Gate cluster!!!!!!

[Keira 8888]

Hi guys!

yet another newbie question from me...

so Prince is now in a mixed herd and when I go to get him in the morning for breakfast, all other horses are camped around the gate. He normally resides in the far corner of the field and it’s SO difficult to get him out without the other horses kicking off and striking at him.
What should I do? I’ve tried warding them off with jazz hands (and my feather duster) and growling but this only makes them back up a few feet. Not enough for me to safely get him out of the field without being kicked!!!!

Any suggestions massively welcomed!!!

keira xx

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Why are the others waiting there? Do they go in around the same time? If so, can you wait a while and collect him when the others are leaving anyway?

 

[meleeka]

You should really have an inner fenced off bit so this is avoided. You’d then be able to get him in the pen before attempting to open the gate. If you can’t do that then wait away from the gate until the horses settle and move away and make removing him a non event. Of course if they are waiting to come in and hungry there’s not a lot you can do, but it’s a dangerous situation to put yourself in, so do speak to YO.

 

[SusieT]

Can you make a pen by the gate? or take a large stick... Assume no feed buckets are rattled etc to avoid excitement.

 

[HashRouge]

Are they waiting to come in/ be fed? If so I'd be inclined to wait until they're in. It's very difficult to try and persuade multiple horses that they want to move away from and then stay away from the gate! As others have said, a pen round the gate might help, though you might find they just stand blocking the pen instead!

I really do feel your pain though. When I was at Sixth Form I used to get to the yard just before 4pm in the winter, by which time all the horses would be hovering round the gate waiting to come in. My mare would be at the back, of course! Because I wanted to ride, I used to have to bring in every horse in the field to get mine! The YO would bring them all in if I waited but not until 4.30pm and if I wanted to catch the last of the light I couldn't wait. Was an absolute nightmare, but there was simply no way to get my mare through the crowd safely.

 

[AmyMay]

Feed him in the evening instead?

 

[Red-1]

I used to hate this aspect of livery!

Yes, a small fenced off area can help, as you don't have to stress about losing one out of the gate. Yes, you can bring them all in, but that is a huge faff and goodness only knows if the other horses have good manners, plus, as an owner, I wouldn't be that impressed with a relative stranger taking my horse out of the field.

I have found that the best way is to go in and be assertive. I don't generally need a whip, I square my shoulders, have a 'presence' politely request them to move back and then growl. Generally they part and fall back, as I am a formidable presence. Your horse can't drive them away, so you have to. Thank about sending your power to behind the girth area to drive them, or to their shoulder to turn them.

If you can't do it yourself then I would take a schooling whip in preference to a feather duster. And wear a hat.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

I agree, this is my least favourite thing about livery yards. I used to be on a yard that was goo apart from their field set up (you had to lead the girls through the boys field which was huge and always filled with at least four boys!

I did it once and then always made sure I got one of the grooms off the yard to come with me, a second pair of hands is super helpful. Is there anyone else at the yard at the same time who can help move the other horses away so you can concentrate on Prince, alternatively, if theyre waiting to come in as someone else has said, can you wait until theyre in.

 

[Trouper]

Ideally I would change his feeding time, too - gradually over a couple of days to avoid a sudden change - and ask if a roped off area by the gate could be set up. You might not be the only one having problems extracting their horse from the whole pushy herd. If Prince is still near the bottom of the pecking order in the herd, he also won't be happy being asked to "challenge" the rest of the herd by moving through them to come in before them.

 

[scats]

I hated this at my previous yard, but I was there for 21 years so I got used to moving crowds of horses with a few arm waves and a bit of growling. One of the fields had over 50 geldings in it that went to a bottle neck gate area...
A lot of it is body language. It’s also helpful if you know the horses a bit, for instance, I knew which ones I could walk past safely and which ones I definitely needed to move if I was bringing a horse through. It’s quite difficult to describe how to drive horses away, but I could pretty much do it to most horses by my stance and body language when walking towards them. I think it’s probably a skill you develop over time with confidence.
For the time being, I would see if you can get some help at bring in times. Maybe ask if you can accompany someone who is good at moving the horses so you can see how they do it?

 

[Bernster]

This may be frowned upon but I’ve resorted to twirling the lead rope at them. Gently, but works better for me than jazz hands!

 

[Shay]

You can use the leadrope - or the rope and headcollar both - to create space around you - but it only works if you are not leading a horse at the same time! OP I would speak to your YO. You and your horse are being put in a dangerous situation atm and you need a solution. A fenced pen does help - at least with the risk of a spare one getting out. But you still have to get through the mob outside the pen. Altering a feed time is probably the easiest solution - but may not be practicable for you.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I've used the lead rope to get them out of the way before. Just twirling it at them to drive them away. Most of the horses respect my horse in his field so they generally clear a path if I have to walk through them.
They also learned pretty quick that I'm not messing around. A firm voice and presence did the trick. You need to be aware of your body language and how you're instructing the other horses to move away.
Generally I can just snap my fingers and say "back!" and the horses don't mess. I just channel my inner bitchy boss mare and no one questions my authority lol

 

[Keira 8888]

Why are the others waiting there? Do they go in around the same time? If so, can you wait a while and collect him when the others are leaving anyway?

It’s very changeable to be honest. They just seem to like dozing at the gate. They are all ridden and fed at different times so it tends to be just luck of the draw. Sometimes they are right ontop of the gate (if this happens I just leave and come back an hour later) and sometimes they are waaaaaay across the field so I can extract Prince with absolutely no problem. He is very good at being fed either slightly earlier or later so doesnt stress which is great x

 

[Keira 8888]

I've used the lead rope to get them out of the way before. Just twirling it at them to drive them away. Most of the horses respect my horse in his field so they generally clear a path if I have to walk through them.
They also learned pretty quick that I'm not messing around. A firm voice and presence did the trick. You need to be aware of your body language and how you're instructing the other horses to move away.
Generally I can just snap my fingers and say "back!" and the horses don't mess. I just channel my inner bitchy boss mare and no one questions my authority lol

I think I definite need to channel my inner bitchy boss mare!!!!!

 

[chocolategirl]

You should really have an inner fenced off bit so this is avoided. You’d then be able to get him in the pen before attempting to open the gate. If you can’t do that then wait away from the gate until the horses settle and move away and make removing him a non event. Of course if they are waiting to come in and hungry there’s not a lot you can do, but it’s a dangerous situation to put yourself in, so do speak to YO.

This is what I’ve done on my yard. All my paddocks have either a coral system, making ‘quick escapes’ for owners possible, or, we have 2 entry/exit points where a corale etc isn’t feasible. Most field accidents happen at the gate, so as someone else said, speak to your YO about your concerns ?

 

[MuddyMonster]

I used to hate this aspect of livery!

Yes, a small fenced off area can help, as you don't have to stress about losing one out of the gate. Yes, you can bring them all in, but that is a huge faff and goodness only knows if the other horses have good manners, plus, as an owner, I wouldn't be that impressed with a relative stranger taking my horse out of the field.

I have found that the best way is to go in and be assertive. I don't generally need a whip, I square my shoulders, have a 'presence' politely request them to move back and then growl. Generally they part and fall back, as I am a formidable presence. Your horse can't drive them away, so you have to. Thank about sending your power to behind the girth area to drive them, or to their shoulder to turn them.

If you can't do it yourself then I would take a schooling whip in preference to a feather duster. And wear a hat.

Ditto this, 100%.

 

[Keira 8888]

Thanks so much for all your replies guys.

all advice is super helpful. I think it will be much easier once he is more accepted into the herd. I have been watching the other girls shoo the horses away and they are all very responsive to being moved which is great. But that changes when Prince is the one coming out as he is so new.

I think I will wear my hat as suggested and bring my schooling whip. But right now (only day 6 in new yard) I think I will just pick my battles and if they are all at the gate I will just not attempt to get Prince out. I don’t want to put him in that situation as someone pointed out. Hopefully in a few weeks he will be a little more integrated.
Thanks for all your replies guys xx Enjoy the sunshine today! X

 

[Keira 8888]

This is what I’ve done on my yard. All my paddocks have either a coral system, making ‘quick escapes’ for owners possible, or, we have 2 entry/exit points where a corale etc isn’t feasible. Most field accidents happen at the gate, so as someone else said, speak to your YO about your concerns ?

This sounds absolutely ideal. I will speak to my YO. Thank you x