How to help my Youngster

[Arniebear]

I have a 4yo ISH who came over from Ireland last Aug. He's a lovely chilled out lad who i've successfully backed and ridden away. He confidently comes up the yard on his own and will hack alone, when he hacks in company he doesn't rely on the other horse at all.

The issue i have is he is anxious when stabled which is now transferring to when he's also in the trailer.

He was stabled for 4 months over winter (out during the day, in at night) with 5 other horses on our private yard. They are now back to living out 24/7. His behaviour in the stable was only seen when he wasn't first to be put out over winter. It ranges from shaking, to an anxious jaw/tongue play, to swinging his weight into the dividing wall of his stable, to kicking the shit out the dividing wall of his stable.

In the trailer he loads perfectly and happily every time but once tied up and partition shut (its an equitrek) he becomes anxious which only escalates further when i leave the trailer and usually results in him kicking the shit out of it. He has been on short journeys, when alone he is head to foot dripping in sweat and constantly kicks the heck out the box even when moving. In company he is 100% fine, no shaking, no sweating, dont hear a peep out of him.

Currently we are loading every evening and standing to have a small feed on the trailer and then reloading 2-3 more times having a carrot and coming off. He hasnt been out in it for a while but the current plan is to take another for company however the poor one who's getting dragged out is meant to be recovering from injury so he cant be relied on for travelling as i wont take him out to clinics/arena hires as i dont think that's fair on him, he loves his competing and will get too excited thinking its his turn to play and i cant risk further injury to him.

With the stable he is popped in and tied up to groom/tack up and again as soon as i leave he gets anxious/upset so much so that he wont touch his dinner in there, i had to remove him tonight tie him outside his box to get him to eat his dinner.

What can i do to help him become more relaxed/ confident in his stable and the trailer? He is plenty young enough to learn life is ok and the trailer/stable isnt scary i'm just not really sure how best to show him this. Is it just a case of chuck him in his box every evening with a small feed and leave him to it? I unfortunately cant be bringing another one in every time i want to ride/work the 4yo and he is more than happy in the yard completely alone anyway so i dont think having another one in will change his behaviour as it was seen over winter when they were all in.

Any tips or advice? i have just ordered a stable mirror to see if that's any help!

 

[Sossigpoker]

I honestly wouldn't force him to be in a stable if it makes him so anxious. I'd just tack him up at the yard.
Have you observed if he's calmer in the stable if there's another horse in?
Depending on where you are in the country , I can recommend a few excellent horsemanship trainers who could help both of you with this (as it's very likely he's picking up some tension off you , which is only natural as you approach the situation where you know he gets upset)

 

[Landcruiser]

Re the trailer, have you tried him without the partition in?
Re the stable, what about a big stable mirror? Might be worth a try..

 

[Arniebear]

He's absolutely fine if I'm in there doing something with him like grooming/tacking up. Stands quietly and relaxed.

Having another horse in made no difference over winter he would still kick the wall if another horse came or left the yard. Once everything was in he settled down quite happily for the evening. I don't leave horses alone in the yard if they are in its because we are doing something so it's a short time, pop him in his box to have his dinner whilst I put tack away kind of thing before they join their buddies again, if he needed to be in longer than that... Farrier for instance then all 3 would be up the yard anyway

Based Cambridgeshire if you know of anyone up this way

 

[Arniebear]

Re the trailer, have you tried him without the partition in?
Re the stable, what about a big stable mirror? Might be worth a try..

With it being an equitrek I haven't removed the partition yet he does have plenty of space and manges absolutely fine to balance and remain calm when I've travelled his field buddy with him but it's worth a try for sure.
Yes I've just ordered a mirror actually ?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

What design are the stables? My gelding hated being stabled (would try to weave and box walk at the same time) although he was also much happier if I was in with him. However I read some research about stable design and put open windows in the walls between the loose boxes (I'll add a photo) and it's made a big difference. He now eats his hay and doesn't dance about. He still doesn't like being in there (a tad reluctant to go in still) but he does at accept it calmly now. I usually only stable when waiting for the vet etc... and he is definitely better with vaccinations, having his teeth done, so a noticeably positive change to his experience of being stabled.

I don't travel him anywhere (the last time he was travelled was when he came here as a yearling) so I have no experience or suggestions for that.

 

[nutjob]

My horse has very similar issues. He has kicked through the partition wall of a stable and also exited out of a closed door. He had an accident in a trailer but always loads fine and then later starts getting stressed. No problem if he travels with another horse. Like yours he does weird stuff with his jaw and tongue when he is stressed.

He gradually got used to being on his own in the stable by repeatedly taking the other horse away and bringing it straight back literally hundreds of times. Then building up to increasing lengths of time away. Leaving him with a feed helped and a large bucket of grass chaff for longer times.

Putting a mirror in the trailer has made a world of difference to mine. It's just one of the one's on a roll which sticks to the wall but he always looks in it carefully and really seems to think it's another horse. I'd def use one in the stable if mine was still having problems with that as I think mine is all part of a separation anxiety issue.

I had professional help with mine which helped enormously as he has issues with other stuff also. I'll pm you the name as he is quite close to you.

 

[canteron]

I don’t know if she goes out and about as much but Ali Wakelin got my needle and clipper phobic horse standing calmly while I clipped him in one session! She is based in Suffolk and you can Google her.