Not a fan of individual turnout but..

poiuytrewq

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I have at home, 3 tiny ponies. They are currently ok and seem almost happy together which is great and makes things easy.
Then two horses who hated each other at first but seem/ed to have become more tolorant. When I check them they are mostly ok, Either grazing fairly closely or Zig will be doing his weird unsettled pacing and listening and Alf will be grazing.
However since getting into a winter routine, which I'd dreaded but if kind of working! I'm having issues.
When they hear me around,they or at least Alfie often comes to the gate- Luckily they don't appear to stand at the gate until its "time" The problem is that Ziggy has always been a pain at bringing in time, who ever he's out with and however well they get on he starts moving them round, not particularly nasty but herding and won't leave them alone. Its upped a level with poor Alfie- he chases him away from the gate and round in circles, not because he wants to stand there himself or be first in just canters round and round chasing him.
Apart from the fact my field is getting absolutely trashed, Its only December and only has two horses in and yet it looks the worst I've ever seen it, Its also really stressful for Alfie and as he's had his hocks done recently and is a bit stiff sometimes I really don't want him doing flat out circles in mud.
Yet, If i turn them out alone they call for each other or won't settle- Ziggy mainly. He will go through/over fencing if he's alone. It also makes bringing in harder, not least because I'm usually in the dark.
I could bring in earlier, but I worry that may just get earlier and earlier! Also It's difficult with work. They don't do it every day but It's getting more regular and last night was pretty bad.
I can't put either with ponies as Alfie attacks them :oops: and whilst Zig is fine most of the time (it was just him and them all last year) he will herd and at their age its not fair.

Would you split? Try bringing in early- meaning a lot less turnout, But that said still more than a huge amount of horses are getting.
 
Ziggy and Alf at least need an electric fence down the middle of their bit, just to give Alf some space away from Ziggy. It seems to be a form of bullying, and it is difficult to manage as it's origins may be stress related. Another option may be to bring Ziggy in before he has a chance to start pacing and herding, but then he stresses because he is alone.... Do you think this is food related? As in they see you, you bring in, they get fed?
 
If Ziggy is going to trash fencing if you split I don't think you have many options.

Could you throw a couple of treat balls in the field when you first get on the yard to distract from the unwanted behaviour? or a small pile of hay each until your ready to bring in?
 
I was also going to suggest giving Ziggy something to take his mind off the chasing. Do you have to walk along the fence line to get to the field? If so, it would be easy to put a small amount of something like chaff in a bucket, to keep him busy while you catch Alfie. I think it's just pure excitement. My mare did it her whole life, but fortunately the others learnt how far back to stand so she didnt have to herd them. She always had to be first in the queue, by some margin.
 
They don't currently have hay no. Alfie needs hay to be soaked, I have tried a few times and its been completely wasted and being bit of a hassle to soak and ferry out there (then rake up) I stopped.
I don't have to go anywhere near the field before getting them in no, I think he see's the lights come on/hears me maybe. I can literally drive past them in the field and they are fine, away from the gate and grazing, 10 minutes later all hell is breaking loose.
If i bring either in alone, so the suggestion (which makes sense) to grab Ziggy in before he gets stressy would mean Alfie left alone which would really upset him! It would also take me as long to get out there and to the field to get one as both really.
They are not starving when they get in. They will eat a feed but then don't go mad at their hay.

It may well be stress related, This is an ongoing thing with Ziggy and winter. He gets very stressy and anxious about anything, everything and nothing. As soon as he's in he usually settles. In fact as soon as I've got hold of him he usually chills
 
As an afterthought, I've stopped riding him. He suddenly went into winter mode and I made the decision that I really really can't afford to have an accident right now, I have no help with horses/dogs at all and being winter along with work etc I really can't risk it.
I was getting that feeling of relief to get home in one piece again and kind of knowing I was heading towards a fall or worse so decided to give him a bit of time off. Id always said he's not a horse who would happily retire, I wonder if that's part of the problem
 
Some years ago I had a horse who got really stressed - running up and down the fence line - if he wasn't caught in before it got dark in winter (he was quite happy being out in the dark in summer though). He didn't intentionally chase the others but they occasionally got caught up in his fence running. Fortunately I work from home so I just always made sure I caught the horses in before it got dark.

Now I have one who is usually not a problem but then every so often starts chasing everyone off the gate. I find that if I get a headcollar on him he is then quite happy to stand by the gate whilst I catch another and then take them in together and go back and get the next two. If Ziggy still chases Alfie once you have got a headcollar on him would you be able to make a small coral in front of the gate that you could put Ziggy into whilst you catch Alfie?

The other thing I do is to catch the horses in but not give them their bucket feed for an hour or two. In the past I have had their bucket feed ready in the stable when they come in but found that that can make for a more exciting catch in than I like!
 
I'm just sharing this for info; as you know, Amber has a similar winter personality. I put her on the Equine America so-kalm plus powder, and it's actually made a difference. It's stayed that way, and we're on the third month of it now.
Believe me over the past few winters I have tried every single comer in the market. He is not a big eater and can refuse hard feed for over a week or they just had no effect at all.
I’ve spent a fortune and ended up giving most of it away barely used.
 
Believe me over the past few winters I have tried every single comer in the market. He is not a big eater and can refuse hard feed for over a week or they just had no effect at all.
I’ve spent a fortune and ended up giving most of it away barely used.
Drat, sorry to hear that, I've tried several over the winters but finally got lucky :)
 
One of mine starts pacing, kicking the gate and gets progressively more agitated as soon as he sees me leave the house. It's not specifically time related as I can leave him until much later if I stay inside. He doesn't herd the other horses but they often join in running round, rearing, kicking out, definitely a risk of someone getting kicked. It's a problem in winter as I was trying to go out earlier, get jobs done in the daylight then bring in to feed. It's resolved with feeding them as soon as I go out but it means bringing in at 3.30 so I have some daylight left. Mine always have hay but one is not ridden at all, and 2 are not in much work which probably means they are a bit bored.

Worth experimenting to see if it is the light / activity that starts him off or if it's the reducing light level.
 
Mine can be a gate hanger and has caused real damage today fields and fence lines in the past, while waiting to come in.

All stopped completely by turning him out overnight and bringing in during the day, all year round.
Yes, he's usually waiting for me at 7am when I go to get them in, but he's waiting quietly and calmly and not trashing the place
 
Could you make a pen by the gate and put Alfie in that when you get to the yard? Ziggy could have some dry hay near to him to help keep him quiet.
 
So it turns out I’ve had a completely unexpected turnaround.
My lovely TB who was at another yard retired with a friends horse is going to need moving or a companion from Monday. This is super sad as things with him were going so well. He was super happy with the friend he had and myself and the other lads owner did one end of the day each.
So we have that field payed for two til Jan so they are very kindly going to let me take Xig there for a two week trial. I don’t really think I can afford the time or money (as of Jan I’d need to pay for both) but it’s an interesting option to give a try.
He’s going to go over and be company to my other horse. TB stands for no sh*t so he won’t be bullied round.
Realistically I can only visit once a day but they will be seen up close by others am and pm and I could go lunch time feed, big hay, check and poo pick.
Alfie can then be alone but with the ponies alongside.
He seems happy alone, he spent both storm
Bert and darragh out alone in the field (the others stayed in, he has a dust allergy so I put him out by himself to see how he coped)
sad times but might work for them.
 
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