behavioural tips desperately needed pls!!

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jtam78

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Hi, i really need some help!! somebody somewhere must have experienced or is experiencing a similar problem!
I have a 15hh ID x Welsh D 8 yrs old gelding, lives out May to Oct and stabled throughout the winter with turnout for approx 1 hour a day. During the summer months he is the best horse ever, lovely to ride, catch, groom, box....etc. However once he is in after a couple of months he turns into a total nightmare to ride. Walkand trot fine, as soon as you ask for canter he throws a complete tantrum. Stops dead, leaps in the air, bucks and rears! This is my 3rd winter with him and nothing changes! other than his tantrums he`s a very loving horse, well mannered in the stable, never kicksor bitesn like to lick faces!!! The obvious answer i know is turnout all yr round but not an option at the yard.Does anyone have any ideas how i can combat this behaviour....normal discipline has no effect whatsoever!!!???? pls help :(
 
Is there no way you can move to a yard with more turnout even if you have to travel further? My horse has been mental (for him) this week and it hasn't been very enjoyable I think if I knew he was going to be like it every winter I would do everything in my power to prevent it which with your horse sounds like he simply needs more turnout.

If it really is not an option due to the area (I know in some areas no yards have winter turnout) can you lunge him before you ride? This is what I am currently doing with my horse as recommended by my RI and I am hoping it will take the edge off him!
 
How often are you riding him? if he only gets 1 hour out daily he is probably just fresh, he will be lacking in exercise as the chances are he will spend most of that hour trying to eat the grass. The other possibilities are he gets tight in his back and by asking for canter he feels more uncomfortable, he is getting ulcers from lack of turnout and again the more you do the worse he feels.

I prefer to turnout for more time on less days with proper exercise on the in days than just 1 hour daily, this is what I have been doing and mine are still being sensible and settled in their work and routine.
 
Move yards! if I was banged up in a stable for 23hrs a day I'd be doing more than being a bit daft. How much feed is he having too? Could you exercise him twice a day, if you know its an obvious answer to turn out more, why not try to.
 
I think Palerider is right, what are feeding? My girl goes loopy if in and on hayledge. Do you feed this in Winter and not summer? If not, do you feed any hard feed that could cause it? At 6 my horse is still young and bubbling with energy, as it is, if she only got a hour out per day, she'd be bananas. I'd lunge at least 20 mins to get the buckaroo show over before I even considered getting on.
 
Look carefully at his feed, remove anything which could be making him silly, including haylage and look round for a yard where he can have more turnout, would be my advice. While he is at your current yard, he needs to be able to eat ad-lib, so you probably need to feed him the lowest calorie feeds that you can.
 
Sounds like he has too much energy, obviously if you could get more turn out you would, so you need to feed him as much as he wants, without it being too rich and heating him up. On top of that he needs as much exercise as he can get, lots of hacking would be my choice. If he's just on soaked hay or haylage, and no hard feed that may make him more managable through the winter.
 
thank u for ur tips! he`s not on any hard feed as i feel this couldmake it worse, he has a running supply of hayledge daily. if i just had him moving yards would b easier but i have 3 horses n not many yards tend to have space for 3. also in our area the facilities available throughout the yr (other than lack of winter turnout) are fab. i have just started to lunge a couple of times a wk and he`s usually rode 3-4 times a wk....however after 2days anticsi intend to increase his workload!!!!

he has done very well this yr as they were actually brought in early for the winter due to the poor weather and condition of the field. he has actually been in since sept and only started this behaviour (this time) 2 wks ago.usually its within 6 - 8wksof stabling.
 
I think you've answered your own question - he simply needs more turnout. Calling it a behavioural issue suggests he has a problem - he doesn't, he's just a horse, & being cooped up for 23 hours of the day isn't natural for him.

Difficult one for you, being in the situation already, & having 3 to consider, but if he's like that year on year, that gives you plenty time to look for an alternative. I don't think superb facilities take priority over a horse who is relaxed & settled in his work (like he obviously is when he's getting enough turnout).

So, I'm afraid if he has to put up with only getting turned out for an hour a day, you have to put up with his high jinks! Personally, i wouldn't even consider a yard which offered so little turnout (although i know it's not unusual) & if i had no choice, i'd probably just not take on the horse in the first place.


*runs off donning tin hat*
 
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When I was in Ireland and had to stable (my horses are out all year in NZ) I would let my go go loose in the arena for a bit and let him do his thing. He was loose not on a lunge as he can do what he likes buck rear etc when I am not controlling him but I expect them to behave on a lunge under saddle etc.

Seemed to work well. Sometimes he needed a chase round and he would come into me when he was done and ready for work and this was a 3 year old I was breaking.
 
I have only read the first post.....so op what do you think your horse is trying to tell you? It couldn't possibly be that he prefers to be turned out 24/7/52?????? Or that whatever you feed him while he is stabled makes him hyperactive????
 
My Welsh D would be unrideable and unmanageable with 1 hour turnout per day. Your answer lies in the turnout situation and there are no real ways to tackle it other than at the root cause...lack of turnout. You will do your horse no good in the long run if he/she so clearly changes behaviour when stabled and you carry on doing it. Think I would be looking at my options regardless of the other nice facilities the yard has.
 
1 hour turnout is not enough it obviously sounds like that's what he's trying to tell you. If you want to stay at the yard where you're at then you could do with upping his exercise.
 
keeping horses is all about providing what they need within the parameters of what is possible, but if what you can provide really does not suit your horse then you have to find someone who can provide what they need, can you put him on loan to somewhere he can get proper amounts of turn out daily. i am sorry but it never ceases to amaze me that we shut them in a box for 23hrs a day then still expect them to behave when they come out-i would go mad shut in my room for that length of time each day
 
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