Ideas for keeping horses apart in the stable

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emfen1305

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Hi all, long story short, our stables are badly designed which means my stable and the stable next door are right night to each other on an 90 degree angle (if it is like a L shape my stable is on the corner bit of the L and next door is just where the bottom starts - badly explained!). Anyway my boy has been in that stable for 2 years and never had any issues with his next door neighbours and they have ranged from big to small. A new 4yo just shipped over from Ireland arrived a couple of months ago and is very babyish and doesn't settle well in the stable which winds my horse up. To top it off she has a very long neck so can quite easily reach over and get very in his space (chewing the top of his door, licking rugs etc) which results in him launching at her and having a half an hour battle nashing at each other. My boy is a very friendly horse so clearly he really doesn't like her. YO has offered to buy 2 grills (i'm not happy about putting one up as i don't need one but will go along with it) but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas on what I could do. The owner of the horse just keeps saying "horses will be horses" but I don't want this having long term effects on my boy and when it eventually moves out I don't want him attacking another horse that goes in there. 24/7 turnout is not an option and I can't move as there are no spare stables. Many thanks and virtual biscuits for help and advice!
 
xgemmax said:
Just put a grill up on the other horses stable so it can't reach your horse then there should be no problem?
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She won't put a grill up unless I put one up too and I don't really want to as he doesn't need it but I will have to if I can't find anything else! Thanks :)
 
Goldenstar said:
I would never put a mare in that situation the stables need sorting .
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We don't have any spare stables and YO doesn't want to know! No-one is willing to swap as it is an awkward stable! He's not had a problem before and lived in a mixed herd before I got him so he's not overly interested in her he just doesn't like how close she can get to his door.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Could something not be put up as a divider rather than shutting them in? Seems unfair on your horse when he's lived liked that no problem for years.
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I did try to suggest this but YO not happy. But i agree, I'm sad that he has to have a grill when he's done nothing wrong. I'm wondering if there is a way we can just put something up on the side of the her door that is closest to my stable just to force her to put her head out on the other side but I just don't know what!
 
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Maybe a weave grill instead of a full grill?

When I worked on the livery yard we had a similar set up with 2 stables. They were a wooden L shaped block and one mare had lived there for years no issue until another mare moved in next door and kept lunging for the one who had lived there for years when she came in and out resulting in a rug that was badly ripped.

New mare got a full grill up...
 
Does the roof overhang at the front? Maybe hang a rug from the overhang so they cant see each other. I know its not ideal but I had to hang rugs over the dividing wall which was grills with my last horse as she was kicking the wall if her neighbour as much as twitched his ear!
 
I wonder if hanging something from the ceiling in the gap between would sufficiently deter the mare. Would be easy and cheap to try, just needs a hook in the ceiling
 
It looks like an anti weave on the other stable could stop the mare reaching as easily or that something could be put on both stables to provide a small barrier/blind.
 
Damnation said:
Maybe a weave grill instead of a full grill?

When I worked on the livery yard we had a similar set up with 2 stables. They were a wooden L shaped block and one mare had lived there for years no issue until another mare moved in next door and kept lunging for the one who had lived there for years when she came in and out resulting in a rug that was badly ripped.

New mare got a full grill up...
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She hasn't made contact yet luckily but it's not playing either, i've seen my boy play with his friends in the field, this is definitely a "back off" as he comes with his ears flat back and she does the same. I don't think she would be happy putting a full grill up but will definitely bare it in mind if it gets worse, thanks!

Edit: just realised you suggested weave instead of full, this is something we are considering but i have to have one too which is annoying!
 
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FfionWinnie said:
It looks like an anti weave on the other stable could stop the mare reaching as easily or that something could be put on both stables to provide a small barrier/blind.
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I did suggest a grill on hers would be just enough but I've been told I would need one as well which I think is a bit of a waste of money. I'm thinking about putting up a barrier between the two (rug or something similar) as suggested above to block the view of each other. It can't be solid as they might bang their heads on it and as it would be fitted diagonally it might intefere with the doors!
 
New horse is causing the problem, new horse gets the grill up I would put your foot down on that and see what happens.

It's tricky that both the stables open that side because putting something in the corner to separate them might make getting horses in/out/door opening problematic.
 
ihatework said:
I wonder if hanging something from the ceiling in the gap between would sufficiently deter the mare. Would be easy and cheap to try, just needs a hook in the ceiling
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I think this might be the best thing to try first, we just need to stop her coming so close to his stable so perhaps a rug or something like a tarp would do the trick, thanks!
 
ester said:
New horse is causing the problem, new horse gets the grill up I would put your foot down on that and see what happens.
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agree. I think an anti-weave grill would probably do the trick as she couldn't get her neck so far towards the corner but would still be able to pop her head over the door.
 
I am probably not going to explain myself very well, but if you could put some sort of fixing to the left of your stable just above the door height that you can then fix a grill to that juts out at right angles to your stable by about 8 inches and goes up for about 3ft then this should stop the other horse being able to get at yours and also shouldn't impede the opening of the door in an emergency.
 
What about something like a headguard from an Ifor Williams trailer. If you put it on a hinge type arrangement you could fold it flat against the wall so the horses could get in and out of the stable ok but then fold it out at 90 degrees to your stable door to stop the mare getting to him. Cheaper for YO as the one grill will do for both of them, you'd be happier as he won't have a grill on his door and other horse's owner will be happy as it doesn't just affect her mare.

The other option (it doesn't look like there's enough room, but in case the photo's deceptive) would be to put a locker or tall cupboard to the right of your horse's door so she can't reach him?

ETA - could you fashion something out of an old oven shelf? That would do the job of a grill at a fraction of the cost if you can find a way of getting hinges on it?
 
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It looks like there is an overhang, could you hang something from the roof of the overhang, a Jollyball or similar. It would form a bit of a barrier between them as they would have to push it out of the way to get to each other. Might prove to be a diversion, they could bat it backwards and forwards!
 
Some really good above, I can't think of a thing

One thing I would be asking for is a better positioned stable if or when one comes available, the way those doors open is more suited to someone who owns 2 horses so that they are together,
you could potentially be destined for problems even if this horse leaves and another arrives. I would be able to see a possible ongoing problem for you if I were the YO
 
Thanks all for your suggestions, some really good ideas, hopefully other people will find this thread if they are having the same issues!

I got down last night armed with my shower curtain to put as a temporary divide and she had moved the horse and swapped with another one who he has been next to before with no issues. She moved last night and as if by magic my friendly, relaxed cob was back! Clearly some horses just dislike each other!
 
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