Bargy Hirse!

[Kath0711]

Hi guys,

i have recently purchased a 17hh 5yro TB. He was originally trained on a racing yard but never raced. For his age and breed he is very well behaved and I have only had 2 issues with him.

The main problem I have is when he is in on his own. He lives out 24/7 and is only in for a short period each day. When my other horses are in he is calm and quiet and doesn't move a muscle when groomed/rugged up etc. however when he is in on his own he is a nightmare! He runs around the stable and literally through me as if I'm not there! He never kicks but he doesn't listen to me and a head collar doesn't control him.

I have a be-nice halter which he responds to well and when he pulls and pressure is increased he will stop in his tracks and turn back to face me. This however is hard when putting on/taking off boots and putting rugs on as with the lead rope attached to it he just follows me around!

Has as anyone got any ideas how I can reduce his anxiety and get him to stand still when he's on his own as he takes no notice of anything else and I would like to not have to use the halter. He is perfect to lead etc so the halter would be pointless used out of the stable.

any suggestions would be great! Thanks! Xxx[/SI

Ps. Sorry for spelling error in title!

 

[EffyCorsten]

He has no confidence when alone, you need to either have another horse near him for company when he is stabled or work on building it slowly and carefully. how is he when out hacking alone? For starters I would be careful and take of his head collar in the stable. If he is box walking the likely hood of getting it caught and breaking his neck is pretty high.

For now I would not stable him alone it's dangerous, especially for you.

 

[Kath0711]

I personally haven't hacked him out yet but his previous owner did all the time. I have two other horses that I bring with him usually but I don't always have time to do all 3 together and break it up during the day. He's a very confident horse and today I noticed his new 'girlfriend' kept calling him so maybe that's what's winding him up? X

 

[L&M]

I imagine that if he has come from a racing yard, he has always had lots of other horses around him, whether on the yard or when being excercised.

It sounds like he suffers from separation activity, and would be very interested to know what he will be like when you try to hack out alone, and just hope the previous owners have been honest with you as these issues often carry through to hacking alone.

There are lots of things you can do to help separation anxiety if you google, such as enforced separation for a few mins each day, then increasing it as the horse settles. However I would be leaning towards getting some professional help, especially because he is a big boy!

 

[oldie48]

Having had a horse that suffered with separation anxiety, I'd encourage you to get help and try to manage it so it doesn't escalate. One of my horses was the perfect gent in company both to ride and handle but when towards the end of our first year together we moved to our own small yard, he teamed up with my horse to the extent that he became so panicky when on his own that he was dangerous. I soon lost my confidence, which of course made him worse! I realised that I was out of my depth and sold him on to someone who was going to keep him on full livery at a fairly large yard run by professionals. I've seen him twice since then once doing a pairs hunter trial and once out hunting. Thank goodness he looked as happy as Larry but his new owner says they solved the problem by always avoiding having him on his own. Good luck with your boy and I hope you nip it in the bud!

 

[littetreatsrio]

I have a similar situation with my boy, but he's a bit smaller at 15'1! I have managed to hack him out on his own, and he did settle eventually but it took him a good 30 minutes for 5 minutes of relaxed walking before he got a bit anxious again. It's all about small steps, a few minutes a day working on something then take him back to where he is more comfortable. This is what I'm hoping with mine anyway! Even if it takes a few times to see an improvement, it's better than worrying about being crushed in a stable. I have also found that even when you are out poo picking in the field, some groundwork is helpful - I usually try to pick feet and get him to move either back or sideways when asked to try and encourage some manners... Good luck!