Interfering Liveries....

Elsbells said:
I do sympathise, but I for one would not want my mare anywhere near yours, say the next door stable.

Is she upsetting all the other horses?
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Spyda said:
:eek: OMG, poor horse. That's even worse. She must be extremely unhappy to be behaving like that. You really need to address the issue and not simply ignore it. It's not nothing; she is obviously extremely stressed. Don't just let her carry on like this. It's cruel.




Frankly, I don't know. But I'd try and make things better for her. Speak to YO? Find a field to rent to turn her out in. Or, if you can't and she continues to be SO stressed, I'd find a new home for her where she can be kept in a way that is acceptable to her. Sorry, but there must be a better way of managing your horse's stress.
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Spyda- Far from ignoring it I am every avenue to tackle it. I am posting on here because seeing her this distressed (and so out of character) is causing me alot of distress and angst. I have been intouch with her previous owner to try to get to the bottom of it. She reckons it could be a digestive upset as this behaviour changed about the same time our yard moved onto haylage which is particularly rich/moist this year, the haylage gave her a VERY runny tummy. I have put her on a hormone supplment, bought in my own hay and put her on a tummy supplment (all gradually introduce may I add) I have also been looking at other yards so it actually offends me that anyone would say I was being cruel. I most certainly dont ignore this behaviour but I just want other liveries to as at one point I had a very silly woman feeding her haylage everytime she did it...now Im worried she has learned this behaviour. She is a very bright and intelligent mare and it doesnt take her long to learn things.


Sorry my multi quote is not working!...

Just to add. No, she is not upsetting the other horses. They dont seem bothered by it. I have tried leaving her out at night but she was very distressed as shes the type of horse who loves being in. Im not happy to leave her out as the yard puts haylage out in the field at night. This causes huge fights and my horse is very dominant so its just an accident waiting to happen......not to mention she cannot eat the haylage!!

ElsBels.........trust me, she is the sweetest most laid back mare- not at all your typical moody mare. This behaviour has only been over the past couple months and is completely out of character.
 
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This is a difficult one...

On the one hand, I wouldn't want other people shouting at my horse or throwing water at him....

Probably unpopular....But on the other hand, having been next to a door kicker, I can sympathise with the other liveries. Whatever the cause, kicking the door is not only highly irritating, it can cause damage to the stable, and will more than likely upset the other horses, especially anyone who shares a wall with your mare, let alone any damage it may be doing to your mare.

You say it is your horse, your problem, but from the other liveries point of view, it does affect them. If it were an issue with your riding technique for instance, they can bog off as it affects no one but you...but behaviour like that on the yard does affect them - and their horses.

Is there any way you can have a chat with the YM and other liveries to try to get to the bottom of what exactly is setting her off? Perhaps someone may have noticed it being set off by a particular horse, or when the neighbour is fed, led past etc? And if you are seen to make an effort to find out why and stop it happening, they will hopefully be more patient until you manage to sort it...and at least then you can try to start working out what the problem is. Also, with any luck this might work to fix it without them doing something you don't want, whilst letting them feel 'involved' for the incurable busybodies.

Good luck!
 
Most horses kick when its feeding time or when bored, is she getting any turnout?

If she is cuold you not increase it? Can you move her to a different stable, something or another horse maybe unsettling her.

My friends horse weaved and boxed walked terrible when he first came to our yard, so I moved him round the corner so he could see more and he was so much better only did it at feed times.

I certainly wouldnt be happy with having water thrown over her, you could put a bar or chain up and during the day leave the door open nothing to kick then.
 
Hiya OP

The fact you are posting on here and asking for advice shows that you care and want to help your mare :) I don't doubt that for a minute!

As a relative novice I'd like to ask what 'blacking out' her stable means?
 
Spyda said:
Well, although you may like being there and find most things okay yourself - your horse obviously doesn't agree for whatever reason. You say her behaviour has changed recently. There has to be a reason for this and from what you describe is happening, she is becoming stressed. This would worry me greatly and more so when I know people are kicking my horse's door and think it would be acceptable practice to flick water at her. Eeek. Not sure how that's "meaning well"? Sorry, but your horse is telling you by her behaviour that she is not happy.
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Shes been in the same stable for 3 years and always been happy there.
 
tankgirl1 said:
Hiya OP

The fact you are posting on here and asking for advice shows that you care and want to help your mare :) I don't doubt that for a minute!

As a relative novice I'd like to ask what 'blacking out' her stable means?
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The stables have bars between them. I put black material up between them so she cannot see the horses next to her as this seemed to be the cause of her distress as she could see the horses standing at eating the bale of haylage beside her but could not get to it herself! But her behaviour continues....
 
Pinkvboots said:
Most horses kick when its feeding time or when bored, is she getting any turnout?

If she is cuold you not increase it? Can you move her to a different stable, something or another horse maybe unsettling her.

My friends horse weaved and boxed walked terrible when he first came to our yard, so I moved him round the corner so he could see more and he was so much better only did it at feed times.

I certainly wouldnt be happy with having water thrown over her, you could put a bar or chain up and during the day leave the door open nothing to kick then.
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Yes she gets lots of turnout. Shes out around 6-7 hours a day with her chums and they go out and come in altogether so I cant increase it. TBH shes first at the gate and is desperate to come in usually! She doesnt have a feed time as she doesnt usually get a feed (just started giving it to giver her supplements) and its stoppy charging/double barreling not ur normal kicking the door type of behaviour (which she doesnt do)
 
elsazzo said:
Shes been in the same stable for 3 years and always been happy there.
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Sorry OP, I'm not meaning to sound harsh - just worried about your horse :o but something must have changed. Have new liveries moved into your barn? New horses? Change in yard routine? Change in exercise? Feed? There has to be a clue somewhere. *Scratches head*
 
Spyda said:
Pinkvboots, the OPs horse isn't kicking the stable door. It's rushing about its stable kicking the side walls.
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This makes me think that someone has been allowing their horse into the mares space - which has started off her defence system - or and i know this sounds mad - but is someone teasing her with food, taking it off her etc - (this unfortuantly does happen at some places)
 
elsazzo said:
The stables have bars between them. I put black material up between them so she cannot see the horses next to her as this seemed to be the cause of her distress as she could see the horses standing at eating the bale of haylage beside her but could not get to it herself! But her behaviour continues....
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No but she can hear them and smell the yummy haylage. Move her to another stable if you can, one that sees less foody action, if you know what I mean;)
 
Goldenstar said:
I think I would be having her gastro scoped ASAP.
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Thanks Goldenstar she has been scoped before but there was nothing there. Her previous owner tells me she gets ulcer type symptoms on certain feeds so I stay away from these feeds. However she has been on haylage which really upset her tummy :( If changing stables/ no haylage doesnt help this will be the next avenue.
 
Elsazzo, whilst I can see why you are upset at the other liveries suggestions for dealing with this situation (understandably so - I would be absolutely FURIOUS if someone threw a bucket of water at my horse :eek:!), I think the issue here is not the interfering liveries but the fact that your mare WILL injure herself behaving like this in a stable. If this behaviour has only started recently I would have a vet out ASAP.

Does she have a lot of excess energy lately? Have you noticed any changes to her behaviour/attitude when riding/handling etc? Considering she has been in the same stable for the past three years I think it is fair to assume this is a health issue rather than a behavioural issue.

Equally, if this is behavioural, as Crimbowitch said, something has triggered this and upset her - if she is a sensitive mare something that other horses wouldn't be bothered by may upset her greatly. It wouldn't surprise me if she is constantly terrified now when someone comes near her stable if they have been chucking buckets of water at her :eek:

It's not always easy being a livery :rolleyes:! I hope you can resolve this soon.
 
Are they like Monarch stables, with bars and wooden pannels between the stables, or are they breezeblocks?

I would say it is definately aggression towards the other horses, and would have put the rugs up too. My mare did this at a RC camp, there were solid wooden pannel walls between the stables and bars at the front. She even noticed the horse next to her moving from poking her nose through the bars, one night the mare next to her stuck its nose out the bars at the front of the stable and my mare went mad kicking at the sidewall, she even managed to move the whole wall about half a foot! I ended up putting her travel boots around the bars to shield her view of the other horse. I think on that occassion it was just being in a strange place, as I've never seen her like that before.

Could you move her haynet so she is facing the rear of the stable and not noticing others out the front of her stable? Another thought may be a mirror for her. Have a radio playing quietly?

ps. For those who wouldn't have their horse next to a horse like that, mine was for a year. The horse next door boxwalked and neighed all the time, she didn't pay it the slightest bit of attention. OP the boxwalking horse was better out in a herd situation...

ps. Is she on haylage now if that upsets her? And yes she really does sound like she needs an end box!
 
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Crimbowitch said:
This makes me think that someone has been allowing their horse into the mares space - which has started off her defence system - or and i know this sounds mad - but is someone teasing her with food, taking it off her etc - (this unfortuantly does happen at some places)
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Crimbowitch I think u speak alot of sense!

Shes VERY food orientated and can see the horses tied up next to her stable munching the haylage. Thats her favourite spot in the whole world!

The horse next to her used to get tied at the haylage everynight. He was a pain in the backside and always allowed a long rope when tied up (even tho a terrible biter!!:o) It would not surprise me if he has gotten in her space and upset her.
 
I have a young mare in the next stable to my gelding, she does what you are describing when she is in season. She even does it when my horse isn't in the stable. The sides of the stable used to shake when she kicked it. Her owner put boards up over the bars but she still does it.
 
My mare was fine in her stable at my old yard until a gelding was moved into the next stable, lots of squealing & kicking the walls. Wasn't allowed to put a solid partition between the stables, despite being advised to by my vet as he said this was a food/territory thing, but the gelding livery owner "didn't want this" but continued to moan & whine about "her behaviour" & so was forced to move her to a tiny stable & swap with my other pony, she was better but not really enough room. The next winter the gelding had gone & I had a bigger stable & she was fine. We have sinced moved yards & she does not want to be in at all, after riding in the afternoon she taps gently on the door, "time to go out please" so is well rugged & out 24/7. Your mare must be telling you something, I suspect its a food thing with the haylage next door, can she live out?
 
My chilled, calm mare will not tolerate another horse tied outside her box, or with low partitions to either side. (except for daughters pony who she has a mare & foal relationship with). Because she views it as invading her space, so bucking etc is just her way of chasing others away, as obviously they can't exactly move when she gives subtle hints. She's fine if they walk past, or anywhere else, even stops if a person goes in. Also, she's very much top dog herd wise. Yours could just be the same, easy solution with mine is just make sure she doesn't have clear view of neighbours, & never tie anything outside her door. In your shoes, I'd do the same, & then make it quite clear anyone throwing water at her would regret it.
Generally people don't interfere with mine, I'm pretty good at emphasizing how bad an idea it is. However funniest experience sorted itself out. This idiot had a horse 3rd in the pecking order, however owner decided she would bucket feed it in the group. My mare at the top obviously chased it off. So idiot decides to tie my mare to the gate while she feeds. So daughters pony pinches feed instead. And at that time still being pretty fear aggressive, attempts to chase her off got nowhere. So eventually idiot tied my mare up, & took a schooling whip to chase pony off with. Pony objected strongly, & chased idiot from field. (probably about 9/10hh tops & 150kg max at the time). Pony then decided idiot was a threat, & had to be chased out whenever she went in the field. I didn't know this at the time, partly found out because of neighbours telling me, partly because I'd witnessed pony going for her. Needless to say, I didn't have to say much, pony had already dealt with her. Served the idiot right, by the time she'd tied mine up she could have just brought her own out.
 
bubbilygum said:
Elsazzo, whilst I can see why you are upset at the other liveries suggestions for dealing with this situation (understandably so - I would be absolutely FURIOUS if someone threw a bucket of water at my horse :eek:!), I think the issue here is not the interfering liveries but the fact that your mare WILL injure herself behaving like this in a stable. If this behaviour has only started recently I would have a vet out ASAP.

Does she have a lot of excess energy lately? Have you noticed any changes to her behaviour/attitude when riding/handling etc? Considering she has been in the same stable for the past three years I think it is fair to assume this is a health issue rather than a behavioural issue.

Equally, if this is behavioural, as Crimbowitch said, something has triggered this and upset her - if she is a sensitive mare something that other horses wouldn't be bothered by may upset her greatly. It wouldn't surprise me if she is constantly terrified now when someone comes near her stable if they have been chucking buckets of water at her :eek:

It's not always easy being a livery :rolleyes:! I hope you can resolve this soon.
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Just figured out the muti quote- great!! :D:D
No one has thrown water at her. This was just a ludicrous suggestion by a fellow livery. She doesnt bother when others walk past her stable- shes not that sort of horse at all! Its just when they are at the haylage....or even if they are not & she wants to be.....


Honey08 said:
Are they like Monarch stables, with bars and wooden pannels between the stables, or are they breezeblocks?

I would say it is definately aggression towards the other horses, and would have put the rugs up too. My mare did this at a RC camp, there were solid wooden pannel walls between the stables and bars at the front. She even noticed the horse next to her moving from poking her nose through the bars, one night the mare next to her stuck its nose out the bars at the front of the stable and my mare went mad kicking at the sidewall, she even managed to move the whole wall about half a foot! I ended up putting her travel boots around the bars to shield her view of the other horse. I think on that occassion it was just being in a strange place, as I've never seen her like that before.

Could you move her haynet so she is facing the rear of the stable and not noticing others out the front of her stable? Another thought may be a mirror for her. Have a radio playing quietly?

ps. For those who wouldn't have their horse next to a horse like that, mine was for a year. The horse next door boxwalked and neighed all the time, she didn't pay it the slightest bit of attention. OP the boxwalking horse was better out in a herd situation...
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Yes Monarch style- with wooden panels and metal bars :)
The haynet rings are at the back so shes facing the wall when munching...Im not sure she would be interested in a mirror tbh and its a fairly busy yard so there can be a bit of noise so doubt the radio would be heard.....thanks for the suggestions tho :)
 
Thank god I'm not on a yard anymore.

I'd be trying to work out why the change of behaviour and I'd be informing the liveries that if anyone dumped water over my horse they'd be lucky if they walked off the yard.

My horse was a nightmare in her stable on first yard apparently. Fine for me and friends so took a day off to watch her from coffee room where she couldn't see us.
liveries would go up, wind her up then wander off, she'd throw herself round the stable like she was going to take it out and scream at them, horrible to watch, and they'd go back over and treat her. Didn't bother with me as didn't get anything out of it. Was not impressed when I saw it happening. Didn't stay on the yard much longer (due to other issues)
 
The_angel_littlelegs what a pilava! You're right about them being a bit of a numpty! Wouldn't it have been soooo much simpler for them to feed their horse outside of the field and leave yours alone. Duh. Not exactly Rocket Science! :D
 
How old is she? If its dominant get out of my space behavior, it often escalates as they get older & move up the ranks herd wise. Also has her position in the herd changed in the last 3yrs? Eg was at bottom, over summer made it near the top?
 
I think there is loads of good advice here. I'm wondering why your girl wants to get at the haylage? Is she busy with hay herself? If so it's prob a territory thing. If not, is she hungry? A tricklenet might help stretch out her hay which gives her something to do, mine is kept busy with his tricklenet for ages, which means he's not bothering with anything else. Also it may not be relevant but he wasn't very nice on alfalfa and would snake at me, plus seemed to have some gastro symptoms which have gone now he's off it. Just thought it was worth mentioning, if she isn't allowed haylage. Hope you get it sorted, she sounds very unhappy poor girl.
 
Some horses love haylage sooo much it's like horse cocaine I wonder if it's that in which case I wonder if she could cope with some at danger times.
 
Sorry must have read it wrong, I would try moving stables see if it makes a difference, years ago we had a gelding at our yard owner just bought him, he used to kick the walls untill his back shoes fell off, he even kicked the wall down one night could have fallen on the pony next door, he was a very stressy type so we put him in a box at the end and we used to put straw bales against the wall where the other horse was as we realised he didnt like having neighbours, it did get better and at least the straw bales saved him damaging his feet.
 
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