How to help an owner help his horses

[lottiemoo]

The background: I am an experienced, self-employed groom who has been caring for two mares, on a private yard with no other horses, every morning for four years, and the owner does the evening jobs. One of the mares is quite highly strung, lives off of her nerves, and has severe separation anxiety which leads her to jump our of her stable if on the yard alone. Despite the best efforts of trainers, we have been unable to resolve this issue over the last four years and now manage her stress levels through strict routine, keeping her stress levels to a minimum. The owner specifies what I do/how I care for the horses, so I follow his direction rather than 'managing' the horses myself.

4 weeks ago, the owner bought a gelding, and wishes to be able to take two horses on a hack and leave one at home. So far this has been fine as the gelding is happy to be left for short periods of time in the stable whilst the mares go out on a hack.

The issue: The owner believes that to prevent the horses becoming too attached and reliant on each other (so that two can go out and one can stay behind) the horses need to be kept out of a routine, changing stables each night, different times in the paddocks, together and separate, different exercise schedules etc.
This goes against my core belief that routine is best for relaxed and healthy horses. The owner (not very experienced) has decided that this is what we will do and will not take on board suggestions from myself or the trainers. The first week, the mares went on a hack, leaving the gelding at home and the stressy mare became almost unmanageable on the hack and the owner decided she needed less heating food (even though when the three go hacking together, she is quiet, and also is quiet when worked in the school).

This morning, the horses were in different stables to their usual ones and whilst I was poo picking the paddocks, the stressy mare jumped out of her stable and then panicked on the yard. I popped her in paddock, where she settled fine. I called the owner to suggest that we always put her in the same stable to help reduce her stress, but his reply was that we need to help her overcome her neurotic behaviour by continuing to change things until she becomes accustomed to it. I am concerned that she will either cause serious injury to herself by jumping out/getting caught/stress ulcers etc or indeed cause injury to her rider by continuing to be unmanageable on hacks. I don't understand why you, as an owner, would want to make your horses stressed on purpose by not having a strong routine, especially if you already have a difficult one to manage.

I suppose my question is how to address this with the owner? How can I convince him that the best thing for the stressy mare in particular is to keep change to a minimum?

 

[doodle]

They are his horses and he pays you to do what he asks. I have been there as a groom and any suggestions were met with the opposite (I’m pretty sure she just did the opposite regardless of what I said) so it is easier (and I’m not saying better for the horses) to just do what you are asked. Even after 9 years I would come in the next day to different rugs etc even if they had been replaced with the same weight of rug.

 

[milliepops]

How awkward.
I don't actually think a strict routine helps horses, because then they begin to anticipate things and get anxious about unavoidable changes. But there's a happy medium and if you have one that's really stressy I can only imagine that they will get worse and worse with the security of familiar regimes whipped away.

I think that if you over face a horse with change and different stuff there's a danger they'll either completely flip or else shut down.

All that said, some people get weird ideas about how to keep their horses and if you're there to do a job, it might be a case of his horses, his rules. If you feel like you've tactfully tried to put across your pov and it's fallen on deaf ears, I'd be thinking about how much you need those hours of work. And looking for work elsewhere if you don't want to do it his way (I wouldn't want to either, fwiw)

 

[Ceifer]

They are his horses and he pays you to do what he asks. I have been there as a groom and any suggestions were met with the opposite (I’m pretty sure she just did the opposite regardless of what I said) so it is easier (and I’m not saying better for the horses) to just do what you are asked. Even after 9 years I would come in the next day to different rugs etc even if they had been replaced with the same weight of rug.

This (Unfortunately) is true.

 

[Lots of Gift Bags]

I agree with mp that sometimes horses are better off without a strict routine but this one sounds like she's thriving on it.

However, not your horses, so you're just going to have to let him discover the hard way. You've said your piece, leave it at that. You don't want to back him into a corner so be feels he can't change his mind because you'd be saying "told you so".

 

[Lois Lame]

I believe that a routine that is followed is a lot better for horses, but as to how to deal with the owner who believes differently, I don't know. That would drive me to distraction.

 

[HeyMich]

Not your monkeys, not your circus.

I was once in a very similar situation and I had to walk away. I couldn't stand by and watch the stressy mare wind herself up, when the simple answer (in my mind) was staring at us in the face. Any suggestions I made on tack or grazing were also dismissed automatically. It was heartbreaking to watch but I was utterly helpless. I walked away and was very sad to do so, but had no other choice.

 

[Jellymoon]

I agree with you, mixing things up is not the right thing for this mare and she would likely be much happier on a yard with a strict routine.
However, as someone who employs freelancers to help with my own horses at home, if there’s one thing that really hacks me off, it’s being told how to manage my own horses! My current freelancer just does what I ask her to do, I’m not paying her for an opinion, I’m paying her to do the job I ask her to do. She’s lovely and a keeper. So if you value the job and need the money, you are going to have to keep shtum and get your head down. Leave it up to the trainers who are paid to give a critique.

 

[Ceifer]

I agree with you, mixing things up is not the right thing for this mare and she would likely be much happier on a yard with a strict routine.
However, as someone who employs freelancers to help with my own horses at home, if there’s one thing that really hacks me off, it’s being told how to manage my own horses! My current freelancer just does what I ask her to do, I’m not paying her for an opinion, I’m paying her to do the job I ask her to do. She’s lovely and a keeper. So if you value the job and need the money, you are going to have to keep shtum and get your head down. Leave it up to the trainers who are paid to give a critique.

So I kind of agree with this, to a point.
Yes as a groom - freelancer or not you are paid to do as you are asked but, you’re also paying for a experienced, (hopefully) qualified and knowledgeable person who works efficiently, safely and cares about the horses they are responsible for as OP clearly does.
I wouldn’t expect a ‘trainer’ to be asked about this issue. It’s purely a care issue.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

TBH I would walk away from the job and leave the idiot and his poor horse to it.

 

[planete]

As a groom, you are paid to do a job as your employer wants you to do it. I certainly would not have dared express an opinion on their management when I was a groom. If I really got hacked off about their practices I left. If you start talking about your employer's management and being critical of it words will get round and you will find it hard to get jobs.

 

[Leandy]

Agree with the others, you are paid to do what you are told (within reason of course) and you will prejudice your job if you are too difficult about it. I would however be suggesting some steps to help avoid the mare injuring herself. In particular, if she jumps out of stables, it needs to be made so that she can't. I would suggest that possibly he needs to add grills to the stable doors to prevent jumping out "until she settles down". You do however need to wait a month or two to see how the herd dynamics settle down with the new addition and change of routine. You may be surprised. Then, if things are not improved, I would be trying to have a quiet word about possible tweaks to management but tactfully and not just "let's go back to how it was before" if that is not what the owner wants. It isn't your place if he is clear what he wants done.

 

[Caol Ila]

I don't think it's as simple a dilemma of 'mind your own business or not' as some of the above posters are making out. It isn't as if the OP is arguing about feeds or rugging or whatever. As a groom, the OP has a duty of care to the animals, and the horse in question is jumping out of its stable. That's pretty extreme behaviour that could lead to the horse being seriously injured, and I think she is in the right to tell the owner that what he's doing isn't working. If the owner doesn't get it, however, there's not a lot you can do other than leave.

 

[sunnyone]

When we had a horse who would jump a 7 bar gate because she was left behind, we fitted an anti-weaving door to her stable. She simply couldn't get through or over it. Then whenever she needed to be left we all knew she was safe. Safety is what matters here and if the owner doesn't want to assign the mare a regular stable, then all of them need a top door that can be closed just before the others go out.

Obviously it'll cost money but at least you'll both be able to dismiss the possible consequences from your minds. Another cheaper solution could be to fit a slide in rail in the space half way above the bottom door. The Spanish would use heavy canvas curtains to do the same job (they are fitted on the outside of the stable and also deter flies and provide shade in hot weather).

 

[PurBee]

All horses has different personalities, like people, and its futile, as most learn, to force a horse to do anything other than what it prefers. Many are bred for jumping, dont thrive in that, and so are turned to dressage Etc..

Same with stable/feed management. Some grow up in a herd and so will always be herd bound, and wont be the type to be thriving alone, without becoming stressy. Some from young have been trailered around, met many new scenarios and therefore are bombproot to environmental changes, being alone etc.

We cant go forcing a square peg into a round hole, hoping to train a different temperament/routine into an older horse who prefers routine a certain way. We run the risk of forcing the issue, which your owner is trying as an option, the horse becoming stressed more, ill, dangerous, or so traumatised by the sudden changes, they shut down and stop responding to anything.

Our only option, is while the horses are young, to train them to deal with change/being alone etc. To promote a more dynamic personality developing. We can try with older horses, and sometimes can be successful...but like humans, personalities like routine, and its very difficult to find comfort in a lifestyle when nothing is ever predictable....like type of feed, when food comes, where we’ll sleep tonight, when grazing is offered. If there’s no routine of these basics in a horses life, there’s very few owners who would try that, as it rarely works to create a stable, calm horse.

Your owner wants a horse with a trained personality different to the one it has been trained with. They should sell this horse and buy in the horse that suits what they want.
You can only make your suggestions, but if youre finding it very challenging, due to it not being your horse/yard, you may have to review if you can continue working within this dynamic. Afterall the owner is asking you to care for their animals who they are purposefully stressing out, to ‘retrain’ them to get used to a dis-organised, unpredictable routine. It wouldn’t be so bad if the animals in question were not half a tonne with bone-crushing jaws and 4 missiles in each corner!

 

[stormox]

As an employee you can politely voice your opinion but at the end of the day they are the owners horses and he pays you to do what he asks you....

 

[Caol Ila]

Yes, along the lines of Purbee's post, I would be very uncomfortable if asked to do something so deleterious to the welfare of the animal, causing it to behave in an extreme way -- panicking and jumping out of its stable. My horse has displayed extreme separation anxiety in specific situations -- small barns, with only one other horse in her building -- and now I avoid yards with that kind of stabling arrangement. It was plain that no training, treat balls, or anything else I tried was going to help the horse just get over it.

Obviously there's not much you can do after you've communicated to the owner that what he's trying isn't working. If he's sticking with his plan, I would start job hunting. You sound like a caring, conscientious groom, and I'm sure someone else would be thrilled to have you.

 

[Winters100]

deleted

 

[lottiemoo]

So an update: the mare now has ulcers and jumps out of the stable most mornings. The vet has now intervened and fixed the management side of things.

 

[9tails]

An expensive lesson learned for the owner. You're lucky she didn't jump out onto you.

 

[canteron]

So an update: the mare now has ulcers and jumps out of the stable most mornings. The vet has now intervened and fixed the management side of things.

First time EVER I have been glad to hear a horse has ulcers - poor thing

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Did you manage not to say 'I told you so!'? I don't think I would have been able to