Anyone else have a horse who hates being stabled?

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SO1

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My super pony hates being stabled - in the winter he is happy to be in if weather is really nasty but as soon as the clocks changed so did he - he has jumped out several times including over the V style weaving grill.

He does live out but occasionally needs to come in to wait for farrier, be wormed. He now has a full grid but still very cross even with ad lib hay after about 20 mins he starts banging and pushing himself against his door - I am worried he will break it down so now he will be sedated if he needs to come in to be wormed - luckily this is only 4 times a year.

He is only 5 so still quite young and hopefully he will grow out of it. He is just bored I think and not tempted by hay or toys.

Anybody else had a similar problem and how did they cure it.
 
I have friends who had this problem with their Welsh B=- he would jump out as soon as the door was shut. They now have an open shelter/ stable with a door in the paddock that he can go in of his own accord and he is quite happy doing so. On the odd occasion that he has to be shut in, he seems okay but it's never for very long as he pretty much lives out.

My own horse has a similar set up and although I've never had an issue stabling him, he appears far happier being able to decide for himself. This past winter was his first with this set up and although he generally prefers being out, he chose to spend a good proportion of his time in the stable (once he realised that he wasn't going to be shut in a few days after it was erected).

In both of these situations the horses are kept at home so it might not be as easy if you are on livery but it has worked in my friend's case.
 
i have a 13.2 gelding and he is fab at everything he would do anything for you he always tries his hardest for you but as soon as you get off him he is awful mainly in the summer when there is good grass he has also jumped out of his stable a few times or he just runs over the top of you when you open the door he quite often drags me to wherever he wants to be and he is impossible to stop i just let go of him when he does it now he never goes far lol.
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One of mine hates being in even for a few hours, he box walks, does the occasional weave and won't settle. I wouldn't have bought him if I had intended to stable him overnight as it would be too stressful for both of us. He lives out 24/7 all year round with only rugs and hedges in the winter. If the weather is horrendous I'll bring him in for a few hours which he can cope with as long as he has plenty of hay but I wouldn't dare leave him in overnight, I wouldn't get a wink of sleep incase he injured himself or completely wrecked the stable! I'm making him sound like a nutter which he isn't, he just doesn't like stables. He is otherwise very sane and laid back (he's the bay with the big ears on my sig!). He comes from Holland so I wonder if his upbringing there has had an affect on his behavour in stables.
 
I have two. My old mare that would jump out. She hated being in a stable.
When she had a foal late in the year she was stabled in what was the hay barn. It had just telegraph poles across the front and a door. She was happy in their for a time as it was huge and open. When Cedric was older i used to find them both in the field in the morning so they stayed out from then.
Sisco is a real claustrophobic bless him.
He came to us as a 'lunatic' I met him when i moved him for his owners. 'Good to box' Yes perfect to box, walked straight in. Two miles up the road my box was written off as he had gone into a shear blind panic.
I went through his passport when he came to us and a previouse owner said she reinforced his stable with steal as he boxed walked and rammed the door/sides of the stable.
We let him stay out and he is a totally different horse. No longer a 'lunatic'. He was an eventer. A 17.2hh Dutch Warmbllod but he was described as an idiot eventing who would go lairy. As he has changed we put it down to confinement.
He is such a fantastic dressage horse i can't ride him due to old ailments that makes one leg closer to his side, we do all that beautiful sideways stuff when i want to go straight. My daughter rides him and he is perfect - now he lives out.
 
My daughter's previous pony ( we love him too much to sell him! ) is a sweet but very neurotic pony, who is convinced there is a monster creeping up behind him all the time. He used to come in at night in the winter, but last winter I decided to leave him out well rugged up, because he was just getting more and more stressed coming in. He has never tried to jump out, but he would just spend all night rushing to the back of the stable, then racing to the door to check outside and he would be too stressed to eat any hay etc. It was getting to the point where he was stressed even just walking in from the fields. I got the vet out to check him over, make sure his eye sight was ok etc.
Now, in the winter when the other two come in, he goes in a little paddock next to the yard so he can see and hear the others, and he is much happier like that.
 
my 3 year old wasn't too good on box rest. for me sedalin gel worked, but only if given about 30 Min's before you need it to work, and your pony is calm at the time.

the only times i didn't have to use sedalin gel was when another horse was also boxed near him.

slowly i took him off the gel and now hes fine to stay in the box all day long.
 
My 3yo tb hated being stabled (would jump the door and squeeze throught a weaving grill everytime) and she also suffered from separation anxiety. She struggled with wintering out last winter and lost so much weight even with good rugs, ad lib forage and loads of hard feed i think she is just a sensitive type.

I set myself the goal that by next winter she would be happy to be in her stable. I started the long proccess by just leading her in the stable and if she was calm i would lead her back out. Next i would feed her in there and then built up till she was happy being in there for a couple of hours, not bringing her out of the stable untill she was calm. You need to do it everyday so it becomes part of their routine.

The real breakthrough was the stable mirror it took her a week or so to really notice it but now she runs in her stable whinnying to her friend next door. She also gives the horse in the mirror lots of kisses i spend more time cleaning it than mucking out lol. I also made the stable somewhere fun and interesting for her to be using licks, toys, hidden treats everyone laughs at me as they say that there is hardly any room for the horse now lol.

She will now happily spend all night in the stable and i think she looks forward to coming in so she can play with all her toys and gossip with the horse next door lol.
Hope this helps and goodluck
 
Merlin hates being made to stay in.... unless I am there, when he is good as gold
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As soon as I leave the yard he goes very stressy and box walks, rears to see out the top windows and digs up the bed. Last time I left him in for a couple of hours, he pawed an 8foot length of wood away from the wall and spent goodness knows how long dodging the 3 huge nails that were sticking up out of his bed
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I just leave him out now!!!!
 
Id keep him out 24/7. But bring him in daily for grooming IN the stable if you can. Just so he gets used to standing about in there as routine. Otherwise, does he have other horses next door when he's in?
 
I was going to ask if the horse had company when it needed to be in, and also going to add that a stable mirror would possibly work. I see that westygirl has already suggested that.
Works wonders as she says, makes the horse much more relaxed because they think they have company.
 
He normally comes in the same time as his friends and there is always a horse in that he can see. I don't think he is worried about being alone - as he does not mind in the winter!

Actually today he was happy in his stable being groomed and had a sleep and did not want to come out - must have had a hard night of playing last night perhaps - though I did wonder if he was ill as it is unlike him.
 
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