difficult horses....

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I have the 'dubious pleasure' of helping look after 2 t/bred ex racers. Although they are fundementally sweet natured, their behaviour can be very challenging, and sometimes verging on dangerous.

There are 2 main areas that I have problems with:

Problem 1 : They have to be led together as panic if separated. To turn out they are generally calm, but to bring in they can be a nightmare - spooking, spinning and rearing, especially if the weather is bad and they are keen to come in. I wear a hat and gloves to lead, and can put a control halter on one and that does help, but can't use it on the other as it can't take the pressure.

Problem 2 : They trash every bit of grazing they are put in, either by galloping around and chasing each other, or by play fighting and continually rearing up at each other. I have tried separating them by electric fencing, but they then just gallop up and down the fence line instead.

They are owned by a lovely lady, but who works full time and has a lot of other commitments, meaning they are rarely excercised, which is where I imagine the problem lies. I did find a sharer for her but isn't really working out either, as again down to time limitations and the fact that the horses can only ever be ridden together.

I do loose school them when I have time, which helps, but don't get paid any exra to do so.

Can anyone think of any other ways to manage them, to make my life easier (and safer!), or should I just walk away?
 
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Only thing I can think of is keeping them in a strict routine every day of their lives so they know what they are doing and when !

If this doesnt help and you feel you are going to get hurt I am afraid I would walk away
 
Two of the race horses I work with at the moment are going this way. They are stablednext to each other, and turned out together, and generally get ridden at the same timetoo. For a couple of weeks they were stabled seperatly, and they both started to calm down, but they are sadly back next to each other for various reasons, andare getting worse. I would split them up in the stables, and persevere, its not much fun short term, but it is the only way long term. Can they be paired up with anything else to go out in the field with?
 
Thanks guys.

Meesha - I do have them in a strict regime mon - fri, but unfortunately with the changeable weather, it is keeps changing, which winds them up more. Also the arrangement is that the owner does them at the weekend so all goes to pot then anyhow.....

xaminda - My fear is that they may try the rearing/kicking thing with others, and can't risk it.
 
I know I wouldn't be happy handling that situation - one misbehaving horse is enough, but having two of them at once is, in my view, downright dangerous, not just for the handler, but for them too, if they got away from you, for example.

I got sick of my own horse at a previous yard where he was unhappy, with rearing and spinning when coming in from the field, to the point where I was frightened of him :( Happily, he loves his present home and is a pleasure to handle again :p

As to the field trashing, any horses can play and race around, so whatever you have in fields could pose a similar 'risk'.

It's the danger to me that would cause me to say walk away. You may well be more confident than me at having horse on two feet above you, but it's still a risk.

The owner may be lovely, but it doesn't sound as though she has enough time for two pretty high maintenance horses. Perhaps she should exchange both of them for one of those nice ploddy types - cob, isn't it???? :D:D
 
meaning they are rarely excercised, which is where I imagine the problem lies
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I agree. Can you work them?

As for weekend routine vs week day routine, it won't make any difference to their behaviour.

They both sound as if they need a job to do.
 
Thanks Amymay - although I am happy to ride them, unfortunately to hack they have to go together and 'ride and lead' would be out of the question. I do loose school them 2 - 3 times a week.

I was very hopeful with the sharer, but have only seen her at the yard twice in 2 mnths....
 
have you spoken to the owner about the issues? what did she say?
unless she is willing to work on it with you and make changes then i can't see a way forward and would walk away.
 
Sidney said:
Thanks Amymay - although I am happy to ride them, unfortunately to hack they have to go together and 'ride and lead' would be out of the question. I do loose school them 2 - 3 times a week.

I was very hopeful with the sharer, but have only seen her at the yard twice in 2 mnths....
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To be honest, it sounds like a pretty rubbish situation.

Are you paid to look after them?
 
Can you get them accustomed to living out? Stops the mad dash to get in for food & the racing round all the time when out. Or if that's not an option put some hay out am to keep them occupied, & again 30 mins before bringing in. If they've churned it up I imagine there isn't much to do out. And haying before coming in will keep them calm & not rushing to get in for it. That should make them safer to lead while you work on some manners, especially as you say they are fine to put out which leads me to think its hunger, rather than excess energy which makes them silly to come in.
 
Very frustrating situation - I need the money to help support my own crew, and although am not actually frightened of them, do worry that they may hurt me, or themselves.

Will have another chat with the owner tonight....I don't think the yard is the issue as they behaved like this at their previous home, hence moving them in the first place.
 
Good suggetsions littlegs, but unfortunately they don't 'do' rain or wind, and just makes them more wired.

Can't put hay out either as one will bully the other out of the way....

Sadly a case of dammned if you do, dammned if you dont....
 
If the situation is to be resolved they need to be kept apart, if You keep them together you are accepting the situation. to be honest, why does an owner with limited time keep two challenging horses..... you probably have to accept the situation, keep them to a routine and turnout 24/7 if possible.
I would make sure they had no shoes behind, and turn them out in to a big field with shelter. unless they are shivering they don't need rugs.
 
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Try 3 piles of hay very well spaced out. The more dominant may well spend the first 15mins playing musical piles, but will get bored & settle to eat.
 
Have tried numreous piles but will give it a go again- thanks.

The sad thing is that they are in the only paddock with 2ft long grass, in fact the best grass on the yard, in an attempt to protect the land and to keep them distracted....it hasn't worked though and have never seen 2 horses damage grazing so much in a short space of time. However I do appreciate the weather hasn't helped as ground is very fragile even with sensible horses..
 
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Sounds like no fun for you, owner or horses. Suggest a sharer to work them again or sell one and focus on the other. 2 OTT horses are an accident waiting to happen
 
I really think these horses need to learn to do things independently of eachother.

Starting with leading them too and from the field individually. Lead them in a bridle / chifney if neccessary. They will only be seperated for a matter of minutes but they HAVE to learn to do it. - stagger their feeding or something to keep one entertained while you take the other one if neccesary... Talking of feed - what do they get? They should be on the lowest sugar and Starch feeds possible - very plain straw chaff and high fibre cubes would be my sugestion.

In terms of turnout, they could really do with being seperated -and put in with other horses. Is this possible? Some horses just make horrendous pairings if they have a playful attitude and splitting them up is the only answer!!!

I would make these suggestions to owner and if she isn't very accepting of any of them I would terminate your arrangement with her...
 
Having worked in a job where I regularly turned out/ brought in very fit, highly strung comp horses in pairs, I would rather bring in both together. Even when they aren't inseparable friends bringing back the one that's left behind isn't something I would want to experiment with.
 
amymay said:
For two horses, you need four piles of hay, well spread out. That way there is no bullying.
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Tell that to my Radar :) He will spend all day driving anyone who isn't his special pal from one pile to another. Every pile someone else has got is the pile he wants. If they don't move, he'll kick them. I call him "a competitive eater." He's been doing it 3 years so far. He's extremely useful for barefoot horses in hard work, who need movement. He recreates exactly the "mouthful and move on" kind of grazing that horses were designed for :D

Sidney I'm another who thinks these two need to be split up. I've had a lot of ex racers and any that behaved like that (plenty!) were routinely left alone in a place where they could not hurt themselves, if necessary a stone stable with the top door shut, until they got used to the fact that life consists sometimes of being on your own. I also hacked alone, because I had no choice. They all got used to that in the end too.
 
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cptrayes said:
Tell that to my Radar :) He will spend all day driving anyone who isn't his special pal from one pile to another. Every pile someone else has got is the pile he wants. If they don't move, he'll kick them. I call him "a competitive eater." He's been doing it 3 years so far. He's extremely useful for barefoot horses in hard work, who need movement. He recreates exactly the "mouthful and move on" kind of grazing that horses were designed for :D

Sidney I'm another who thinks these two need to be split up. I've had a lot of ex racers and any that behaved like that (plenty!) were routinely left alone in a place where they could not hurt themselves, if necessary a stone stable with the top door shut, until they got used to the fact that life consists sometimes of being on your own. I also hacked alone, because I had no choice. They all got used to that in the end too.
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I agree that these two have to be separated to solve this type of thing is why I never let mine get special friends unless they are trusted to behave .
But I don't think OP should be doing this it's not her responsibility it's the owners I would however turn out 24/7 immediately a few nights in the rain will calm them a bit.
 
I have a tbx and every spring she gets like what you have just described. Obviously I only have the one so a lot easier to handle and she is not attached to another horse but the only things I have found that keeps her sane are full work (a few times a week makes her worse) and 24/7 turn out.
 
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