Have you ever bought a horse and shortly after wondered if you'd made a big mistake?

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Troyseph

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My best friend recently bought a cob, off a whim, not a bad price, she was looking for another but bought him more because she felt sorry for him(owner was a bit of a case- always drinking not looking after him- we knew them vaguely.) anyway said cob is here now and he has taken a shine to friends mare to the point of trying to scale a 5ft stone wall with wire along top to try get to her- pulling half the rubble off the wall:rolleyes: he also itches constappntly on gates and actually took one off tonight and let horses out:o he's not got sweet itch but we live in a valley with streams and millions of midges. It's got to the point now she can't physically catch her mare, leaving her very at wits end and it's very early days. Cob can't be sectioned either as doesn't respect nor stay in electric fencing- what would you do
.?
 
He was on his own in the small paddock with the rubble wall until he was introduced, but introduced himself by scaling it!
 
Firstly I would re-educate him about electric fence. You do this by learning how to make absolutely sure that the current is strong ALL around the paddock so that when ever he touches it to break through, he gets a good walloping shock! We have successfully re-educated a mare who just constantly ran through the fence to get to the better grass.
I know people that inadvertantly "train" their horses to not respect it by not checking the strength often enough, or tying bits of fence tape to trees or bushes thinking the horses will know it's electric tape but actually it just thinks it's a bit of white tape.
Sounds like the new horse needs company if it hasn't already? Ahh, I see he has solved one of your problems himself then, he may settle sooner now.
You can search on here in vets section for the itchyness.
 
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Oh god yes- but the settling in period can be pretty fraught! I am so glad I wasn't put off... however my horse was not bad enough to need sectioning! (sorry, little joke...).

I'd say if it's bad behaviour the person is confident of handling then fine- if it's dangerous enough that the horse or the person in charge could be seriously hurt or killed, maybe needs a rethink.
 
I don't even respect electric tape, I happily pick it up and step through it etc! Electric rope however, that packs a punch! I'm sure they'll all settle together eventually.
 
Well the biggest problem so far was he's in a herd of 7 horses- my friend yesterday took her mare away into the smaller field to feed etc and instead of staying with the rest of the herd he decided he'd follow the mare but got shut out of the top paddock then decided he was going to attempt to go over the stone wall with wire on top about 4 times!!!!?
 
Are you sure he's gelded?:eek:

First night my big TB went out with the others (I'd had him a day or two!) he rounded up my mate's mare and spent the evening alternately chasing the geldings off and mounting the mare. He'd have gone the whole way if she hadn't been wearing a rug with a tail flap!! I had a panic and double-checked his passport. Gelded. Phew!:D

He has settled down, mounted my two year old once but mostly pretty chilled these days but it took a while for me to stop thinking "What have I done??"
 
RIG CALM !!

It sounds like he's very excited to be in his new home, and it can take a good while for horses to settle in. Are you absolutely sure he is not a stallion ? He may be a rig - the only way to get this checked is via your vet.

let us know how you get on .
 
Poor lad. The way he is behaving seems perfectly reasonable to him. He's very worried and needy of company. You haven't mentioned him mounting the mare, so he probably has just latched on to her as his security blanket. Give him a couple of weeks to integrate with the herd.
Separating him from the herd will heighten his anxiety, he'll soon be able to let the mare leave the field as his confidence increases.

Regarding the midges, hairy cobs do suffer a lot. Check under his feathers for bites and if he stamps his back feet, it'll be midges. Vet can inject with dectomax for this or you can spray with Frontline.
Bathing with T-Gel shampoo from the chemist makes my cob much less itchy, as does a final rinse with Avon Skin So Soft bath oil (green one ).
Sudocrem on and around the pink skin of the sheath protect and heals midge bites, slap it on in the evening and he'll not get his sensitive parts bitten to death.
I'm sure he'll be lovely once he's found his feet. Although cobs are laid back, they are still sensitive souls.
 
He's not been mounting nor has he been aggressive toward other geldings and he hasn't taken an ounce of interest in one of the other 4 mares so I doubt he's a rig.:confused: thank you for all the ideas tho I will pass them on, it's just a bit worrying when you see a horse doing that!
 
Yes, it is worrying to watch a mass of muscle clambering a wall.:D
My H/W cob jumped out of his stable in a panic when he was new and ran up the lane to follow the mare who was being hacked out. Don't know how on earth he managed it.
Silly boy, I've had him for nearly 10 years now and he's the most chilled out, easy character I've ever known.
 
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