Fence walking..help

[Irishsportgirl]

Looking for advice on how to stop a horse from fence walking..
Have had my boy for a few months now and all he's done since he's arrived is fence walk.. (Previous owner/dealer miss-sold him to me and they've now disappeared so no help from them)..
After his first week here I put one of my other horses in with him as a companion and they get on amazingly, he stopped fence walking for a couple weeks but then started again.. He's completely ruining his fields and now got to the point others on my yard are making comments (not helpful ones)..
He has access to hay and grass, a decent amount of space and he doesnt seem to do it at particular times.. He seems to be better when he's been lunged/worked etc however the day after this he will immediately start fence walking again.. Have tried another field but he's still doing it..

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated
thanks

 

[Caol Ila]

I recommend tears, and then alcohol and bargaining with the deity of your choice. I personally went for the Giant Flying Spaghetti monster but any one will do.

On a more serious note, my fencewalker would do it relentlessly, and the only clear trigger I could identify was 'not liking the yard.' There were no characteristics about yards that were obvious (to me) that set her off, so moving was always like a game of Russian Roulette. Then there was the yard where she never walked in the summer fields, but was a fencewalking mess in their winter fields. I could never figure that one out.

Is yours just out with one horse? Would he prefer a herd?

 

[SpotsandBays]

Sorry, no help! I haven’t figured out a way to stop mine, however his is usually only food related! He does it initially in a new field for a couple of weeks, then settles. He will walk up and down if I’m “late” for hard feed/haying over winter, but mostly I catch him before then. I have however put poles along where he walks during the summer months so that if he is doing it then he’s doing good work ?

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I had a Selle Francais livery that did this, he didnt stay longer than 3 months, but I helped his owner get him into herd livery, she retired him there and he virtually stopped overnight.
He had been stabled on previous yards because of this and often only turned out for anything up to an hour. He also weaved and box walked when he arrived, but this did diminish over a month or so, probably as I have a relatively quiet yard.
He didnt just walk for hours, if upset, he would pace in trot, despite me throwing in a couple of mine, putting him in paddock by yard, anything and everything to try to stop this, nothing worked. His owner was going to pts but the herd retirement did the job.

I bought a fence runner once, not knowing. Sold him straight on as a 14hh whp with full disclosure, again he got stabled much of the time there. Never box walked tho.

I would never ever have a fence runner/walker again....

 

[Irishsportgirl]

Thanks for the responses.. He's only in with my other horse atm however has horses in all fields surrounding the one theyre currently in.. No idea how to stop him from doing it and moving yards isn't an option for me right now as the yard seems ideal apart from if that would be the reason he fence walks.. I do wonder though - are there any supplements that are worth trying? And do you guys think this is more a nervous issue for him? I know hard to say... I just worry that he's not ok in the head (then again.. I probably know the answer to that lol)..

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Do you know if he was stabled a lot? My horse won't go out in winter. I hought as soon as the weather is better and the grass is juicy he would fine going out. Seems not. Each spring he needs reintroducing back into the field otherwise he gallops round an screams. Its taken me a while to figure it out but this spring I reintroduced him slowly and it worked a treat. He is 15 so its ingrained. If he has been stabled he may need the same sort of reintroduction?

 

[Caol Ila]

You can't stop them. Mine could have horses on all sides and she would do it. She could be out with one other, and if she didn't like them, she would do it. Supplements....lol.... No chance. I tried all of them. Tried homeopathic stuff. Tried putting objects in her way. Tried reasoning with her ("Whyyyyy do you do this????? You're not happy and I'm not happy.".... didn't work, either). I tried figuring out triggers and I worked out some. She didn't like lots of other horses brought in. She didn't like wind and rain. She didn't like being out longer than she wanted to be out. But it could be random and she could kick off when none of those things were happening. The only way to stop it was to catch her and bring her in. Had a YO who thought if we waited it out, she would find out that "it didn't get her what she wanted" and stop. Uh, no buddy. That's not how these behaviours work.

Like I said in my other post, there were yards where she has never once paced. Still can't figure out why she likes some yards and not others. Just a vibe, or energy... Something horses know and we don't.

If your horse can deal with herd turnout (mine could not), I would try that. If that's not an option, I would look at moving. The yard isn't ideal if the horse is fencewalking.

It's a stereotypy. The horse is basically an alcoholic, or someone with OCD. Behavioural scientists think it's a feedback loop that can be initially attributed to early and/or traumatic weaning, where the horse tries to self-soothe by pacing, weaving, cribbing etc., and something misfires in their still-developing brain, so it becomes the thing they do when triggered by certain stressors. Next time I see a fencewalker, I'm running a mile.

 

[brighteyes]

Mine runs about screaming and trashing the place if he suddenly decides he wants 'in'. Nothing can calm him down except the appearance of me with his lead-rope and he can't get to me fast enough. We have a mare who HAS to have access to her stable at all times, even just to check it is still accessible

 

[asmp]

Just as a matter of interest do field shelters/stables make a difference? It’s a shame we don’t have set ups in the UK that I had in Germany - each stable had a turnout area attached so horse could choose to be in or out.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Just as a matter of interest do field shelters/stables make a difference? It’s a shame we don’t have set ups in the UK that I had in Germany - each stable had a turnout area attached so horse could choose to be in or out.

The 2 I had, shelters didn't help whatsoever.
It was movement of any other equines anywhere in sight that made both worse.