Fence Walker!

A

anysiagrace

New User
Joined
10 March 2009
Messages
8
Visit site
Does anyone have any ideas/help with stopping a horse from fence walking? He is currently churning my fence line up and just doesn't seem to want to stop doing it :@
 
Is he doing it all of the time or just when he thinks it's time for bed? I ask because one of mine is a tit and does this but in anticipation of a warm bed and dinner.
Firstly I'm never there at exactly the same time. Always within the same hour but I'll get them in between 15:00 and 16:00 as opposed to her being able to set her watch by me. This works fine so long as other horses don't start coming in around her.
If by some rare chance the yard staff are ahead of themselves and bringing in early then I need to basically beat them out there in order to save the field.
Know this isn't much help but it is manageable - just.
 
Depending on the weather, the time they come in varies from about half 2 - 4 most days, (hate doing it the same time day in day out). Lucky I can see his field from the house as I can watch out for when he does it, it normally starts about 3ish. So when I do go out there, it doesn't make any difference as he'll just keep doing it, regardless of the fact im walking around getting stables ready. Not sure it helps that his fence is only about 10 foot away from his stable, but cant really change that!
My other horse is as good as gold, he just stands and waits to come in!
Theres grass in the field, but obviously when he decides he wants to come in, that's it. No he doesn't have any hard feed at all.
 
Why not get him in as soon as he can see you then? Just tie him up while you get the stable ready if it will not be already done by that point.
 
because he gets in the way, as I haven't got loads of space, plus he'd get more stressed being taken out the field and made to stand infront of his stable, when he thinks he's being brought straight in.
 
Must admit I do my boxes, hay and waters in the morning so when I arrive I can bring them straight in. If mine saw me there but not fetching them I'm afraid they'd all do the wheel of death :-(
 
Well yeah I do normally try and do them in the morning, but if I don't have enough time before uni, I have to do it later on.
He's just a funny horse, he's done it during the day before. Think he just does it to annoy me sometimes 😞
 
I have no answer, but feel your pain...

I had a livery over last winter, with lovely lovely owner, but a huge horse who ran the fence at any time of the day.
He weaved when in (no rhyme or reason either). I had to ask her to leave at the end of last winter as I just could not put up with the horse any longer. He was also nasty to others if in the same field, or rug-ripped over the fence (or tried to crush them with teeth, drawing blood).
On occasions also ran in circuits round the field on a wall-of death routine.
I have HUGE gouges in both the paddocks he was in, both paddocks had 20ft wide bare barren areas all through the summer, now covered in weeds, where once these paddocks were lovely & grassy from fence to fence.
The gouges right up by the fence were over 10inches deep - these appeared over a 2 week interval!
I hope yours does not 'up the gearbox' and get quicker, perhaps you can pop him in his box when you arrive? (and do the chores in the mnorning so all is set fair when you get there in the afternoon :)

Good luck :)
 
anysiagrace said:
Well yeah I do normally try and do them in the morning, but if I don't have enough time before uni, I have to do it later on.
He's just a funny horse, he's done it during the day before. Think he just does it to annoy me sometimes 😞
Click to expand...

Oh God I do feel your pain - mine is often a tit for the sake of it! Usually when I'm short of time and its peeing it down!
 
Last edited:
Oh that's not very good!
He doesn't do it during the summer though, as they live out. Wish he could live out, but I just don't have enough space/grass for them to do this (they've pretty much got most of the field and garden already)
No he doesn't, it's just generally in walk all the time!
I always thought they learnt behaviours of others, but my other one doesn't have any bad behaviour and that's the only horse he's lived with since I got him (I've had him since he was weaned!)
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
I have no answer, but feel your pain...

I had a livery over last winter, with lovely lovely owner, but a huge horse who ran the fence at any time of the day.
He weaved when in (no rhyme or reason either). I had to ask her to leave at the end of last winter as I just could not put up with the horse any longer. He was also nasty to others if in the same field, or rug-ripped over the fence (or tried to crush them with teeth, drawing blood).
On occasions also ran in circuits round the field on a wall-of death routine.
I have HUGE gouges in both the paddocks he was in, both paddocks had 20ft wide bare barren areas all through the summer, now covered in weeds, where once these paddocks were lovely & grassy from fence to fence.
The gouges right up by the fence were over 10inches deep - these appeared over a 2 week interval!
I hope yours does not 'up the gearbox' and get quicker, perhaps you can pop him in his box when you arrive? (and do the chores in the mnorning so all is set fair when you get there in the afternoon :)

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Was that me? ;) Sorry, just kidding. My horse can't be turned out with others and can fencewalk relentlessly. We have left a couple yards due to the fact that it wasn't going to get better at those yards. No fault of the yards -- they just weren't the right yards for her. She does it when she is unhappy about something. This can include a lack of routine, for herself and others, living next door to a herd that can just "disappear" to the other side of a hill or something, and the weather (she hates the Scottish horizontal rain and wind combo). I've found her a yard with a set up and routine that suits, but I can't do anything about the weather, so there are days when she still does it. I bought her a rug with a neck, which helps a great deal but does not 100% eliminate the behaviour.

Find out what sets yours off and then see if there is anything you can do to fix it.
 
Caol Ila said:
Was that me? ;) Sorry, just kidding. My horse can't be turned out with others and can fencewalk relentlessly. We have left a couple yards due to the fact that it wasn't going to get better at those yards. No fault of the yards -- they just weren't the right yards for her. She does it when she is unhappy about something. This can include a lack of routine, for herself and others, living next door to a herd that can just "disappear" to the other side of a hill or something, and the weather (she hates the Scottish horizontal rain and wind combo). I've found her a yard with a set up and routine that suits, but I can't do anything about the weather, so there are days when she still does it. I bought her a rug with a neck, which helps a great deal but does not 100% eliminate the behaviour.

Find out what sets yours off and then see if there is anything you can do to fix it.
Click to expand...

Not unless you have been down south in the past year :p

This horse did it for no rhyme or reason - one minute grazing happily, the next doing his best impression of barrell racing, or trotting, cantering & then galloping the fenceline - despite companions, despite....nothing! Irriot horse :rolleyes3:
Really felt for his owner, since she went in May after over a year with me, he's given her even more problems in the 2 yards since. He's now out in a 7 acre+ field with a tiny pony to play (bully) with. Luckily the pony is wearing a thick rug - and can either run into thick tree area, or escape into a stable under a bar when the big horse decides he wants to play 'kill the pony' .... :(
I have no idea what she will do next, but I know what her DH wants to do with it......
 
I think it's just, when he decides the grass isn't good enough to eat anymore he knows that when he goes in, he gets his hay!
Why can't horses just be easy haha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top