Horse anxiety when turning out & bringing in

[JR201200]

Desperately looking for some advice/ help. My horse in the winter months is a complete stress head and full of anxiety. Bringing her in/ putting her out of field is near impossible and she has isolated herself from the rest of the group ( she’s in a mares only field with 7 other mares) and stands on her own at the very bottom of the field in the corner by herself. When it comes to trying to bring her in she will walk some of the way then suddenly start spinning around me until I can no longer hold her and il have no other choice but to let her go and she will go galloping off back to the corner of the field almost like something sets off her anxiety and she panics.

When we are successfully able to bring her in some days she will be fine and calmly eat her hay net but most days she will spin around her stable and want to get out again. When putting her back out into the field I have to walk her far away from the gate up to the other horses otherwise she will spin and try to jump over the gate even though it’s a very tall metal gate but if I lead her far away from the gate she will usually as soon as I let her off go galloping away into the field.

We had these exact issues last winter al the way up until summer then when she moved to the summer field she was a complete different horse, so calm, perfect to ride, perfect to lead and would stand for hours to be groomed and pampered in the stable. Now after coming back into winter she has gone back to how she was last winter and is full of anxiety again. She is with the same horses she was with In the summer. She has been seen by the vet and they have told me to treat her like she has Ulcers because she’s showing signs Which I have been doing and she started to get better until recently.

One key thing to mention is she is always worse when it is windy, windy weather seems to make her anxiety much worse.

she’s currently fed on thunderbrook organic fusion and spillers daily fibre chaff. Any advice on feeds or anything that may help her anxiety is much appreciated. Thank you ??

 

[Red-1]

My old horse, Jay Man had a field he wouldn't settle in. It was inconvenient, but that was that, he would jump out if he was put there.

I do know that he was once in a field where a tree came down, although he was not near the tree at the time. But, when it was windy he would stay in the middle of the field, like a 20m square right in the middle.

The field he would not stay in was long and narrow, lined with trees.

I had to make alternative provision.

Alternatively, is your horse being bullied in the field?

Is she spending long hours in or without food?

Is she getting all the vets and mins she would at grass if the field has little grass (magnesium?).

Is work more intense in winter (school rather than hack?).

Is it possible to put her in the summer field for a couple of days, just as a diagnostic tool?

 

[TheMule]

I had a horse act like this when wearing a turnout rug

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Could she be being bullied? To be running away from the herd to the corner of the field to me says that she is being bullied and being kept from being in the herd.

can you change her field, even just temporarily and see if it makes any difference, then you can see if that is the issue. Are there any new horses in the herd?

 

[dorsetladette]

It doesn't sound like she is very happy in the herd she's in. If she is standing in the corner of the field she also isn't eating/grazing. So stood without eating for periods of time could be upsetting her tummy. Magnesium may help settle her. I'd personally be looking at something like acid ease or coligone. It may be worth having a chat with a vet about possible ulcers caused possibly by the stress of herd dynamics.
Unfortunately sometimes a yard that works for the owner doesn't always work for the horse. Its a balancing act sometimes with naturally stressy horses.

 

[Green Bean]

You must be at your wits end. So strange that it appears to be a winter/summer thing. It looks like the only thing that changes is her field? Is there a chance she can be separated from the others by electric fencing, but still be next to them? Presume she is in the same stable winter and summer? My horse has a bit of separation anxiety, but this is linked to needing to be the first to come in from the paddock and last to go out to her paddock - is there a chance there may be an element of this in your routine you could look at? I also have my mare on eCalm which assists to settle a few nerves (but not all, it isn't magnesium based).

 

[JR201200]

My old horse, Jay Man had a field he wouldn't settle in. It was inconvenient, but that was that, he would jump out if he was put there.

I do know that he was once in a field where a tree came down, although he was not near the tree at the time. But, when it was windy he would stay in the middle of the field, like a 20m square right in the middle.

The field he would not stay in was long and narrow, lined with trees.

I had to make alternative provision.

Alternatively, is your horse being bullied in the field?

Is she spending long hours in or without food?

Is she getting all the vets and mins she would at grass if the field has little grass (magnesium?).

Is work more intense in winter (school rather than hack?).

Is it possible to put her in the summer field for a couple of days, just as a diagnostic tool?

It’s strange because in the summer she’s usually high up in the pecking order in the heard and very confident. But as soon as it comes to winter it’s like she starts to isolate herself from the heard and seems scared to join them for no reason. One or two of the horses have picked up on this behaviour now and don’t want her joining the group anymore, but I wouldn’t say she was being bullied more she isolated herself from them and now they don’t like her.

the grass is good that she is on at the moment so she gets plenty of food and also gets daily feeds to get her supplements. I have recently starred her on magnesium as someone recommended that it could help to can her. When ever she comes in her stable she always has a hay net and when she’s out there’s plenty of grass so she never goes long without food. Her work load is also the same in winter to summer. Sadly the summer field is not able to be used in winter as the positioning of its just too wet and slippy in winter weather with thick mud so it’s rested all winter.

 

[JR201200]

I had a horse act like this when wearing a turnout rug

It’s funny you say that because me and my mum thought we were crazy, she went through a faze of seeming to act up when being turned out and we were sure it’s everytime we put her rug on. But now the anxiety has progressed and she acts this way with or without a rug.

 

[ihatework]

I’ve known a couple of horses like this.

It seemed rug was the issue on one.

The other was helped by the installation of a strong UV light in stable which was left on until just before (human) bedtime.

I might also be inclined to try some valerian

I would also trial a weeks turnout back in the summer field. If that improves things then you may need to consider alternative livery

 

[JR201200]

It doesn't sound like she is very happy in the herd she's in. If she is standing in the corner of the field she also isn't eating/grazing. So stood without eating for periods of time could be upsetting her tummy. Magnesium may help settle her. I'd personally be looking at something like acid ease or coligone. It may be worth having a chat with a vet about possible ulcers caused possibly by the stress of herd dynamics.
Unfortunately sometimes a yard that works for the owner doesn't always work for the horse. Its a balancing act sometimes with naturally stressy horses.

There is another possible herd I’m going to ask the yard owner to try her in, it’s for the older mares but I just worry if she goes in and continues to act this way she will upset the old mares heard. But I’ll never know until I try, hopefully she might make a new friend. She is usually a very social girl and she use to form close bonds with horses. About 4 years ago she and a gelding at an old yard we were on were inseparable they loved each other so much, he sadly died and she’s never got close to anything since. I do wonder sometimes if that still affects her.

I have also recently just started her on magnesium as someone recommended it to me, Im hoping this may help. I’m also thinking of asking the vet to get her scoped they didn’t seem to feel the need to last time I told them about these issues and just told me to treat her like she has ulcers, but I’d like to see what’s going on because I feel like I’m going round in circles and just want her to be back to her normal self

 

[JR201200]

Could she be being bullied? To be running away from the herd to the corner of the field to me says that she is being bullied and being kept from being in the herd.

can you change her field, even just temporarily and see if it makes any difference, then you can see if that is the issue. Are there any new horses in the herd?

I think I’m going to Ask if she can move to the heard next to her which is usually for the older horses but she always seems to stand next to the fence that divides them. I just hope she doesn’t carry on in that field and feel more unsettled with me moving her, I won’t know until I try ??

no new horses in her heard but one of the mares got sent away for training and recently came back, she use to be close friends with her in the summer and now the mare after coming back doesn’t seem to like my mare anymore, so this may be another possibility. My girl use to always stand up for herself but in winter she just seems like a different horse.

 

[JR201200]

I’ve known a couple of horses like this.

It seemed rug was the issue on one.

The other was helped by the installation of a strong UV light in stable which was left on until just before (human) bedtime.

I might also be inclined to try some valerian

I would also trial a weeks turnout back in the summer field. If that improves things then you may need to consider alternative livery

The rug makes sense, because she doesn’t wear one all summer and now we have had bad weather I have been putting a no fill turnout rug on her. Me and mum use to think we were crazy when we would tell people she’d act up when we put her rug on, we definitely got some funny looks but I’m glad it’s not just our horse that acts strange with rugging.

I may try her with no rug on the days where the weather isn’t too bad but I think her anxiety has gone past the point of just taking the rug off and it’s just her mindset now that she feels like she needs to run and hide in that corner.

 

[JR201200]

hmmm try putting one of his buddies in a paddock that is adjacent of him which he can see him, then do a couple of sessions where you gradually move the other horse away. in addition give him hay for distraction. Try to keep up the sessions so he can be fully adjusted. I do hope this helps man.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Flamenco]

Have a look at the Calm Healthy Horses and Gotcha Equine websites which explain this much better than I can.

Its to do with changing mineral levels in the grass which cause an electrolyte imbalance (need more salt and magnesium) and also upset their digestion causing issues.

I've found that feeding a balancer which contains vits/mins at NRV plus digestive sypport (I use Progressive Earth Pro Balance) plus magnesium, brewers yeast (supports digestion) salt and linseed, plus a toxin binder when he's having issues make a huge difference. Plus soaking hay for an hour to reduce potassium, nitrate and sugar levels.

Being rugged doesn't make a difference to mine as he's fine with a fly rug in summer. When mine is "grass-affected" he's hyper sensitive to touch so it probably looks like he reacts to being rugged but he over reacts/objects to anything touching him (couldn't groom him some days pre supplements!) He's 95% better now but still has odd days with issues.

 

[JR201200]

Have a look at the Calm Healthy Horses and Gotcha Equine websites which explain this much better than I can.

Its to do with changing mineral levels in the grass which cause an electrolyte imbalance (need more salt and magnesium) and also upset their digestion causing issues.

I've found that feeding a balancer which contains vits/mins at NRV plus digestive sypport (I use Progressive Earth Pro Balance) plus magnesium, brewers yeast (supports digestion) salt and linseed, plus a toxin binder when he's having issues make a huge difference. Plus soaking hay for an hour to reduce potassium, nitrate and sugar levels.

Being rugged doesn't make a difference to mine as he's fine with a fly rug in summer. When mine is "grass-affected" he's hyper sensitive to touch so it probably looks like he reacts to being rugged but he over reacts/objects to anything touching him (couldn't groom him some days pre supplements!) He's 95% better now but still has odd days with issues.

Okay that’s interesting to know thanks for the information I will have a look into that. Really appreciate it ??

 

[splashgirl45]

is she out 24/7 in summer and in a stable at night in the winter..if this is the case you may need to find somewhere she can be out all of the time all year round. my mare was very hyper in the winter and i just accepted that was how she behaved when she was in at night ..as soon as she went out 24/7 she was back to being easy to handle...

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

It could just be the change of field is further away from the yard? I only say this as the yard next door to me have a similar issue when the mares get moved in summer, a few of them will start to fence walk and it is quite far from the yard they can't see any of the stables from there, the owners say they only do it in that field.