My horse is evil at times

J

jumpingjack

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I moved my mare last weekend to a new yard, the downside is she's on her own which she seems to be coping well with out in the field and doesnt seem stressed at all without company. She sees horses walking by regaularly and some even come to the yard for a lesson, she really isnt fussed by them.

She has also gone from living out 24/7 to coming in at night and this is where i have the problem, i can bring her in and she'll be fine, but when i bring her in to tack up then she is terrible bargy and will threaten to kick and try to squash me, she has never been this bad with me she got quite mean with my previous sharer but she is driving me insane.

She'll stand outside the stable and just refuse to go in it can take me nearly 20 min to get her in and other times she'll walk straight in. Its as if she is just trying to wind me up.

Now i realise she has had a big upheavel and is unsettled with it all but anyone got any tips on how to get her to consistently come in her stable and to stop her throwing herself around and being bargy.
 
Hello, no tips I'm afraid, but can completely sympathise - I am moving my mare soon and I know she is going to be an absolute nightmare for a fair while afterwards. It took about 6 months for her to settle at the yard she's at now. She's a cob and when she's unsettled she just tries to throw her weight around.
I think you need to give her time, but in the meantime stay firm (but calm). Try and get back into a routine as soon as you can. Can you give her a small feed in her stable, to get her used to going in it? When mine was a nightmare to tack up - barging,pacing, I found my only options were abandon tacking up and just leave her in her stable till she calmed down, or get someone to hold her whilst I tacked up.
I'm sure she will get better, stick with it.
Might she be better being ridden in the morning for a while, after she's been in her stable all night and is more chilled? good luck!
 
I am glad i am not the only one then bless her she's such a sweet little mare usually and her acting like this is so out of character.

she has a small feed in morning and evening in the stable but dont want to feed her before riding - i do try the apple and sometimes it works!

I think she'd be a bit of a fruit loop to ride in morning as she likes her morning gallop, buck and roll as soon as getting out she's quite impatient to get out once she sees me!
 
My mare is exactly the same as yours, won't go in the stable, takes me ages to get her in, she often rears and I have to pull her in when she's on her hind legs, once she has one foot in, she normally okay if I growl at her.

I'd do everything with her in the stable, so leave a scoop with a handful of pony nuts in the stable when you go and get her, and when she gets in the stable, she eats the scoop of nuts and thinks that it's great. Also as she's behaving abnormal, keep a close eye on her weight and droppings - I've found that my mare is losing weight and her droppings are harder than they should be.
 
I'm probably going to get it in the ear for this, but if your horse is telling you that he or she is unhappy being stabled, why bother? Unless there's a good reason for them to be in, stressed out overnight with no company, illness, yard policy or whatever, it seems pointless battling away every evening.

Why get yourself and your horse wound up over something which might be unecessary. If your horse is out, rugged, and with company you could save yourself a lot of grief (and mucking out)!!
 
I can see where you are coming from but there may be times when it is essentil she has to be in for box rest etc.. surely it is better to get her used to it? i dont know, my plan is to try and get her settled as its all very unsettling anyway then if she doesnt then leave her out. Although saying that this mornign she looked very chilled out...so thats good.

Another problem is she has no shelter in the field (a bit of natural shelter from the hedges but when its windy and wet like it was last night she has no real cover) and when she used to live out at old place she was miserable in that kind of weather.
 
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