anxious when I got to lead him from his stall and rushes out the stall door, pushing through me, I know that’s not safe and I should make him back up out of my space, but when he’s anxious like that do I wait for him to calm down after backing up or do I make him back up and let him stand still for a moment and then try leaving the stall again, even if his head is up and he’s tense or should I make him stand still until he shows some sign of relaxing like head lowered, deep breath, or licking and chewing. I don’t want to make him stand there for a very long time if he just won’t calm down and standing there makes him more anxious or do I be patient and present with him until he settles and feels more secure?
 
TheMule said:
Is he in with other horses? Are the other horses relaxed when he is anxious?
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Yes, my mare is across from him and always calm. I always turnout him out first because his anxiety increases when he’s alone in the barn. It’s not separation anxiety because he can leave her when we go to ride and out to the pasture he just doesn’t like being in the barn by himself. Even when she is in the barn with him he can still be a little anxious, more so with bad weather, but my mare is always level headed and calm through it all. That’s why I wonder if I should gently and patiently work through these problems with him when they appear rather than overlooking them? I’ve had him for almost a year and the anxiety in his stall hasn’t changed much, so that’s why I wonder if a different approach, like trying to be present and find stillness with him in those situations is what he needs.
 
I would try a few things- close both windows to minimize noise/ wind blowing in. Swap stalls with the mare to see if that one is less anxiety inducing. Can he go next to the mare rather than opposite her? Does you set up allow for him to be free range in the barn, or does he have to be shut in?
 
Obviously he should not be barging past you to get out, but making him stand in the stall until he 'relaxes' (or gives up expressing his discomfort) is punishing him for his anxiety, rather than addressing the problem.
As above, I'd look at what you can do to reduce his stress in the box and in the meantime only insist that he leave the box in a mannerly fashion- he needn't be (or appear to be) happy to stay there, he need only avoid being bargy on the way out.
Is it possible that the stables are creaking/moving in windy weather? Some wooden stable blocks are inclined to shift around a bit or make alarming noises. Some horses, naturally enough, find it very worrying to be trapped in a building that sounds or looks as though it might come down around their ears (even if we know it to be perfectly safe).
 
You cant really reinforce a feeling the same way you can reinforce a behaviour. So making him stand until he "relaxes" is more like flooding than teaching, tho it is VERY common and you won't be the only person to try it.

Yeah similar to whats been said already, you can absolutely insist on safe behaviour, so he can't run you over. But asking for an emotion isnt fair, he feels what he feels.
 
I would encourage him to exhibit the behaviours that you want. If you want him to put his head down, give him a reason to do so. I would offer a treat and say the word "down" as he reaches down for it. Lowering his head will have the physical effect on him that you want, just as if he was doing it off his own bat.
It might be worth doing some clicker training with him to get the responses that you want.

Try to keep your own energy levels low, don't show any anxiety yourself, or he will.pick up.on it and think that he is right to be anxious.
He will take confidence from you if you are very matter of fact about your expectations of him. Certainly don't allow him to barge through you, you might find that holding a schooling whip in front of him helps to control his forward movement.
Incidentally, he doesn't live in a stall. They were housing for working horses, who got lots of exercise during the day and were tied up overnight with nothing else to stop them backing out of the space. There wasn't room for the horse to turn round. Your horse lives in a stable/loose box.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Incidentally, he doesn't live in a stall. They were housing for working horses, who got lots of exercise during the day and were tied up overnight with nothing else to stop them backing out of the space. There wasn't room for the horse to turn round. Your horse lives in a stable/loose box.
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The OP is from the US, so stall is the most commonly accepted term, not stable or loose box.
 
Thank you for the replies! It’s very appreciated and I definitely am learning everyday to have a better relationship with my horse and make sure he’s as happy and comfortable as possible, so this information was very helpful :)
 
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