At my wits end and really need some help,someone please help me....

blacksabbeth

blacksabbeth

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Basically i have both my horses on my friends yard which is beautiful and everything i could ever ask for and my mare is very happy at this yard as it only has 5 horses altogether on it which are mine my friend and my friends mum,i am in the middle of moving houses so everything is a bit crazy and upside down,anyway i will get to the point....my gelding a few months ago kept jumping over the fence into another paddock which wasnt so much of a problem but i had constant worry as i was panicking about him breaking fences and injurying himself and a ripped rug later he just stopped there was plenty of hrass either side of the fence and he had his dinner like usual and this was in the summer.Tonight my friend phoned me as he had jumped over the fence in to a neighbours garden which led on to a private road and then on to a main road,my poor friends mum was trying to catch him for 10 mins as he was being a sod which he hasnt done before,so she put him in for me tonight with my mare who was also out and going dollaly,he had plenty of hay breakfast and had his dinner 2 mins before he did it.i am going to run electric fencing along the whole fence line now and hope it works,hes a good doer being a cob but has little grass out in the field as the other paddock is resting.I am worried sick and going up tomo to sort it out but im worried that if he does it even when the electric fence is on i just dont know what to do!my friend likes to keep her horses in at night and my two come in every so often as my mare is very stressy in a stable and he stays out to keep her company.i hope this all makes sense and thanx so much for any replies!!but please someone help as i am at my wits end.xxhot choccy for anyone who got this far.xx
 
breath hun!

Get your electric fence up tomorrow - see how it goes. Ours are always breaking out if there is no electric fencing, but are good as gold with it there! If he still jumps over (try getting the higher posts) put another strand of elec fencing about 3-4' from the other one - so its very wide to jump.

If not, it may be best to bring them all in as a herd perhaps? Could you give your mare a calmer if it comes to this?

Don't worry - I'm sure the elec fence will sort it.
 
Bring them both in....she may be stressy in a stable but at least both of them are safe!My lad used to hate normal stables,he used to run backwards and forwards at the stable door,the lady knocked a hole through the breezeblock wall and put up a grill so he could see his neighbour and he settled!He is now living in a barn system,has been for 4 yrs and is a completely different horse...i can now actually bring him in on his own in his stable and tack him up without him going nutts!
I think i would rather the mare stress a little than anything else tbh :) x
 
Queuing up for hot choccie! - could I have mine iced as it is very hot in NZ at the mo.

If you can run some as an outrigger in front of the fence - at fence top height, then another a foot above the current fence. That should stop the cheeky chap from leaving - hope you like show jumping as he sounds as if he could be rather good at it.

I had a youngster some years ago that would get out no matter where I put him, kept making the fence higher with electric tape - eventually caught him in action - he was a limbo horse, he'd get under the fence. Sorted him out by putting a wire low down.

If he ignores the electric fence hang a piece of metal chain link from the front strap to below the front of his cover - helps get the zap through.
 
sorry for your issues, but with aherd of 5 i think you need a routine. all in or all out! over night! for the next 10 weeks til dr green arrives!
 
PMSL..sorry but the words 'cob' and little grass' don't go together. I do sympathise, as my cob thinks the same way. 'Not enough grass ? I'll get some myself'. He has been known to boot open a 5 bar gate with his chest and lead a mass breakout. Never goes far, gets distracted by the grass outside the gate.

Hopefully, the electric fencing will keep your lad in, failing that, some soaked hay in the field ?
 
Have you tried putting a high electric post inner fence about 1 meter inside the standard fence so that he will find it harder to judge the distance. If putting electric on the main fence doesnt work this would be my next step. Do have to agree with the others though I would be trying to get your mare used to coming in so they both could. For me its not just for him Im terrible for thinking of the worst things that can happen (Ive got a terribly accident prone bunch) and if she had to come in on box rest for any reason (I hope she never does) but imagine how much more stressful it would be for her then if she doesnt like stables when shes healthy and happy.

Ive got a mare who when she came hated being in especially on her own. We started bringing her in with another pony and giving them a feed and then turning her straight back out and gradually built it up to the point where she was stood in all day with a friend (always with food). The next step was to give her a feed while I put her friend out first and then built that up and she will now come in first last in the middle on her own with a friend and will even stand in on her own overnight. Not long after she started to settle she got laminitis (Shes now been diagnosed with Cushings) and had to go onto 6 weeks box rest and she was perfectly happy. I didnt use calmers or anything like that just time and perseverence. In a lot of cases its because they just arent used to it or have had a bad experience but if you can make it a good thing with lots of food and grooming and tlc they do come round and makes your life so much easier.
 
I would try with the electric fencing - nice and high or set a couple of metres in from the fence. Make sure it has some good voltage going through though - sounds like the little man needs to learn a fence means that's where your grass limit ends!! Lol

I know what you mean re your mare and you shouldn't have to bring them all in - e have two in at night and the other 3 stay out 24/7 and we don't have any issues. We used to have an old horse who hated being stabled. He had to be once as he cut his leg badly - we stabled him with his best mate (the donkey) I think actually in the same stable. We came down in the morning and horse and donkey were out of the stable and stood waiting for us at the gate. Stable door bolted shut still. Had he jumped over? Nope, he had got that stressed and must have slammed himself against the back wall as he had pushed the whole back wall (wooden) of two stables out and got our that way.

Needless to say we left him out with his injury after that!
 
I completely sympathise with you. My Pony is a field hopper. Last week i put up the tall fence posts (I think 4ft6 ish) and he cleared that too.

As others have suggested i have put double fencing up so that its at a distance too far apart for him to clear but not big enough for him to jump into the gap. So far this has worked but i had not taken into account the front section of the field until this morning he jumped the gate and hopped up the bank to the Stallions field!!! So more double fencing has been put up. No phone calls as of yet to say he's jumped out again.

It is a huge worry, but so far (touch wood) the double fencing has worked for my little monster. Fingers crossed it'll work for you. Only thing is it becomes quite expensive buying all this fencing but def worth it to keep them safe.

xxx
 
The solution is to re-fence with longer (5 feet above ground level) fence posts (deer fencing posts). I would use Equi-fencing which is a tight knit form of sheep fencing which prevents their hooves going through it.
The other thing you kneed to do is to ensure that you have 'third party liability insurance to the level of no less than £10,000,000' as you are responsible for any accidents that your horse causes even if it is not your fault. Not all policies provide insurance to this level. (BHS Gold Members get it included with their membership).
 
I'd extend the height of the fence using electric fencing rather than the depth.

Another idea... could your gelding come in for the day when your friends horses are out to keep your mare company? that way he has a bit of a routine to his day... I'm sure part of the problem is boredom...
 
Ditto an inner fence line of electric tape, careful he doesnt bounce it though. failing this you could get the cheap shorter (sheep/pony) eletric fence posts, drill a hole in the top of your wooden fence posts and slot the point of the plastic post in then run your tape through.
 
Ditto the electric fence a meter or so in from the outer fence. Stick him out rugless for a bit and let him get a good zap. Give him hay when the other come in at night if you cant bring yours in too and hopefully he'll give up wanting to escape!
 
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