my horse is an utter twat, and its made me feel upset and hopeless....

[9tails]

thank you everyone for the suggestions. so its likely i will be the first to bring in today, because i want (and need) to ride, so he will be the only horse in. how should i deal with his behaviour, because he might react the same way again. do i put him in his stable, even though he might try and jump out? tie him in the stable(he can break the bailing twine so still wont be secure), with a haynet (which i doubt he will touch)and chuck tack on and go as quickly as possible?

You're expecting him to misbehave, which will most likely make him misbehave. Horses are incredibly good at gauging our stress levels and acting accordingly. Today is a different day, treat him kindly and firmly. If his adrenaline is up and he's pratting around, I'd just lunge then put him to bed. The weather is foul today, if it's anything like mine at the moment it's heavy rain and I never fancy riding in heavy rain.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Tie him up in the stable with a Haynes. Make sure you have the odds stacked in your fqvour, to reduce the risk if incidents happening. Do some ground work. Can still hack when it’s wet! Put a rain sheet on and wrap yourself up. Stick to a routine and consider some magnesium oxide and or a gut balancer.

 

[bubblensqueak]

Tie him up in the stable with a Haynes. Make sure you have the odds stacked in your fqvour, to reduce the risk if incidents happening. Do some ground work. Can still hack when it’s wet! Put a rain sheet on and wrap yourself up. Stick to a routine and consider some magnesium oxide and or a gut balancer.

thank you. his routine has been a bit irregular recently, not that much but hes a sensitive lad, and hes been on magnesium oxide and it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

 

[AmyMay]

I’m another to say, you can still ride when it’s wet ?

 

[Littlewills]

Umm, I dont want to cause a bun fight but I was there yesterday and saw this happening....

The horse has a history of separation anxiety and tanking off in hand. Theres been a fairly consistent problem since he moved to this yard. However, 2 horses left at the weekend leaving only 4 in a huge echoing barn. The owners left are unhappy and all the horses are edgy and upset. Turnout is incredibly limited, and this horse spends time out in his quarter of an acre muddy paddock walking and stressing, the horse next to him does the same. The horse next to him is looking at needing sedation from the vet he is that wound up at the moment. This horses separation anxiety has gone through the roof. The trigger seems to have been the 2 horses leaving and the neighbour becoming very stressed. But equally, he's handled by 4 different sets of people and gets away almost every day. The only difference yesterday is he went when tied up, this is due to the current feeling and stress at the yard.

 

[Littlewills]

I’m another to say, you can still ride when it’s wet ?

Actually not at this yard. The mud is so deep its not safe to ride on the premises, the school was half built and left so cant be used and the hacking is out onto a 60mph road. You cant safely negotiate it when visibility is poor, but the horse the OP talks about isn't shod and is very, very uncomfortable on the stony tracks you need to go on to get off the yard, so is unable to go. That will also be contributing sadly.

 

[Littlewills]

My advice is to stop riding until he has had a few days off the feed. *Set him up to succeed*. If he has been out in the field he does not *need* to be ridden until you have sorted out his feed, which I can almost guarantee is at the bottom of this behaviour. His behaviour is then being exacerbated by your handling.

I've seen you comment a lot blaming feed. Its absolutely nothing to do with feed in this instance, although it does help having witnessed the event to know that

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Even if there are other factors at play the molassed feed will definitely not be helping, it makes horses anxious. Stopping the feed might not cure the problem but it could well help. I suggest that the owners get together and organise themselves into working together, to bring in and put out their horses, which will help them settle. Are they all on individual turnout? That doesn't help anxious horses, either.

 

[AmyMay]

Why would anyone livery at this yard?

 

[Littlewills]

Even if there are other factors at play the molassed feed will definitely not be helping, it makes horses anxious. Stopping the feed might not cure the problem but it could well help. I suggest that the owners get together and organise themselves into working together, to bring in and put out their horses, which will help them settle. Are they all on individual turnout? That doesn't help anxious horses, either.

Its not my horse and its not my yard, but the feed hasn't been an issue previously. This is nothing to do with feed. The owners have owned this horse for some years now and are experienced, competent people. The person posting isn't the owner although has been involved with the horse for sometime.

As for why people would livery there, I dont know. I dont.

 

[soapy]

I must admit I didn't read all of this but will just say on my yard the only horses that act like this are the ones kept in pairs. Most of our horses live in groups of 5-6 and aren't so fixated on one horsey pal.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Its not my horse and its not my yard, but the feed hasn't been an issue previously. This is nothing to do with feed. The owners have owned this horse for some years now and are experienced, competent people. The person posting isn't the owner although has been involved with the horse for sometime.

As for why people would livery there, I dont know. I dont.

Then the owner needs to take charge and stop this ridiculousness.

 

[Orangehorse]

Well there is quite a lot of explanation there. There are only two horses together, and having "lost" the others there is bound to be anxiety. I would cut down the feed to hay only, with just a small amount of something.

He has found he can use his strength to get away, and is acting in a slightly hysterical fashion. I would not ride at the moment while the weather is so bad, wait until you can ride for several days in a row and try and do some ground work to improve the relationship and everything you do, think of setting it up to succeed. Kelly Marks has written a book called "perfect manners" - maybe you could borrow it from the library.

The thing about horses is that if the human doesn't take charge, they will take charge instead, but it is anxiety as much as anything.
The boss horse always moves the feet of the other horse, and every time you handle the horse you are training it - two pieces of advice I have obtained from various sources over the years, but something I always remember.

 

[Elfie]

Owner here. We’re not unhappy at the yard, very much the opposite. This horse has behaved like this since a youngster. Previous owner had a physical disability (has since sadly passed away) and he seems to have learnt the breaking free habit then. Since with us, we have managed it but like any other issues, I find with horses, they don’t often forget! This horse has had a turbulent 6 months. For 6 years he has been with our mare, who due to injury left suddenly to stud in June. Was then left on a yard with just one other mare (who he also adored) when the YO wanted to implement a vigorous COVID routine, banning our children, sharer etc so we moved him. Next yard he didn’t settle at all and this is now his third - final yard. Patience to let this poor lad settle after all this, is what he needs. I’ll support bubblensqueak, as if you’re quick you can stop him doing it. Years of practice and knowing him inside out to guess when it’ll happen. Still then he is quick enough to catch the best of us off guard! Happy to help bubblensqueak xx

 

[Winters100]

Do I understand correctly that someone who does not own the horse has posted about "my horse" using a very offensive term, which quite frankly I am amazed was not removed by admin immediately....wow

Elfie you are obviously a very kind and patient person, if someone wrote this about any of mine it would be the last contact that they had with them.

 

[Elfie]

Oh no. Our families have known each other years and, I agree with her, he is a complete nightmare at times. Definitely not an easy horse and bubblensqueak does an amazing job with him. She has done for many years. Just wasn’t having people second guessing what’s up with him or claiming we’re unhappy/stressed when we’re not. We’ve all had enough of winter and with lockdowns to boot, this horse needs a job and also, I bet, misses his mare friend badly. He hasn’t returned to his ‘normal’ calmness for a substantial period of time, since she left.

 

[DabDab]

1. What a strange thread
2. I once had a horse who was a committed tie breaker (including ripping posts out of the ground and snapping many headcollars) and the only thing I found to work for her was trying her to a bike inner tube (rope to inner tube to tie ring)
3. The yard setup sounds like a nightmare
4. That poor horse - he needs a lot of stability and consistency for the next 6 months at least before he is going to start coming right

 

[Littlewills]

Just wasn’t having people second guessing what’s up with him or claiming we’re unhappy/stressed when we’re not.

2 of the other horses are leaving in the next week or so, which I expect will actually help as the 2 remaining will have to be brought in and out together.

You arent unhappy and stressed? Seems weird that you would claim that on here, but in person you say different. I wish I hadn't bothered telling you about this post now, as you have seen fit to say I'm lying.

This is such a weird thread, containing such a lot of utter nonsense that I think I'll step away. Its crazy what stories some people will tell, and what a front others will put up, on the internet when they think people wont call them out on it. Utterly bizarre!