chewing stall boards..

[Brandie]

My horse is a wood chewer in his stall. I had 3 horses and in Dec. I had to put my oldest horse down and so I have 3 stalls (one now vacant). My youngest horse who is 3 years old was in the furthest stall my oldest (calmest now deceased) in the middle stall and my second oldest now 24 years old in the next stall.

I thought I would put my youngest horse into the stall beside my oldest horse so they would be company together as they are not turned out together although can see one another no problem in their turnouts.

Now my youngest horse has chewed every piece of available wood and it is a mess in 1 1/2 months (not to mention the financial damage ) So i hot sauced all of the edges of the wood that he was able to chew, this has slowed it down a lot! but he's still trying so today I have moved him back to his original stall hoping he'll be happier.

I am hoping someone has some suggestions on how to manage this problem I did notice he'd chewed his original stall as well just no where near what's happened in this latest stall.
I have bought all sorts of toys on the ground, hanging from cross boards, milk jugs to chew ( he loves those it seems).

Thank you to anyone who may have more suggestions for me.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Have you tried Cribox ?

 

[Brandie]

what is that ?( so i guess no )

 

[Barton Bounty]

Its a really mingy thing to put on wood to discourage

https://amzn.eu/d/iUB5mLL

 

[Brandie]

thank you i looked it up on Amazon, some great reviews!! I've ordered it

 

[Barton Bounty]

thank you i looked it up on Amazon, some great reviews!! I've ordered it

I got it as I have a 3 yo who has new teeth coming in. So anything to stop a habit before it starts lol

I got a jolly apple for him, and the stable toy three in one , best place for toys for then is treehouse online. Great prices

 

[Brandie]

Thank you!!

 

[ycbm]

In a horse that age it's likely to be teething, but it can also be boredom (how long is he in the stable? ) and lack of fibre (what's his diet? ).
.

 

[Arzada]

I thought I would put my youngest horse into the stall beside my oldest horse so they would be company together as they are not turned out together although can see one another no problem in their turnouts.

Why don't you turn them out together?

 

[Brandie]

I don't turn them out together because my oldest is very dominant and i fear he will hurt him. In the past i tried with my other one who was just put down and he got hurt every year i would try again until finally he had gotten a kick to his throat ( left a dent ) and he quit challenging him and i could put them out together.

My young one is very in-your-face type so not only do i not want him hurt but vet bills are real and I've had my fill in the past few years. with my old horse and his health. I would love to put them together we are trying over the fence during cleaning time so i can keep an eye on how high the energy is getting. maybe this summer.

Regarding time in the stable, I'm a huge believer in outdoors as much as possible so some days are long because we've had heavy rain but most day's do to short day's they have been in from 5 pm until 8 am and as the weather changes they will stay out longer and longer. Just recently i've been shooting for 6pm and as it warms up i won't bring them in until 8 pm. Over the summer they'll stay out.

 

[ycbm]

It's good that he can always see another horse, at least he isn't totally isolated. It will be even better if you can get them in a situation where they can touch over the fence if they want. I understand the issues of a horse that damages others, I've had a couple of those over the years.

It does sound like a teething issue but I'd also look at fibre content of your forage. Is he fed ad lib hay?
.

 

[Brandie]

I was keeping hay in frot of him 24/7 then my vet was here 2 days ago and said he need to lose weight so now I'm cutting that back a lot

 

[ycbm]

Can you replace hay with chopped straw?
.

 

[Brandie]

I suppose i could, do you get this at feed stores?

 

[ycbm]

Yes, the most commercially available one is Honeychop if you are in the UK, but be sure to get the plain straw.

I have also successfully fed baled rye and wheat straw in the past but with a teething horse I might be worried it won't be chewed enough and could cause an obstruction.
.

 

[AppyLover1996]

Cribox is insanely fab stuff - my friend has an Arab who likes to sample everything he can get his adorable face near, and the stuff is so effective, she now only has to show him the bottle to deter him

 

[Highmileagecob]

If painting nasty stuff on the boards doesn't work, you may have to cover the top of the board with a strip of metal. We have a 3yo who moved onto our yard at the end of summer, who is systematically eating the fence. We dip an old dandy brush in the mud and muck and brush it on the top rail.

 

[Brandie]

Cribox is insanely fab stuff - my friend has an Arab who likes to sample everything he can get his adorable face near, and the stuff is so effective, she now only has to show him the bottle to deter him

I can't wait to get mine, should be here in a couple of days. So far Hot sauce and toy's are helping a lot, but I'm going through a bottle a night.