Horse constantly covered in cuts

[Stacey_xo]

I’ve recently moved my gelding to a new yard and he’s being turned out a lot more which I love and so does he, but whenever he comes back in there’s a new cut, graze or bite mark and I’m almost sure it’s just from playing with his new field mates and also maybe partly being put in his place within the herd, he’s not lame or anything and everything has been pretty minor so far and has healed up with some antibiotic cream and left some scarring, but is there any way I can reduce this? Have any of you experienced this too and what have you done to try to protect as best you can?
I’m going to get him some turnout boots to protect his legs as much as possible, and he’s rugged in a full neck so other than that I don’t think there are any other options but if anybody has some insight I would be grateful as I really don’t want him to be looking like a war horse.

 

[Mule]

I was going to suggest a rug but as he is already rugged I don't know what else you could do. Maybe you will have to wait until he is integrated in to the new herd.

 

[Stacey_xo]

I was going to suggest a rug but as he is already rugged I don't know what else you could do. Maybe you will have to wait until he is integrated in to the new herd.

I didn’t think so either, I wish I could wrap him in bubble wrap haha!

 

[Mule]

I didn’t think so either, I wish I could wrap him in bubble wrap haha!

Sounds like he'd manage to tear through it

 

[Stacey_xo]

Sounds like he'd manage to tear through it

He probably would, might have to up the insurance. ?

 

[AmyMay]

You need to sit and observe what’s going on really. Is he out daily?

 

[Arzada]

How long has this been going on? Are the herd mates always the same ones?

 

[Stacey_xo]

You need to sit and observe what’s going on really. Is he out daily?

He’s out mostly everyday and in during the night, I have briefly watched but have never seen any rough play, the yard owner says she does see him running around and playing with a couple of the others though.

 

[Stacey_xo]

How long has this been going on? Are the herd mates always the same ones?

He’s only been there for about a month, and goes out almost daily. At our old yard he didn’t get as much turnout, he’d still come in with cuts and grazes then but they were even more minor.
Yes it’s always the same herd mates, but it’s quite a large herd so perhaps he’s still just settling in with them and finding his place.
I don’t know if it’s him or others.

 

[AmyMay]

He’s out mostly everyday and in during the night, I have briefly watched but have never seen any rough play, the yard owner says she does see him running around and playing with a couple of the others though.

I’d certainly do more than a brief watch at this stage.

 

[Stacey_xo]

I’d certainly do more than a brief watch at this stage.

Yes I think I’ll have to, he’s on full livery so usually I don’t spend more than a few hours a day at the yard but I’m going to have to really see how he’s interacting with the others.

 

[PurBee]

Can you set up a camera overlooking his turnout field, linked up to your mobile phone, so you can be monitoring behaviour while still getting on with your day?

Many on here use reolink brand of camera and theyre reliable from most accounts ive read.

 

[Stacey_xo]

Can you set up a camera overlooking his turnout field, linked up to your mobile phone, so you can be monitoring behaviour while still getting on with your day?

Many on here use reolink brand of camera and theyre reliable from most accounts ive read.

I don’t think so, he’s kept on livery and I’ve only just joined the yard so at this point I wouldn’t even dream of asking if I can set up a camera, but I’ll observe for a couple of hours and ask the yard owner to check in, I believe she does check in on them regularly anyway as the first week she kept me very updated, and for the most part he’s pretty settled.

 

[Pumpkinspice]

It’s hard if he’s on livery because I guess you don’t want to rock the boat with the yard owner. I’ve had a horse that was similar due to being cut late he was very playful. We put him in With one other horse and then increased the number to see who exactly he played with the most and if we could separate them. It turned out he wasn’t overly fussy and would play/annoy everyone. Unfortunately in the end he ended up having to have sole turnout and just have neighbours as he was getting a bit rough.

 

[laura_nash]

He’s only been there for about a month, and goes out almost daily. At our old yard he didn’t get as much turnout, he’d still come in with cuts and grazes then but they were even more minor.
Yes it’s always the same herd mates, but it’s quite a large herd so perhaps he’s still just settling in with them and finding his place.
I don’t know if it’s him or others.

So he's going out "almost daily" in a large herd, presumably the other members of the large herd also only go out "almost daily", and he apparently used to go out even less than that. Plus he's new and presumably didn't get to go out with the herd and sort out the relationships when things were more relaxed.

If it was me I'd want him out with just one or two horses for this winter, every day, and look to get him back out with the herd in spring when they presumably can be out more and the whole group will be calmer. If that's not possible, and presumably turn out options are really awful in your area, it might just be a case of crossing your fingers.

Whilst it would be nice to watch and see what is happening, unless there are options to change things it's a bit pointless. A large group of horses that don't get daily turnout and have had changes in the herd membership are going to be more excited and reactive than a smaller settled herd with daily, decent length turnout.

 

[Stacey_xo]

So he's going out "almost daily" in a large herd, presumably the other members of the large herd also only go out "almost daily", and he apparently used to go out even less than that. Plus he's new and presumably didn't get to go out with the herd and sort out the relationships when things were more relaxed.

If it was me I'd want him out with just one or two horses for this winter, every day, and look to get him back out with the herd in spring when they presumably can be out more and the whole group will be calmer. If that's not possible, and presumably turn out options are really awful in your area, it might just be a case of crossing your fingers.

Whilst it would be nice to watch and see what is happening, unless there are options to change things it's a bit pointless. A large group of horses that don't get daily turnout and have had changes in the herd membership are going to be more excited and reactive than a smaller settled herd with daily, decent length turnout.

Well when I say almost daily, the only times they don’t go out is if the weather is too severe so they’re perhaps only in 1-2 days a week, the herd is a mixture of the DIY and full livery horses, they go out around 8am and come in around 4pm before it gets dark so I would say that’s a pretty decent length of time, but I will have a chat with the YO to see if there’s any option for separating him with 1 or 2 of the others as I am a bit worried he’s going to come in one day with an injury, but I would like to observe a little bit anyway as I just want to make sure he’s not being bullied or doing the bullying.

 

[spotty_pony]

Is there enough to eat out there? I find that’s what usually starts off silly behaviour in winter when horses get hungry and bored. Another thing that causes it is the weather - usually extreme wind and rain.

I would ask for him to either be out for part of the day only if there is not enough grass or somewhere with more food if this is the case. My horse can be a bit like this and he is out 24/7 and I am lucky in that I can rotate my fields but when they are in the one with less grass they have two feeds a day and I put some hay out too which keeps them a lot calmer in between grazing.

Edited to add: is this is a mixed herd or geldings only? When mares are involved, trouble can start too.

 

[Upthecreek]

It’s worth remembering that the downside of herd turnout is that they will play and fight. Injuries can and do still happen even in well established herds with a pretty settled pecking order. Most of these injuries will be minor, but there is always the risk that they can be serious. At this time of year I would guess that most squabbles are occurring around the hay feeder. If you watch them there is a definite hierarchy over who gets to eat where.

 

[Dave's Mam]

My pony is in an established herd, generally settled, but they do play, it's what they do. He has certain playmates & sometimes it does get "rough" and he often has cuts.
It's them being horses & I do like to see them being able to interact.

 

[Stacey_xo]

Is there enough to eat out there? I find that’s what usually starts off silly behaviour in winter when horses get hungry and bored. Another thing that causes it is the weather - usually extreme wind and rain.

I would ask for him to either be out for part of the day only if there is not enough grass or somewhere with more food if this is the case. My horse can be a bit like this and he is out 24/7 and I am lucky in that I can rotate my fields but when they are in the one with less grass they have two feeds a day and I put some hay out too which keeps them a lot calmer in between grazing.

Edited to add: is this is a mixed herd or geldings only? When mares are involved, trouble can start too.

There’s still some grass and hay gets put out but that would make sense if they’re squabbling over food, he gets two feeds a day also. It is a mixed heard, mainly gelding but a couple of mares.

 

[Stacey_xo]

My pony is in an established herd, generally settled, but they do play, it's what they do. He has certain playmates & sometimes it does get "rough" and he often has cuts.
It's them being horses & I do like to see them being able to interact.

I don’t mind that, if he’s just being a horse and playing that’s fine and that’s why I was looking for what I can do to protect him from getting too scratched up so he can still be a horse and spend as much time in the field as possible.

 

[Stacey_xo]

It’s hard if he’s on livery because I guess you don’t want to rock the boat with the yard owner. I’ve had a horse that was similar due to being cut late he was very playful. We put him in With one other horse and then increased the number to see who exactly he played with the most and if we could separate them. It turned out he wasn’t overly fussy and would play/annoy everyone. Unfortunately in the end he ended up having to have sole turnout and just have neighbours as he was getting a bit rough.

Oh bless him, how’s he doing now?

 

[spotty_pony]

There’s still some grass and hay gets put out but that would make sense if they’re squabbling over food, he gets two feeds a day also. It is a mixed heard, mainly gelding but a couple of mares.

possibly the mare/gelding dynamics that could be causing it then. I lost my old mare in October but for a while we had three horses (2 geldings - one is my friends - and my mare) and the geldings kept fighting over the mare so in the end I had to put my boy on his own as he got a few nasty injuries and it was clear he wasn’t going to learn from it. Since my mare passed away, the two geldings are back in together and there were a few altercations at the start but they are both very dominant personalities but they seem to be getting on ok now. If it carries on it may be worth splitting him up from them as it’s not worth the risk - and tends that get worse when the mares come into season in spring.

 

[Pumpkinspice]

Oh bless him, how’s he doing now?

I don’t have him anymore he was a loan horse. He was on livery with me. He would have preferred to be in a herd but he was ok as long as he had neighbours

 

[mariew]

Hay in fields are tricky, unless there is always an abundance and access they don't have to scrap about you might find jostling of position with hay. I have also always preferred to bring stabled horses in a little bit earlier before it goes dark, ideally before 3 as then it all goes a bit south when they are hungry and want to go in.

Boys are often playful though so maybe he just enjoys playing.