horse kicking door constantly ..advice

T

TinselRider

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 September 2005
Messages
2,596
Location
In a dark room with nice padded walls!
www.gatesequestrian.webs.com
grey beastley has decided he wants to voice himself by banging on the door at un sociable hours.....he never does it when anybody is about but im starting to become concerned about his legs....i have bandaged them and left over reach boots on to protect him a little.

just curious to hear if anyone has any advice i have tried;
giving extra hay (not interested)
hiding feed bowl (no change)
putting up a weave bar

cushioning door is not an option as he will eat it
crazy.gif
 
Replace the door with a wooden rail with either heavy duty rubber sheeting attached, or nothing at all. Alternatively, shut the top door and leave the bottom half open. Back up the bar replacement with a stall guard device made of webbing. Put a rubber mat on the floor in the doorway to deaden pawing.
 
Ok, here goes;
1. Turn out 24/7
2. Put door chain and leave door open so knees don't make contact.
3. Hang gorse over door so he pricks his knees
4. Provide different types of forage - different kinds of hay, haylage, and put it in small holed haynets so he has to work for it.
5. Play music to him
6. Buy a stable mirror for him
7. Move his stable so he can see more horses/is next to a friend/has a view
8. Ride him for longer
9. Give him a feed ball where he has to roll it around to get his tea.

S
grin.gif
 
Actually, if he were mine, I would take this as him telling me he's bored and miserable in, so I'd try to turn him out, even if only in a pen/small paddock, with friends to chat to.
S
grin.gif
 
i do sympathise. My 3 yo door kicks and it really grates on me. i think he only does it for attention so at least when i am not here he is quiet. (but then, how do i know?). i too worry about his feet but have to say the idea of a bar with a rubber sheet appeals. Will investigate futher. x
 
Buy several of those soft rubber trugs. fill them with water and put them in the doorway and close the door. When the horse goes to bang the door he has to stand futher away and gets splashed in the process.
 
thanks for sugestions but i cannot leave a half door or anything like that as he bangs at night,hes out from 7.30am - 5pm when everyone else comes in!
He is also ridden every day for atleast an hour including schooling, hacking, trios to the beach, jumping and shows

he has the feedballs full of treats lol and im one of these nancys that doesnt like using haynets, turnout overnight is prohibited on our yard which is a shame
frown.gif


will try the water infront of the door
oh and mirrors ..hes already smashed 2 specially made ones !!!

maybe its the start of his 7 years bad luck
crazy.gif
 
We learned the hard way when one of ours who was stabled a lot got arthritis in his one fetlock joint from continually kicking the door with that leg.
frown.gif

The best prevention is to fix a piece of rubber cow matting to the door, dulling the noise and therefor depriving him of the attention. A chain fixed 10 inches inside if your stables are old fashioned brick ones will also stop it, but our horse leaned on his until it broke..
I have also used the hosepipe to good effect, a blast on the nose often works well.. though not horse friendly!
 
This isn't a nice one, and i've never done it, but i have heard a spur strap tried loosly around the pastern with some bolt nuts on it works in a day or two. I have used the throwing cups of water thing, worked on a baby, didn't on the old boy, i guess he'd been doing it too long. but if this is late at night its hard to do that
 
My mare did this when we first got her, we fixed a coir door mat to the back of the door and it prickled her when she did it and also like henryhorn says, a short spray with the hose works wonders.
She also used to do it more when i was walking to the stable with her feed so if she did it I stopped dead until she stopped it and then continued, she worked out that her feed got delayed if she continued.
It can be cured so quickly, mine stopped within 2 weeks.
smile.gif
 
mmm if worst comes to worst i may have to try the strap idea
frown.gif

it wouldnt be so bad if he wasnt doing it at night

only 2 weeks ago he kicked out the struts from the door and got out
frown.gif
im at my whits end with him...I have bought every single toy imaginable...he is a FABULOUS horse in every other way and he is hugely talented.....he has NEVER been this bad before and tbh......im starting to loose sleep over it
frown.gif
 
A horse at my yard did this but a full grill on his top door stopped him completely - because he cannot get his head over the door he can't get near enough to kick it.
 
There is a thing that a friend has that sprays a fine mist of water at the horse if it kicks the door. She has 2 compulsive door kickers and it worked really well. It was expensive (nearly £200) but she had already had to buy 2 new stable doors in a year and youngest had started to get a big knee so I guess it saved her a fortune in the long run!

Found it!

http://www.quitkick.com/
 
I would try the gorse/holly/brambles on the door. Just may take a few knocks for it to realise "actually that's a bit painful!"
 
Our yearling does this too (we bred her, she has always done it). Ours live out 24/7, but come in for feet, feed, for the hell of it to teach her to deal with it, but she bangs the door, and will get her shoulder behind it too. I think the gorse idea is a good start, God knows we have enough of the stuff growing in the field!

I may lose my temper before then and chuck a bucket of water over her, it worked for my lad when he was five, he's now 16 and doesn't bang the door!
 
Fix a piece of rubber matting or old carpet to a length of batten and then fix the batten to the door so that the carpet/matting hangs an inch or 2 away from the door. Unlike fixing it directly to the door, kicking it while it is hanging in mid air lessens the impact still further, so the sound barely registers and it doesn't damage ned's feet. If ned tries to chew the matting/carpet, soak it in something your ned thinks is evil tasting. Peanut butter works for me lol!
 
has something scared him in the stable? so maybe he wants to get away from it. box of foxs idea sounds good soak it in lays fluid!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top