Door banging.... how do you stop it??

showley1

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Have a youngster on box rest who is bored silly and banging the door, anyone have any methods to stop it? She is driving me and everyone else crazy!
 

fburton

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Ignore completely - but that only stands a chance of working if everyone does so fastidiously, which is almost impossible on a livery yard. You also have to be prepared for the banging to get worse before it gets better, as the horse tries harder to get what it usually desires - attention of any kind.
 

Fiona

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A bit of thick eva mat on the inside of the door to start with.. Will dull the sound so she might get bored with it.

Do you have snackballs and turnips on ropes and all that jazz to entertain her?

Fiona
 

Enfys

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I take the door away - easy to say as they would be my own doors. Not so easy if you are at livery.

There are several things to do. In no particular order.

Put a bar up at chest height so that horse can still see over door but not bang door, this won't stop digging and isn't possible with all stable configurations.

Replace the door with bars.

Put bar/bars/grill across the top of the door so that horse cannot get head over, if he can't get his head over he can't bang the door, unless he double barrels it.

Put foam/carpet/straw filled sack on the door to deaden the noise, doesn't stop it, but less damage to horse and your nerves.

Put something prickly on the door as a deterrent.

Leave a companion in for her.

Stable toys - stuff a sack/box with hay and bits of carrot/treats etc. Ball. Slow feeder ball, throw carrots/swedes etc about. etc, etc, etc.
 

showley1

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Thanks will give a try, tried chain but she broke it so not practical on livery, she has loads of toys. What sort of stable companion could I try? A friends horse years ago had a rabbit but I would be scared would get squished
 

Landcruiser

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Is box rest the only option? Because the stress of box rest for a young horse surely has to be balanced against possible benefits. No chance of a tiny paddock or a barn or something, especially if horse can see others....?
 

poiuytrewq

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I think the companion suggestion refers more to another horse in a next door stable to be with yours rather than another animal actually in the box with the horse. Ive never heard of a horse and rabbit companion!!! Do you mean loose with the horse in the stable?
We used to use the carpet and straw thing as suggested by Enfys
 

only_me

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What about putting up a plank of wood across door instead of chain? Or using a double chain, one on inside and one on outside.

Did you have the fastenings for chain on inside or outside of stable? They should be on the inside of stable doorway wall as stronger.
 

showley1

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Yes they were till she went through it lol, wood may work though, yes the rabbit was loose in the stable was mad but the horse would not be stabled without it, she has a horse opposite but can't at the side due to wall 😕
 

Rowreach

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I do a very good job of ignoring my mare when she door bangs as I'm lying in the comfort of my bed, but it hasn't stopped her (in ten years). But the layers of carpet certainly muffle the noise.
 

Brightbay

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Have a youngster on box rest who is bored silly and banging the door, anyone have any methods to stop it? She is driving me and everyone else crazy!

The best approach is to deal with the frustration that's causing her to want to do it. So anything you can do to improve her surroundings and make them more interactive and stimulating, company, stable toys, different forages.

Once you've improved the emotional state as much as you can, then you can work on the behaviour. As Francis Burton suggests, ignoring it is the key thing. The horse believes the banging is having an effect, she believes she can control what she wants/doesn't want with the behaviour. It tends to happen because once or twice, someone has approached when she was banging, or once or twice, she was led out of the stable while banging. If, over time, nothing at all happens when she's banging, she will stop using it. As suggested, just before this happens it will get much worse (technical term is an extinction burst).

The process is faster and easier on the horse (and humans) if you combine the ignoring with rewarding other behaviours. Catch her doing anything other than banging, and reward it. Catch her standing quietly, reward. Catch her eating a haynet, reward. Only approach her stable if she's quiet, and if you need to do a little one step forward two steps back, so be it. Do it consistently, and you will have a horse who has learned for life that being calm and quiet in the stable gets good things to happen and banging doesn't - when you do this, her need to bang will disappear.

If, on the other hand, you go down the route of punishing the banging (spiky things on the door, water spray) remember that you need to punish every single time, or it won't work - so if she does it when you're not around, it won't work. Similarly, the punishment reduces the behaviour (if you manage to do it every single time) but not the horse's reason for doing it, so typically people find the horse finds another thing to do to express the frustration. That's when you get the quiet head nodders, the weavers, the ones running their teeth along the stable bars...

On balance, the ignore unwanted/reward desired behaviour approach has better long term results.
 

flirtygerty

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my lad is a door banger, tried the deadening trick and putting a bar across and leaving door open, being an accomplished escape artist, it didn't take him long to learn how to get his neck under it and slide it along.
Was sorely tempted to try a water pistol to squirt him every time he banged the door.
We also used to find the chickens in the stables sound asleep in the corners, while the horse was in
 

ShadowHunter

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Mine did this. Depending on what they are doing it for changes how you deal with it. Whenever mine did it i would do a loud, deep growl and wave a hand in the air towards her general direction. Took a few weeks but she never does it now.
 

YasandCrystal

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Quitkick without a doubt is a brilliant device. My advice is do not ignore this horrible habit, my little mare has aggressive ringbone in one fetlock caused by door banging.
 

showley1

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Never heard of a quit kick will look it up, unfortunately box rest is what vet has suggested due to a nasty accident in the field and although she is now healing nicely the fields are just bogs so too much risk to turn her out, she has a treat ball, lickits things hidden in her hay, am deffo going to try a box filled with hay and goodies, has anyone any experience with those horse activity centres?
 

ILuvCowparsely

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Have a youngster on box rest who is bored silly and banging the door, anyone have any methods to stop it? She is driving me and everyone else crazy!

My new mare does it or did it badly

ignoring did not work as she got worst, there is rubber inside the door so that did not work. Slip rails can work if positioned correctly but did not work for my boy.

I brought quitkick and my mare almost hardly does it so brought a 2nd for the boy. Chain works diagonally across the entrance too

http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/horses-on-box-rest.html

http://www.quitkick.com/
 

ILuvCowparsely

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for those who does see website here it is Op


Ideas for box rest

(l) stands for ok for Laminitis horses

leave a radio on (l)
float apples in water buckets
get a treat ball
hang vegetables and fruit in a home made mobile
dot treats round the stable on ledges etc for the horse to find
put likits in
boredom breaker
stable mirror (l)
put hay into a small holed haynet or hayrack
hide treats in the hay / haylage for horse to find
dog pulls can amuse some horses (l)
hang a small bottle of water on a string by the door for horse to play with (l)
put some apple juice into manger for horse to drink
put a football or horse ball in stable (l)
give the horse lunch time scoop of ready grass ( something to look forward to )
cut some fresh grass and put on the floor for him to eat
cut some dandelions and put in stable.
if you can cut some nettles and when dry put in stable.
dot some licorice around the stable the strong smell will keep him amused.
put some crushed polo's into a bottle with a screw top make a few holes in it so smell comes out
hang some wind chimes near his stable. (l)
have the owner make a cd/ cassette of his voice ( reciting a poem etc ) (l)
cut a horse friendly small branch for horse to chew on
get a small water feature, the sound of running water calms horses (l)
if at all possible try grazing or turning horses friend out in paddock where box rest horse can see him. (l)
put some clear apple juice in his water to make his drink tasty and to make sure he is keeping fluids up
hang a familiar rug over his door like his best friends or girl friend to make him for relaxed (l)
hang a Scandinavian salt block up
put a window in the back of the stable if they are due for long term box rest
Put a football in its stable
two haynets each side of stable so he can wander between them both
Have a visiting masseuse treat him weekly or once a month
Sedaline - a mild amount to keep the edge off
Get a small handfull of hay twist it both ends opposite way so like a long sausage, once its twisted as much as you can make a knot in it and pull tight, the horse will chuck it around and spin it around giving fun times.
fill a haynet and bury fruit within the hay net
 

Cinnamontoast

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Mine kicks occasionally. I can't put up a chain, he limbos under and goes walkies. If he has food or a treat ball, there is zero kicking. He just wants my attention: if he can see me, I should obviously be stroking him and I definitely can't talk to other horses. :rolleyes3:
 

JillA

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It's often attention seeking. Not a box rester, but one elderly mare on my yard had it off to a fine art, especially when her feed was being mixed, - until I gave her the attention she didn't want. I ran at her door, making myself as big and noisy as I could, growing and screaming. She retired to the back of her box and hasn't done it again.
 

Lark

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Quit kick or water gun that has a good spray reach so that you can do it without them seeing you.
Water IME has been the best deterrent. Just be careful they do not throw their head up and hit it the first time. Put a pollguard on if concerned.
 

madlady

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I've only ever had one serial door kicker and we did manage to stop him eventually.

We took off the bottom half of the door so there was nothing for him to bang - my OH made the door and we asked YO permission (we were on livery yard at the time) it took a couple of weeks and he would still occasionally paw at the ground but because his door didn't make the nice noise anymore he stopped :)
 

oldie48

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I had a horse that banged at feed time and stopped him completely by giving him a squirt of water when he banged. I'm not sure how it would work with a horse on box rest but I'd probably give it a try. My approach was to have the water pistol filled and handy and if the horse banged I gave him a squirt but didn't speak to him or acknowledge him in any way. When he was quiet I'd speak to him, he only got fed when he was quiet and back from the door. He was a very clever horse and got the message very quickly indeed.
Quit kick or water gun that has a good spray reach so that you can do it without them seeing you.
Water IME has been the best deterrent. Just be careful they do not throw their head up and hit it the first time. Put a pollguard on if concerned.
 

Lark

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I had a horse that banged at feed time and stopped him completely by giving him a squirt of water when he banged. I'm not sure how it would work with a horse on box rest but I'd probably give it a try. My approach was to have the water pistol filled and handy and if the horse banged I gave him a squirt but didn't speak to him or acknowledge him in any way. When he was quiet I'd speak to him, he only got fed when he was quiet and back from the door. He was a very clever horse and got the message very quickly indeed.

Yes exactly :) water squirt always on hand and ready to go :)
 

Peter7917

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Going to get shot down sooooo badly

I used to have one that kicked the door. I sat round the corner with a bucket of water and a tonne of sponges. You get the jist....
 
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