Horse refusing to go IN field

[emfen1305]

We have moved fields today and it took me an hour to get my horse in and would have been the same amount of time getting out if I hadn’t blindfolded him. He just planted at the gate and refused to go in, I tried everything and blindfolding him was the only thing that works but this isn’t ideal as it stresses him out.

I don’t understand the problem, it’s the field behind my old field, same field mates, water feeder is the shared between new field and old field, it’s an electric rope gate but he had no problem with this in the winter field and it’s the same fence as in his old field. The only thing I can think is there’s a blue pipe on the floor but he didn’t even look at it, usually he’s a starer at things that are new but he didn’t even clock it. He totally zoned out, like a stubborn loader! He wouldn’t even come for treats! I can keep him by himself in the front but this isn’t ideal.

Any ideas? This is a horse who would probably walk through fire hoop if you promised him a fibre nugget on the other side so I’m just stumped at why he doesn’t want to go in!

 

[Meredith]

I can’t offer help but
My mare took 3 days to go through an open gate from her grazed field to the next which was ungrazed grass and she had grazed the ‘new’ field the previous year!

 

[Barton Bounty]

You could try bribing him with food, i had an incident like this last year where someone had zapped my boy with the electric fence, he too
Would not go in his field, managed to get him in eventually but he raced around and was in such a state, ended up having to move fields and it took 6 months for him to calm completely patience i guess is the key, how about riding him towards the field and having a wee ride in it?

 

[milliepops]

is it near a hedge? any chance he could be sensing something hidden behind it if so? (I have several hedge-phobes and they are pretty insistent about it)

 

[Melody Grey]

It has been windy here today and my two geldings decided to get over 3 rows of electric tape to get in the girls field for protection 🙈

 

[PapaverFollis]

There's no cables underground or anything is there? Probably nothing like that though else they'd all be bothered.

 

[Equi]

He can probably hear it buzzing or clicking. My field mate reacts to clicking and despite never having got a jolt and walking past it twice a day he still nearly jumps on top of you if he’s on the left hand side of you near the fence.

 

[emfen1305]

Thanks all.

No hedges, it's a post and electric rope field exactly like his old one. All of the horses have moved backwards so it's exact same set up except in the back field not front. Once he was in he stuck his head straight down and ate, had a roll and a drink, like nothing had happened. The fence does click but it does in all fields, including the winter field which also had an electric gate and he was only in that a few weeks ago. There's been a lot of horses in that field and none of the others seem to have had an issue like that, and today I walked his field mate in an out and he didn't even attempt to follow him.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and take a bucket feed and use that as he wasn't even interested in the treats today. I don't want to keep having to blindfolding him every day!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Let him stand for a while at the gate, reward him with a treat reassure him and when he takes a few more steps do the same again

 

[emfen1305]

Let him stand for a while at the gate, reward him with a treat reassure him and when he takes a few more steps do the same again

I did try that today, he would march up to it and then stop dead less than a metre away, literally, I was in the new field and he was in the old field and I wasn't event at the end of the rope. At one point neither of us moved for 20 mins. I tried pressure release with a dually but as soon as I released when he stepped forward he stepped straight back.

I also tried taking the blindfold off half way through and he freaked out and shot backwards into the new field rather than forward into the old field - my old horse was stubborn but this is a new level!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Its gonna take time, i was gutted when it happened to me but horses are so sensitive and it could be just that , its a shame but it will just take some time. This was the state of my boy when i left him for an hour, he was terrified

 

[DabDab]

Land drain underground?

I have one who is funny about water that she can hear but not see, it's most bizarre and I've honestly never known another horse like it, but I now know every point on the lanes around here where the drainage crosses the road because she tip toes over them like a cat on hot bricks. And yet she's fine with bridges, being hosed off and walking through water. Who knows what goes on in their heads.

 

[emfen1305]

Its gonna take time, i was gutted when it happened to me but horses are so sensitive and it could be just that , its a shame but it will just take some time. This was the state of my boy when i left him for an hour, he was terrified

But he was not bothered at all once he had gone in, and he would have stood and grazed right by the gate i had let him, he has been doing it for 4 months now in his old field, he had a drink from the water feeder straight away which is at the gate, he was absolutely normal coming once he was through, so i just don't get it! The other 2 didn't bother and one of them is scared of its own shadow!

 

[emfen1305]

Not sure on the drains I would have to check but this horse has had a bird scarer go off next to him and didn't blink an eye so I am stumped!

 

[SEL]

Can you ask your YO to turn the electric off while you take him down?

 

[Landcruiser]

I would bet that he's had a zap off that gate at some point.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would bet that he's had a zap off that gate at some point.

Me too .

 

[emfen1305]

Well whatever it is he will not be tempted through so don’t know what is going on inside his head, I’ve just left him in his old field and it’ll just have to be one of life’s mysteries!

 

[PapaverFollis]

Is there any chance you can leave the gate open and give the whole herd access to both fields for a while... Just to see if he can figure it out himself with a bit of help from his pals.

 

[rabatsa]

I used to have one with a fear of gateways. A metal gate had fallen onto her once with her old owner and she had a great respect for electric fences. Patience was needed at every field change and she would not follow her friends for love nor carrots. One field change took nearly a week with her fenced into a small patch of the old field and an open gate and friends in the new field.

She never did grow out of it.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Hmmm...... your horse IS deffo "telling" you something, that is for sure.

With my old boy, I put him in a friend's field. A local riding school had the grazing rights to one end of the field and their bit was leccy fenced off. Everyone happy, everyone OK. Then one day I went in to him, and there was something I couldn't actually put my finger on specifically, but I just KNEW he wasn't right. He just felt "wrong", he seemed unsettled, and anxious.

Later on that day I was speaking to someone from the riding school, who told me that they'd had a problem with some dogs from a neighbouring property who'd gone into the field overnight and had been chasing the little shetlands around.

When they said that, the penny dropped, and I knew that my boy had been "telling" me there'd been a problem; he'd obviously seen what had happened - and perhaps even the dogs had been in his section of the field, but hadn't worried the bigger horses.

I'd be inclined to check out OP whether this might be the problem in your field?? Perhaps something like this has happened to yours? If your horse is "telling" you he's afraid to go into the field, then you need to find out what's going on! It might be you have to put up some motion-activated cameras for when you're not actually there, and overnight, to find out. I would! You need to know.

 

[exracehorse]

We have a field on the yard. It’s called the scary field. Every horse hates being in it. Some have jumped out. Even my old mare who doesn’t give a dam about much WILL NOT be in that field by herself.

 

[emfen1305]

Having a zap off that particular gate is probably the most likely option though the fear of getting zapped hasn't transferred to other fields as he will happily go in them through the electric fence gates there. We rotate every couple of weeks so it's not worth stressing him out, he's happy in his old field so I have just left him to it.