My mare is stubborn going in her stable and then is anxious when she does go in !

[Lori Freeborn]

Hello!

my 18 YO chestnut TB mare has decided she no longer likes the stable!
I get her in to feed, groom and/or tack up to ride. She loves to be ridden so there’s no correlation of the hatred from the stable and being ridden (I know some other horses are like this!)
She loves her dinner, I have to coax her in slowly with the bucket and quickly shut the door behind her. Once she’s in she frets, sweats, messes lots and is clearly anxious. I’ve tried staying with her, grooming her, ignoring her (which results in pawing), playing quiet music, feeding her, having yummy hay ...

She’s got a history of bad loading but she’s fine once in trailer (not anxious just a stubborn mare to go in)

she lives out on her own as she needs to long grass and the other pony needs the short grass. I think it’s fair to say this is separation anxiety. however the other horses on the yard aren’t mine and because of covid I’m not to go near the other horses ... otherwise I would try bringing another horse in with her to keep her company.

any suggestions !?

 

[rabatsa]

It sounds like something has upset her and her memory is working overtime.

 

[WandaMare]

It could be caused by lots of different things, can she see any other horses from the stable? Are there any weird noises coming from above or behind the stable, like a hedge rubbing on the building or birds on the roof? Has she had any bad experiences in there, vets, dentists?

If she can't see other horses then it does sound like separation anxiety in which case I would just keep taking her in, giving her a treat or a feed and lengthen the time she's in there....you could also do other riding / groundwork exercises with her away from the other horse so that she starts to feel more confident on her own or just with you.

I would also wait until a day when the weather is dreadful, leave her out in it for a while, and then get her in so that she feels the benefit on being inside.

 

[wiglet]

My mare became very anxious about being in her stable last year. Turned out the horse next door to her was kicking the breeze block partition that badly, the bocks started moving. YO had to rebuild the wall and make it secure. Once this was done, she settled down again. Has something different happened to her in her stable and made her anxious? There will be a reason - hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[9tails]

How long has this been going on? There may be a wasp nest. Spend time in there yourself (without the horse) and see if you can find anything that could be upsetting her.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

How long has this been going on? There may be a wasp nest. Spend time in there yourself (without the horse) and see if you can find anything that could be upsetting her.

Or it may be rats that she doesn't want to share her stable with. If you think it is separation anxiety, could you bring the pony in to stay near her?

 

[SEL]

I got badly kicked trying to persuade my mare a stable was ok. Never got to the bottom of it and she went in an alternative one without a murmur.

Oddly a therapist was working in there months later and asked to take the horse outdoors because "it had bad vibes".

 

[blitznbobs]

Have you tried a mirror?

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Have you checked for rats? Rats living in the walls can easily cause this reaction, many horses detest rats.
Def worth clearing out the stable thoroughly and checking all round, inside and outside.

 

[AmyMay]

Why not bring your pony in first, and then your mare to see if that helps?

 

[Equi]

Is this a new issue or something new? What has changed in her routine over the last few months?

 

[Boulty]

If it's happened quite suddenly has she had her eyesight checked recently. Random thought but if the stable is darker than outside & her sight is going that could be a cause of panic & explain her reluctance to go in.

Would also look for anything that might have changed recently to upset her

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’ve had a few similar incidences, one time it was a rat, I found a hole in the wall and it had eaten a hole in the rubber mat to get in. Once we sorted that the horse was fine again. Another time the pipe work had come loose in the auto waterers making them bang and vibrate when the next door horse drank.
Trees having grown and banging on the roof was another. All pretty easily sorted but took a while to work out!

 

[Bambelina]

How long have you had her? If not all her life, do you know her history? I ask because my mare is similar. In winter all of the horses come in just for a feed twice a day to seperate them. She hates it. She is reluctant to go in and spends 5 minutes prancing at the door before going in and spinning around with a look of fear of you close the
Door. For this reason i feed her outside, and the other two go in stables. In her previous home she was in a yard with no turnout for most of the year, with just a little bit in the summer. I honestly think she worries that if she goes in she won’t come out for 9 months, which breaks my heart. I tack her up etc outside too, tied to our trailer, which is good practice for shows, and luckily she can be out 24/7 year round.

 

[Morgan123]

Look at it from her point of view - she is anxious about this confined space, but she goes in becuase she REALLLY wants that dinner and then when she gives in on the feed front, she gets shut in. It's like if you were claustrophobic about going in a lift, and someone tempted you in with a really good chcoolate cake, but then slammed the door on you. It would make it worse. Can you take some time without her needing to be shut in there, maybe a few weeks - starting with just feeding her near the stable and then gradually getting her used to it again?

You also used the word "stubborn" twice. What does this really mean? Usually when people say stubborn, they mean the horse really doens't want to do something that the human wants them to do. Usually there's more to it than the horse being "stubborn", so it''s an unhelpful word - like "naughty". f you can find why she doesn't want to do it, you can work from there.

I used to hvae a mare exactly like yours - we gave her ages of not having to go in a stable, then built up rEALLLLLY slowly with a buddy who she could see at all times. But stables aren't really nice environments for a lot of horses - we might like them, but they're totally alien and unnatural for them. Just like not all dogs want to be in a crate, not all horses want to be in stables, and that's something we really should accept if we can.