Help Needed Please

[Skye24]

Bit of a long one .. sorry!

I moved my pony to a new yard in around May of this year due to my job meaning I wasn’t getting to see him as much as I’d like. He settled well and took it all in his stride.
Turnout time came and all was well, he settled with his 2 field mates and enjoyed his turnout.

However, the YM messaged me a couple of weeks ago now to say he was pacing in the field and she was bringing him in early, no issue with that other than it being TOTALLY out of character for him to pace and not stuff his face.
That weekend he came in with what look like bite marks on his bottom and since then he had been pacing the field a lot.

The 3 of them have today moved to a new field, next to some cows (due to the weather they now need to come off the other field) and I went down tonight to see him stood in the corner of that field, near to the cows field away from his field mates, not eating, which again is not like him. The other liveries mentioned he had been staring at the cows a lot today.
The herd were not bothering him, moving him on or anything like that.

As usual I brought him in and lunged as he needs work to manage weight, and he seemed to have lots of nervous energy, he just trotted round and round in the circle barely listening to me, which again is not like him. He was also looking back towards the field each time he was trotting towards it (the school faces to the field he is now in) and he was also staring at something in that direction when I put him in his stable.

I’m totally at a loss as to what to do, whether it is the field move and the cows which have upset him today, which I can see, but why he was pacing in the other field I just can’t understand, I’m assuming it’s because he was potentially attacked at some point by herd mates but I'm not sure what to do to help him .. any ideas?, should I just keep an eye given the field move or potentially think about taking him back to the old yard, which he had been at for a number of years, and see him less, which is the reason I moved him in the first place.

It’s all just getting on top of me, it feels like he isn’t settled at his new yard and that’s my fault

Any ideas appreciated

 

[Wizpop]

The bites on the bottom suggest that maybe he hasn’t been accepted by one of the others? Could be why he is keeping his distance from them and standing near cows? Could also possibly explain other behaviour due to anxiety.

 

[Melody Grey]

Three can be an awkward number in small herds- any chance of a friend for him?

 

[Skye24]

Three can be an awkward number in small herds- any chance of a friend for him?

Unfortunately not, I just don’t have the money available to have 2 on full livery

 

[Melody Grey]

Unfortunately not, I just don’t have the money available to have 2 on full livery

I was rather meaning another horse from the yard

 

[Skye24]

The bites on the bottom suggest that maybe he hasn’t been accepted by one of the others? Could be why he is keeping his distance from them and standing near cows? Could also possibly explain other behaviour due to anxiety.

Yes I understand that, im just not sure what I can do to help him!
I moved him to this yard as the turnout was better for him due to his age but it’s just turned into a nightmare to be honest

 

[Skye24]

I was rather meaning another horse from the yard

Ah I see - Apologies, unfortunately not, there are only 3 geldings on the yard just now, all the others are mares

 

[Quigleyandme]

It would appear on the surface to be herd dynamics. He’s joined two others and one of them doesn’t want to share his friend with your pony. Could you discuss your concerns with the YO and maybe another pony could be introduced into the group or your pony could be moved to another field? It would be a shame to move before all the options are explored.

 

[Melody Grey]

Yes I understand that, im just not sure what I can do to help him!
I moved him to this yard as the turnout was better for him due to his age but it’s just turned into a nightmare to be honest

Give it time, I think many of us have had that “what have I done” moment with yard moves. Sometimes the things that upset them are he least obvious to us.

 

[Melody Grey]

Ah I see - Apologies, unfortunately not, there are only 3 geldings on the yard just now, all the others are mares

There is no law against mixed turnout (unless you have a stallion obvs!)…might be worth having a chat with yard owner/ other liveries to see if mixed turnout might be a possibility?

 

[Skye24]

Give it time, I think many of us have had that “what have I done” moment with yard moves. Sometimes the things that upset them are he least obvious to us.

Thank you, I worry about him so much with his age, I just want him to be happy (as we all do) I think I’m just panicking a bit as it’s just been one thing after another
The other two have the same owner you see so there is validity in the comment about not being accepted, I just hope he will settle at some point

 

[Skye24]

There is no law against mixed turnout (unless you have a stallion obvs!)…might be worth having a chat with yard owner/ other liveries to see if mixed turnout might be a possibility?

Yes I understand, I’ll raise it and see what she says, the same lady does have a mare as well as the two geldings so it might make sense for her to have all 3 in one field?

 

[Skye24]

It would appear on the surface to be herd dynamics. He’s joined two others and one of them doesn’t want to share his friend with your pony. Could you discuss your concerns with the YO and maybe another pony could be introduced into the group or your pony could be moved to another field? It would be a shame to move before all the options are explored.

I have raised the issue of a fallout between the boys with the YM who says he was pacing before the wounds appeared so she doesn’t attribute it to that, but there has to be a cause, he wouldn’t just all of a sudden, after 3 months turnout become anxious, it’s not him at all

 

[meleeka]

Can you spend a day, perhaps at the weekend and keep a discreet eye on him, to see if there’s any reason or pattern to his behaviour? You might not know what the problem is yet, but there’s something that’s bothered him after all this time and he may even have a point.

 

[Skye24]

Can you spend a day, perhaps at the weekend and keep a discreet eye on him, to see if there’s any reason or pattern to his behaviour? You might not know what the problem is yet, but there’s something that’s bothered him after all this time and he may even have a point

Yes! I plan on going up on my long lunch tomorrow and watch him for a couple of hours, see what happens!
I’m not sure what you mean by he may even have a point I’m sorry

 

[meleeka]

Yes! I plan on going up on my long lunch tomorrow and watch him for a couple of hours, see what happens!
I’m not sure what you mean by he may even have a point I’m sorry

I meant that it may be something he genuinely has a reason to be upset over, like being bullied for a large amount of time. Of course, it might just be that something randomly moved in a bush one day that frightened him

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Could you section him off in the main field so he has his own space and perhaps pop some hay or food in there so he starts to associate that space with nice things?

 

[Boots*McGruber]

Ah I see - Apologies, unfortunately not, there are only 3 geldings on the yard just now, all the others are mares

My gelding will only turn out with mares, he doesn’t like other boys! He’s in with one older mare atm and they get along famously.