Door banging

[doodle]

I might give that a go tonight!

Just remember they are there when you go in!!

 

[Auslander]

Water pistol

Tried that - and it worked beautifully, which is why I think the Quitkick will be the solution! I had to start squirting from the far side of the yard though, and it freaked out all the other well behaved ones!

 

[Auslander]

Just remember they are there when you go in!!

Very good point!

 

[CouldItBe]

Tried that - and it worked beautifully, which is why I think the Quitkick will be the solution! I had to start squirting from the far side of the yard though, and it freaked out all the other well behaved ones!

Oh bugger, we have one on our yard that kicks constantly, the owner won’t pay out for a QuitKick and we have tried everything else, matts on the door, opening the door, hobbling, cross tying and the only thing that’s worked is the water pistol, he’s on an end stable so the others aren’t affected by us squirting him

 

[dorsetladette]

That's exactly how I'm planning to broach the subject! I had a long hard think while I was mucking out, and I'm just not prepared to budge on this one. It's the fact that it's affecting another horse, who has blossomed into a happy, settled creature since he moved here that is bugging me the most. I have a waiting list, so I can easily fill the stable if he decides he doesn't want the problem sorted!

I'd make sure you use all the points you've mentioned above. Their horses behaviour is affecting other horses on the yard who were happy and settled before its arrival. It either gets fixed or the only other option is to find alternative livery. Maybe sugar coat it a little. Although that didn't get me anywhere with my terrible livery. The video on the quitkick website shows how effectively and quickly it works, maybe show them that and say 'your horse is super intelligent so will cotton on quickly, it may only take 1 squirt!'

Good luck x

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

Hose pipe! Mine hammers his when he hears me making his tea & I have to damp it & mix it up by the hose, if he starts he gets a flick of water & packs it in then. It's taken a while but he's getting better!

 

[cobsandbassets]

Robins buddy gets his 2 water trugs directly in front in the door. This stops it completely. He can’t get close enough to kick and if he tries he gets wet. He has only knocked buckets over once or twice.

Fantastic idea! I'm going to try this tonight. My boy is an absolute bugger for kicking the door.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I do think this is one of those where ignoring has limited effect because it's a frustration behaviour and kind of self-rewarding. So it's either reduce frustration or punish the behaviour I think. I'm pretty fluffy bunny. I would prefer a reduce frustration model but could be persuaded by effective, well-timed punishment such as the Quitkick simply because it's a something of a welfare issue both for the kicker and for the other horses.

I think water buckets in front of the door might actually be really effective.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

I have 3 kickers due to them always being on diets and dispite feeding hay every 4 hours in hay pillows etc they are always convinced they are starving. Also the feedroom and hay steamer are in the horses eyelines so when making up feed or haynets they can see. We limit this as much as possible by making up feeds and nets in advance but it's not always possible ?

Loving the idea of the quitkick, price is a bit eek but suppose if could move it round so all ponies can learn from it might be worth it ?

 

[DabDab]

Last really bad door banger that I had any kind of responsibility for, the only thing I found that worked was using an extension of the training it sounds like you were already doing with this one. Instead of just waiting for him to stop banging I would wait for it to stop and then take a clear step back, then after a few days I would wait for two steps back (giving the command 'back', which he did broadly understand from general groundwork stuff), then a few days later wait for 3 steps back and so on until he was reversing to the back of his stable before getting his feed. After a week or so of being sent to the back of his stable each time he just took to standing at the back of his stable to wait for his feed and so the feed-related banging stopped completely. He would still bang on the odd occasion at other exciting times, but it was so minor an to not really be worth worrying about.

 

[Translationsneeded1]

I completely got one of mine out of it by using the hose pipe. Only took a couple of days. I feel your pain tho, a livery has a door kicker and they won’t entertain any intervention that might cause discomfort. She just gets attention when she kicks ?. Funnily enough she only does it when the owner is around!

 

[White Horse2]

When I was able to feed mine, he never kicked when yard staff fed others. When my work changed and yard staff had to feed, he started kicking, they're very clever

 

[jhoward]

Years ago I worked on a gypos yard, we had a colt that banged like hell.
It wasn't a knock it was a stand bank and trash any wooden panel.

Boss ran electric fencing all around the stable at chest height.....colt stopped banging.

 

[Sagamoon]

The only think works with mine is filling a couple of the rectangular sheep supplement buckets with water and putting them inside her door

 

[COldNag]

Quitkick is expensive, but it does work.

 

[ycbm]

I can understand why the Quitkick works. I once cured a traveller who pawed so much he hurt himself by squirting him with a pump-up water pistol every time he did it.
.

 

[Auslander]

Success this morning. I released a warning shot across her bows with the water pistol, and then (this may be the key!) I lobbed the water pistol on the ground in front of her stable while I went to get the feeds. She put her head back over the door to recommence banging, saw the water pistol on the floor, and beat a hasty retreat!

 

[DabDab]

Haha, she sounds smart.

 

[Leah3horses]

One of the quickest and easiest solutions is to attach an old tyre to the door where she kicks it. 2 if there's room, side by side, so all she kicks is rubber. Did this with my boy. Deadens the sound, protects their legs, and because they don't get the reactions from people , it reduces the kicking in time.

 

[laura_nash]

A grille is one of the options, although she still bangs with the top door closed - she is VERY determined!
It's very frustrating, as she seemed to have cottoned on that nothing good happened til she stopped, and was great for a few days, but she has now redoubled her banging efforts!

Based on this comment I would just keep doing what you have been doing for a bit longer, it sounds like you could well be seeing an extinction burst (https://hippologic.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/re-train-horses/) where she is desperately trying to get the previous response with increasing the behaviour, hopefully just prior to giving up again.

 

[Auslander]

Haha, she sounds smart.

Cob - too bloody smart - she's got her owner exactly where she wants him, and she's currently trying to figure out how to get one over on me!

 

[Auslander]

Robins buddy gets his 2 water trugs directly in front in the door. This stops it completely. He can’t get close enough to kick and if he tries he gets wet. He has only knocked buckets over once or twice.

Bloomin genius! She booted the door, got the bucket instead, sent a tidal wave all over the floor and her legs, and stood quiet as a mouse while I made the feeds up!

 

[doodle]

Result!!

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

I once cured a traveller who pawed so much he hurt himself by squirting him with a pump-up water pistol every time he did it.
.

Might try this next time they offer to tarmac my drive .

 

[luckyoldme]

So I know a lot more about babies than horses (!) but with stubborn babies/toddlers the standard pattern is that you make some slow progress and then there's ALWAYS a period where the behaviour reverts back to even worse than it was. But if you stay consistent then it does improve again, and usually in a more permanent way.

But I'm talking about keeping toddlers in their own bed, or stopping them biting etc. I've got absolutely no idea if it's remotely similar for horses!

Omg.
Where were you 28 years ago ?
?

 

[Sven]

Similar to carpet is a couple of cheap spiky door mats nailed to the door. They won't hurt her but they certainly won't be comfortable to bang against, it muffles the noise as well
You can pick them up easiliy and usually rubber backed so easy to nail up

This worked for my old horse. Perhaps combine the stuffed carpet idea overlaid with coconut matting

 

[luckyoldme]

Love that buckets in front of the door idea..isnt it amazing when the answer is found in one thread.
Years ago I can remember watching an owner turn her horse i to a commited door kicker.
Every time he kicked the door she went running over with a treat !

 

[Auslander]

Love that buckets in front of the door idea..isnt it amazing when the answer is found in one thread.
Years ago I can remember watching an owner turn her horse i to a commited door kicker.
Every time he kicked the door she went running over with a treat !

I@m no getting mega excited until tomorrow morning. She's smart enough that it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if she drank both buckets, and stuck two fingers up at me!

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I@m no getting mega excited until tomorrow morning. She's smart enough that it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if she drank both buckets, stamped on them and threw them over the door, and stuck two fingers up at me!

Corrected for you ?

 

[Auslander]

We have downgraded from banging to scraping. I shall be digging out a spare rubber mat today!