Help please ..... Pacing the fence line!!!

[Bay_Beasty]

Hi all,

Dougal has done this since I have owned him (nearly a year). i thought at first it was because he did not have company, however even with the addition of Twiggy into his life he still does it, and he did it at the other yard too. He is the picture of health at the mo, v shiny, v conditioned etc and I have no worries that he has gastric ulcers.
He is fed twice a day with 1 scp protexin in his evening feed and comes in from 2 until 7 and has ad lib hay if he wants t for this period.

He has started doing it a little more recently and I think that is because Bobby left on Sunday, a horse he was not in a routine with but was out in the field next to him that he could see but not touch (double fence between me and my neighbour).

I am keeping his routine the same and giving him a lunch of Alpha a oil and beet when he comes in at 2. He has not dropped condition and is out on good grass and I am sure it will settle back down soon. But I was wandering if there was any way I could completely stop the behaviour from happening or will he grow out of it?

Do you think I should give him 2 scoops protexin for the next few days until he is back to normal self? (1 scp for maintanence, 2 scps if stressed, as advised on packet)

thanks for help.

P.s sorry for awful spelling

 

[MontyandZoom]

Monty is now in his late twenties and he still paces. We are moving fields tomorrow so expect he will be pacing a trench for the next few weeks! He does it whenever anything is out of the ordinary........horses going to shows for the day, new horses coming, horses leaving etc and sometimes just because he does.

It might be worth giving protexin for peace of mind.

It is horrible to watch but now he is in a routine he does it alot less frequently. Not much help I know but I really feel for you......it drives you nuts!

 

[connie1288]

We have a mare that does this most of the time, interestingly she has stopped now she is in foal. She doesnt just do it up and down then fence though, one field has a 30m perfect circle track in it.

 

[Bay_Beasty]

Montyandzoom, so not much change of him growing out if it then, will give him stressed dose or Protexin for next few days. He lives at home with just him and twig so nice peaceful relaxed and usually fairly unchangeable environment.

Mary moo, he is v active always on the move in the field, likes to eat the best grass. I always thought that if he was a wild horse, he would travel miles every day just because he could

, shame he is a gelding and I can't put him in foal!!

 

[Booboos]

Might be worth trying a magnesium supplement. I've found Cool, Calm and Collected by Equifeast to be quite helpful for stressy types.

 

[Bay_Beasty]

He is not mentally stressy but I was thinking of giving him like an anti acid build up supplement, is this what this one does Booboos?

 

[JCWHITE]

My new three yr old worried me when I first got her.In a small square paddock, she would go up and down as you describe. Now, home and settled with the others, and in a bigger field, she wanders at will and doesnt pace about .Is yours a small paddock I wonder?
JC

 

[Bay_Beasty]

I think he wouldn't do it in a 30 acre field. I have two fields, one 2 acres and a one acre, he paces the same in both.

 

[Booboos]

[ QUOTE ]
He is not mentally stressy but I was thinking of giving him like an anti acid build up supplement, is this what this one does Booboos?

[/ QUOTE ]

In some horses fence walking is a sign of stress and some of these magnesium supplements help with the nervous system so some people see good results, but if this doesn't sound like your horse it probably wouldn't help.

No, the magnesium would not help with acid build up. If you suspect stomach ulcers I would get the vet to scope him to find out for sure. Meanwhile Colligone is recommended by quite a few people on the forum.