Freddie and his stable arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh HELP

Devonshire dumpling

Devonshire dumpling

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All summer we got him used to his stable (he's 2.5yrs now) he likes it, knows its a nice food orientated place but felt if we left him, he would come out over the door, as soon as we went, he would fidget and do little bunnyhops, so we put a grill up, full grill!

Yesterday we put mesh up, and gave him some food and we even got him a stable mirror, he was fine until he finished his food, then started playing with the mirror, literally climbing up and attempting to play with it, so today we removed mirror and popped him in, fine until he finished his grub, then the rearing and wall bashing started, he literally stood on hinds and bashed the walls with his front hooves, this went on for 10 mins and he eventually settled for a few moments so we got him out (got him out when well behaved rather than whilst he was rearing) took him out for a little walk and praise and shoved him back in, and off he went again, rearing and trying to climb out!

The set up his he stays in the field with his 2 elderly friends and they are in across the yard, he can see them well with no grill up, but with grill can just about see one of them. He is literally having a tantrum as the min you enter his stable he is safe and settles. There is a risk of him pushing the whole of the front wall out as he his fair pounding it and knocking on 16hh of heavy cob.
I took myself away as I was anxious, and husband stayed and made sure he wasn't hurt, but he feels he will settle eventually.
Does anyone have any tips, whatsoever?
He is to be a hunter and would like him stabled overnight when he is a big boy, also I think it's important he does learn as one day he may need to be hospitalised or something similar! X
 
Although he can see the others are there any next door either side to him? If not that could be the problem? Or barn with another? I think putting on his own and shutting him up is not such a good idea, he clearly wants to get back to his herd.
 
How awful for you. Is there no way he could be stabled next to another horse? Best setups I find for horses that are anxious when in their stable is next to others with talk bars inbetween. I would not expect a youngster to settle being the only horse in and across the yard from others. Not in a million years. I think he's just terrified.
 
A lot of people just shut the top door and leave the horse to settle, yes some freak out, but they do calm down.
But, In your case (having the grill in place), it might be best just doing this - put him in, walk away and leave him for an hour or so. Don't let him know your back if you can, or get someone else to pop up who he doesn't know, to see what he's doing. If he's quiet, just leave him over night, and try not to worry.
Edited to add, he knows your going to take him back out, whether he appears to have calmed down or not, hence when you put him back in, he started up again. The quicker he learns he's not going to get a reaction from you, the better for him. If he's quiet in the stable, reward him whilst he's in there, don't take him out unless you need to.
 
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Yes he does want to go back to his herd, but the yard is literally a family home, 3 stables set around a yard, surely he has to learn that he can't go and do as he pleases, over the years people must have trained their youngsters to be stabled without these modern day barn stabling?
PS he happily walks out on hacks without friends and happily goes in a field on his own, when the mares are seasonal and picking on him, and is fine?
 
Sorry but I think shutting the top door on a horse is cruelty. It is one of the worst things for a horse to be confined in a small space AND not be able to see others. I think it would be storing up trouble for the future. I don't like full bars either.
 
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Devonshire dumpling said:
Yes he does want to go back to his herd, but the yard is literally a family home, 3 stables set around a yard, surely he has to learn that he can't go and do as he pleases, over the years people must have trained their youngsters to be stabled without these modern day barn stabling?
PS he happily walks out on hacks without friends and happily goes in a field on his own, when the mares are seasonal and picking on him, and is fine?
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Are the other two horses next to each other? If so, could you swap with one of them and see if they settle any better?
 
Wagtail said:
How awful for you. Is there no way he could be stabled next to another horse? Best setups I find for horses that are anxious when in their stable is next to others with talk bars inbetween. I would not expect a youngster to settle being the only horse in and across the yard from others. Not in a million years. I think he's just terrified.
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Don't think he is terrified by any stretch of the imagination, he happily stands in his stable with the grill open, it's only when you bring another horse onto the yard that he wants to get out and go with them, hence why the grill is up, we can't risk this
 
Wagtail said:
Are the other two horses next to each other? If so, could you swap with one of them and see if they settle any better?
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It is a possibility, but we would have to reinforce it alot more, it's a bigger stable and at the mo an elderly tb is in that one as it lets her move around more. At this rate I will winter him out lol... does anyone think he will be better as a 3.5 yr old?
 
Wagtail said:
Sorry but I think shutting the top door on a horse is cruelty. It is one of the worst things for a horse to be confined in a small space AND not be able to see others. I think it would be storing up trouble for the future. I don't like full bars either.
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I'm sure when he settles he won't need the grill, my youngster only had a grill up for a week, then he didn't need it anymore (well he was tiny, I doubted he could get his front feet over the bottom door, never mind come over it).. i'd rather protect a youngster from getting his legs over and risking serious injury, and if that means a grill for a short time, then so be it. Did him no harm.
 
Shadeyoak said:
I'm sure when he settles he won't need the grill, my youngster only had a grill up for a week, then he didn't need it anymore (well he was tiny, I doubted he could get his front feet over the bottom door, never mind come over it).. i'd rather protect a youngster from getting his legs over and risking serious injury, and if that means a grill for a short time, then so be it. Did him no harm.
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Without a doubt he is having his full grill up,I know he would go over the door, so safety first!
It's so scary hearing him rearing up and bashing the walls, but he wasn't doing it frantically, just every few mins, i feel he will learn that he can't get out and like you say then the grill can come off, just wondered how long i should expect this to last!
 
It'll probably just stop all of a sudden, these youngsters are full of surprizes ;)
My current lad was a messy sod as a youngster, then overnight he completely changed and was a dream to muck out.
How old is your youngster Devonshire Dumpling? Sorry just re-read your op lol!
He'll more than likely improve once the others start coming in at night, and be fine by spring (fingers crossed)..
 
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He was 2 back in May, he is 15.1 at the withers and 16hh at his arse, very stocky built cob, so when he pounds the walls it's frightening he will rip the whole stable down. I agree he will suddenly stop, he was feral up until February just gone, and is now a dope on a rope, well rounded individual, took us 3 mths to get a halter on him, but did it the nice way :-) We felt we would NEVER get a halter on him, so know he will come around, it's just I wondered if anyone had any nice miracle cures! We have been ignoring his antics, not telling him off at all x
 
We bought a 4 year old Sec D that had never been stabled and hadall the same problems. Stay with him nd he was fine, move away nd he wouldthrow a tantrum in spite of the 9 others on the yard he could see, plus 'friendship bars' between each stable. We were persuaded to walk away and leave him, so we hid around the back of the yard biting out nails for half an hour. He did finally settle and we went back and gave him loads of praise.. luckily for us (and the stable!) that once was all it took.

Just be very certain that he isn't genuinely frightened and it having tantrum and then try leaving him.. if he can't see you he might well give in and eat his hay. Try some haylage.. that is so delicious to a horse that doesn't usually get it that it might be enough to make him forget he has been abandoned!
 
Ladyinred said:
We bought a 4 year old Sec D that had never been stabled and hadall the same problems. Stay with him nd he was fine, move away nd he wouldthrow a tantrum in spite of the 9 others on the yard he could see, plus 'friendship bars' between each stable. We were persuaded to walk away and leave him, so we hid around the back of the yard biting out nails for half an hour. He did finally settle and we went back and gave him loads of praise.. luckily for us (and the stable!) that once was all it took.

Just be very certain that he isn't genuinely frightened and it having tantrum and then try leaving him.. if he can't see you he might well give in and eat his hay. Try some haylage.. that is so delicious to a horse that doesn't usually get it that it might be enough to make him forget he has been abandoned!
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This is so reassuring, my husband will brave it out! I can't get very anxious, he can't be terrified otherwise he wouldn't get his hard feed and lick it clean, before he kicks off! Have been giving him this yrs hay, perhaps i shall go to the feed merchant and buy some of that Timothy hay , you know that hideously expensive hay in a small bag.. see if that works!
 
Does he have any toys? Boredom breakers like a swede on a rope, or a snack ball that he can bash to bits instead of the wall? Maybe try a field lickit in his stable, that'll keep him occupied for hours..
My other youngster (i've had two my current 10 year old cobxshire - was 17 mths and had basic handling when purchased - and one i sold last year, a rising 3 welsh c/d who was 5 mths) was semi-feral, never handled, never worn a headcollar, and at 5 months it took 3 weeks to get one on him, and we only did that because the cheeky so and so got in the back place! At 2 years of age, your boy isn't exactly small is he? Yes it will probably take longer, but you'll get there :)
 
Devonshire dumpling said:
This is so reassuring, my husband will brave it out! I can't get very anxious, he can't be terrified otherwise he wouldn't get his hard feed and lick it clean, before he kicks off! Have been giving him this yrs hay, perhaps i shall go to the feed merchant and buy some of that Timothy hay , you know that hideously expensive hay in a small bag.. see if that works!
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Funnily enough ours used to happily eat his feed before he kicked off:D Oh, and he was also a BIIIIIG horse.. 16hh of muscled Sec D!

Toys or hanging swedes sound like a great idea too.
 
i experienced similar with my mare. she went from being an ideal docile horse to a complete dangerous animal in a few minutes. she is okay for the first minute or two of being in then it starts. she paws the floor, kicks the door, rears then bucks and kicks everything, i need her to be in because if she ever has an injury (she did last year and had to go out in a muddy field as she was damaging and hurting herself in the stable) which cost me almost treble in vet bills! id be happy if she had a bit of a grumble in there, but as long as she is calm. ive tried being nice, giving treat balls to pass time etc, big haynet with carrots, full grill, then weaving bar then no bar ( she can jump a normal stable door so HAS to have some form of grill) and sweated all her weight off in one night, for me to go down to a horse looking like it had been abused and 2 sopping wet rugs.i understand not all horses are happy being inside and it keeps costs lower for me for her to live out, however in the event of an injury or if she needs to come in for whatever reason, she has to be accepting of a stable. is there anyone who has overcome this problem? im at my wits end!
 
AG - I have a mare who wont stable. She goes in with no fuss but she grinds her teeth, poos and poos, shakes and wont eat or drink when in it. I have just accepted that it is not fair on her to force her to be in a stable when it obviously stresses her so.

Unfortunately she hurt a tendon a while back and I talked to my Vet RE her stabling problems. I said that there was no way that I could box rest her as the lack of drinking would dehydrate her causing a seriously life threatening problem.

So with the Vet's approval I made her a small turnout pen with my electric fence on the flattest bit of my paddock. It worked really well. :) The mare was not stressed as she was still with her mates and her tendon healed beautifully.
 
I had the same problem with my pony he was jumping out.

He did improve with age and got to the stage where he was quite happy being in for a few hours and would lie down and have sleep, he then was ok staying in over night once in a while if he came in late and i came to the yard very early in the morning and put him out again first.

However then disaster struck he got kicked in the leg and his splint bone was broken and he has had to have a huge amount of box rest. First morning he jumped out of his stable even with a big bandage on, however this was once the yard had started to get a bit busy with some horses being turned out or taken out of their stables.

So I moved him to a rehab yard for his box rest where he has a full grid and is with other horses who are on box rest in the same row. There is also a very set routine with everyone being fed at the same time and it not a busy yard with lots of things going on at random times, he also did not know where the fields were or his friends were. I was really worried that they would not be able to cope with him he was fine and settled in really well, gets very excited at breakfast but really not anywhere near as bad as he was at home. The people handling him are experienced and calm themselves but firm with him and as they were not worried he seemed to be not worried, which is a good job as he has been on box rest for the best part of three months!

However the problem we are now having is reintroducing turnout as he is not calm in the field and obviously don't want him to do another injury whilst hooning about so he is only having about 20 minutes supervised turnout at the moment. However hopefully he will settle into that as well eventually.

I wonder if the issue is worse when they have spent most of their time living out all the time when they are young it might not be such a problem if they have been stabled with their mum for some time when they are a foal so stabling being ok is imprinted on them at a young age. My pony was a new forest stallion running out on the forest till he was about four so that might be why he had a problem with stabling.
 
I think it's a lot to expect a 2yr old to be settled in a stable on it's own. We have a 3rd old who goes in a pen with his Shetland pal when not in the field, and our 2yr old has a large stable with a big window into the next door stable so he can groom his neighbour. Can you change your setup so he's not so isolated?
 
I wonder if the issue is worse when they have spent most of their time living out all the time when they are young it might not be such a problem if they have been stabled with their mum for some time when they are a foal so stabling being ok is imprinted on them at a young age.
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My mare was a racehorse in her youth. They had no turnout at all (her former owner told me the mare's whole history from when she was foaled, so I know this for certain). She was then a broodmare and out all the time. I think that she knows which she prefers.
 
My two penneth is I think if he is only 2 and a half he will be at the annoying stage where he wants to be into everything. Just bring him in for a feed and maybe a nice bonding time and leave it at that, when he is older and he starts some work it may be easier for his brain to cope with.
 
I think we have to remember how much a stable goes against a horse's natural instincts to be afraid of enclosed spaces where they feel trapped and vulnerable. I'm sure you will be able to help him to accept it over time, especially as he is only very young and working out all sorts of boundaries.

I'm not sure that I have many useful suggestions, but it may be that he would settle better in the bigger stable, would you be able to try that without fully committing to full reinforcement and conversion? Also you say he has a feed when he goes in but two things, is he used to having a prat about after a feed usually, and does he then have a haynet or are you expecting him to have a feed and then (from his point of view) stand in a boring situation? Would giving him a treat ball and plenty of toys in his stable (a welly is often appreciated by youngsters!) help?

Best of luck with working this one out :)
 
Naturally said:
I think we have to remember how much a stable goes against a horse's natural instincts to be afraid of enclosed spaces where they feel trapped and vulnerable. I'm sure you will be able to help him to accept it over time, especially as he is only very young and working out all sorts of boundaries.

I'm not sure that I have many useful suggestions, but it may be that he would settle better in the bigger stable, would you be able to try that without fully committing to full reinforcement and conversion? Also you say he has a feed when he goes in but two things, is he used to having a prat about after a feed usually, and does he then have a haynet or are you expecting him to have a feed and then (from his point of view) stand in a boring situation? Would giving him a treat ball and plenty of toys in his stable (a welly is often appreciated by youngsters!) help?

Best of luck with working this one out :)
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No he is a big lump and doesn't usually get feeds, so it's a complete luxury for him, he doesn't really prat around much, he is fairly laid back and the old mares he lives with don't play with him, just discipline him.
He's been going in his stable for 4 mths but never been left, even fallen asleep in there (minus the grill).
 
We did clicker train him, minus the clicker (he was scared of the clicker lol) when we haltered him, he responded very well to it!
We are going to try buying him some timothy hay, hiding carrots around his stable, and just leave him for a bit and see if he calms down, if not will try plan B
 
I feel for you with this as I had the same issue with my youngster and was getting really stressed about it..
I got my Welsh D as a yearling and the first night he came home it was dark so I left him in for the night rather than turn out in a strange field with a strange herd, he seemed fine and settled but the next morning when another horse left the yard he was over the door (6am!).

After this I was always worried about it happening again, particularly as on our yard horses have to be in overnight in the winter.. He used to do exactly what yours does, rearing up at the door, banging about etc..
I bought him a big stable mirror and put it next to the door and then a full mesh grill, I hated this but thought with his little baby feet he could get a hoof stuck in a weaving grill..
He was always worse if I was around, it I left the yard (usually to hide somewhere and watch) he would calm down pretty quickly, if I stood around chatting etc he would just get worse.
He did settle after a couple of weeks and is now absolutely fine, now he is bigger he has a weaving grill so he can put his head out and see everything going on but I can sleep on a night knowing that if I am not the first on the yard he wont be trying to limbo over the door..

Routine helps but this can bring its own issues - I used to feed him in the stable and then bring him out before he 'started', but then of course if he didnt get to come out as soon as he had eaten he would start having a tantrum..

Mine is now three and it is like trying to get a grumpy teenager out of bed in the morning when I go to turn him out :)
 
Thanks I have had antiweave recommended to me, but felt full grill was the only option as he would try to get out of the V.... am glad yours has settled, and hopefully I shall be offering people advice in a few yrs lol. It's most bizaare hes not rushing at the walls or anything, literally standing up and resting his feet on the walls, is this what yours did?
 
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