Help! My horse won’t stay in his paddock.

[AbsPkr]

Hi all,

I’m at a loss at what to do. I’ve owned my horse for 10 years and have never had this much of an issue. My horse has been on our current livery yard for around a year having been at one other yard before moving for the other 9 years.
He’s escaped more times than I can count and it’s causing a real issue for the owners and workers. The owners fencing is posts with electric wire, and I have two additional internal fences (1 round of 5ft fence posts and 1 round of 3ft fence posts) and a large battery.
He will be fine for a few weeks then all of a sudden either attempt to jump or straight up run through the fencing, breaking posts and wire.
It’s becoming costly and is causing me (and the owners) a great deal of stress as we’re both at a loss at how to move forward. He’s out in the morning and in at night and is 15.
It just seems to be getting worse and worse and I really don’t want to get kicked off the yard

Has anyone been in a similar situation and can offer some solutions?

Pictures of todays destruction

 

[AmyMay]

Is he alone?

 

[ycbm]

Is he on his own and breaking in with others?

 

[AbsPkr]

Is he alone?

Is he on his own and breaking in with others?

Yes he’s in an individual paddock and breaks in the paddock to his left. It’s never any other paddock and the other horse has usually been brought in a few hours beforehand

 

[Abacus]

Are there others in sight nearby or is he totally alone?

 

[bonny]

He needs company, I can’t understand keeping a horse on his own who is so obviously trying to tell you that. If not that yard find somewhere else with bigger fields and company and he will stop trying to escape.

 

[Suncat]

Company or food are often the reason - but to be sure, ask the key question that always comes from the HH Hive Mind on escaping threads - what is he gaining by getting past the fence? That need is the thing you need to meet to stop the behaviour.

 

[AmyMay]

Yes he’s in an individual paddock and breaks in the paddock to his left. It’s never any other paddock and the other horse has usually been brought in a few hours beforehand

There’s your answer then. Give him some company.

 

[Zoeypxo]

The ONLY thing that stopped my horse escaping and smashing through fencing was herd turnout. She would jump 5ft stallion poles quite happily to escape in the past.

She would escape just into empty fields or sometimes in with another horse, some horses are just stressed when not part of a proper herd

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

There was one on our yard who could always be relied on to be in any paddock but his own. They are all out in pairs but the escapee just kept jumping out.

We found a buddy he liked spending time with. He jumped out once more but never left the fence line of his paddock where his buddy was. He hasn't jumped out since, even after switching buddies.

 

[Birker2020]

Yes he’s in an individual paddock and breaks in the paddock to his left. It’s never any other paddock and the other horse has usually been brought in a few hours beforehand

Was he in an individual paddock before moving to this yard? Does he or the horse in the paddock to the left act riggy towards each other when out at the same time?

 

[Bobthecob15]

Think he's trying to tell you he wants company! Has he plenty of grass? If yes then its an isolation issue. Herd instincts are strong and don't respect fences!

 

[AbsPkr]

Sorry should have clarified - neighbour isn’t riggy and he’s got more than enough grass. His neighbour to the left is the only one that comes in earlier, he has a neighbour to the right and 4 in front and 4 behind on his side, and around 5 ponies on the opposite side (the paddocks are split with an all weather chip track/gallop track). So it’s not a lonely issue, they’re all brought in at the same time too. For the 10 years I’ve had him he has been on individual turnout. And before that was in a heard.
At his previous yard with me, he escaped a few times due to lack of grass and there was no solid fencing, just plastic posts.
I just am lost at the reasoning behind this as it’s not consistent, just once every few weeks but causes total destruction.

 

[AbsPkr]

He needs company, I can’t understand keeping a horse on his own who is so obviously trying to tell you that. If not that yard find somewhere else with bigger fields and company and he will stop trying to escape.

He does have company which is what I can’t wrap my head around. It’s individual turnout but the neighbour to the left is the only one who comes in earlier. There are around 16 horses still out with him and they’re all brought in at the same time in the evening

 

[AbsPkr]

Are there others in sight nearby or is he totally alone?

About 16 other horses around him!

 

[AbsPkr]

There was one on our yard who could always be relied on to be in any paddock but his own. They are all out in pairs but the escapee just kept jumping out.

We found a buddy he liked spending time with. He jumped out once more but never left the fence line of his paddock where his buddy was. He hasn't jumped out since, even after switching buddies.

I think it may be a case of seeing who would be willing to buddy up with him in a paddock. He’s not nasty and just wants to groom others but I would be devastated if he taught the others his bad habit. Definitely something to try if possible.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I would try 5ft fence posts and three lines of tape before shelling out on another horse

 

[poiuytrewq]

I think it may be a case of seeing who would be willing to buddy up with him in a paddock. He’s not nasty and just wants to groom others but I would be devastated if he taught the others his bad habit. Definitely something to try if possible.

Hopefully it will break the habit rather than teach others. Ask around, you may be surprised. I was at a yard where they had individual turnout and I happened to mention thinking of moving because I hated my horse being alone to a fellow livery who it turned out felt the same so we just shared our paddocks and my horse was much more chilled out.

 

[AbsPkr]

I would try 5ft fence posts and three lines of tape before shelling out on another horse

I have 5ft posts around his paddock as his inner fence, then 3ft as his second inner fence to go with the properties fencing and a big 12v 105mah battery to give it juice!

 

[Barton Bounty]

I have 5ft posts around his paddock as his inner fence, then 3ft as his second inner fence to go with the properties fencing and a big 12v 105mah battery to give it juice!

Ohh gosh

 

[Arzada]

I would be devastated if he taught the others his bad habit.

I've known 2 horses jumping out of their paddock. Not together or at the same yard. No one copied them. Of course someone may copy yours!

 

[SnowandSunshine]

Even if he has horses all around him it might not be enough for him, it's not the same as being in with others. Mine needs another horse in the paddock/field with him, he will either go through fencing or it will look like he's coping but he actually becomes very anxious.

 

[Bellaboo18]

He does have company which is what I can’t wrap my head around. It’s individual turnout but the neighbour to the left is the only one who comes in earlier. There are around 16 horses still out with him and they’re all brought in at the same time in the evening

Having company in with him is very different to having company next door. What can he do if the horses around him move away from the fence line(?)

 

[Abacus]

At your previous yards was he with others (in the same field) and did he escape from his field there? If he was, and he didn’t, then he has probably been telling you for a year that he doesn’t like being on individual turnout.

 

[sunnyone]

Can he see something of interest in the distance?
My first horse, which I had for 25 years, would stay in her field with others until such time as she could see cows on the neighbouring farm! Then off she went, jumping two or three fences on the way to join them! How I loved having to walk a mile or so to bring her back.

 

[Alibear]

So he usually jumps to the left-field and it's the left-field horse that's brought in early? It sounds like although there are others, the one horse coming in early could be your trigger. Is it possible for your horse not to be a direct neighbor of the one that's brought in early?

 

[Birker2020]

At your previous yards was he with others (in the same field) and did he escape from his field there? If he was, and he didn’t, then he has probably been telling you for a year that he doesn’t like being on individual turnout.

In reply 13 she said he was in an individual paddock at his previous yard for 10 years and I read it that she'd had no issues with him there.
There must be a reason why it is different at this yard, and only due to the horse on the left that causes him issues.

 

[sbloom]

I sold my last riding horse in part because of this issue. He jumped for the first time (I'd owned him a yea) on the very last day at the yard, out of a very muddy field where he had the company of one pony mare, he'd been kept there because I lost my previous horse to a herd incident in the main field. I'd do things differently now, ie create a song and dance about their introduction policy, or move.

He then jumped, all the time, with no rhyme nor reason, probably set in stone where he didn't have company for a few weeks. He jumped 6' fencing and double 5' fencing (with a 6' spread), taking it down and causing more issues, in one case uphill, out of deep mud and with full winter rugs on. He was great at one yard, low electric, chilled horses everywhere (only 7 others total) and they didn't fuss about him jumping between various fields. He always had company. The killer was a yard where, again he had company, but the adjacent horses got very upset when he jumped and one day a mare injured herself while looking around (while I imagine he jumped and just started grazing, he never caused trouble directly). He was confined to barracks and so began another year of trying to find a way to keep him in a field at a livery yard, I tried two more before giving up and selling him, hunting for a home where it wouldn't cause an issue.

I think it's a really difficult thing to get to the bottom of and I am so grateful for the happy years we had at the one yard where it wasn't a problem.

Good luck.

 

[Bellaboo18]

In reply 13 she said he was in an individual paddock at his previous yard for 10 years and I read it that she'd had no issues with him there.
There must be a reason why it is different at this yard, and only due to the horse on the left that causes him issues.

He escaped at the previous yard as well, just not as often.

 

[Birker2020]

He escaped at the previous yard as well, just not as often.

Oh I missed that.