Oh my god.

C

Cedars

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Everybody say goodbye to Puzzle, its her last day on earth today because I am about to THROTTLE HER!

In the last 3 or 4 days, she has eaten, yes, completely eaten, 7 whole wooden rails from her fence in her field. She has also completely stripped a tree of its bark and its now dead/dying.

Spoken to her dentist (the lovely Victoria on here) who doesn't think it can be anything to do with her teeth because shes not at the right age (17months) to be 'teething' in any way. Spoken to the vet who thinks that its probably just a 'phase' and she's unlikely to be lacking in anything that shes trying to get from the wood.

So, three things here:

1. Anyone think of any reasons? Shes out 24/7 atm on hay twice a day and obv grass but we're lacking in any decent quality but there is still grazing.

2. Anything I can paint on it to stop it? The fencing is long gone but she starts coming in at night from tomorrow and her box is brand new =[

3. Sympathy please for the £100 odd I'm going to have to pay to have it all replaced =[
 
Mineral definency somewhere? Try adding maybe a balancer or something....though if she's coming in then just give her a big bed of straw so she can carry on munching something once the hay's gone.

Short of ad lib hay and tonnes of creosote or similar deterant....most annoying habit in the world isn't it!!!
 
There already is electric tape around all of the top posts and I physically cant afford to fence off with electric tape and fence stakes (as atm leccy tape is attached via little clip to the top rail only) the whole field, its huge.

Nuke sounds like a good idea though!

Vet suggested a salt lick which she already has, but said that there is no way she is deficient in minerals etc and that alot of those licks are designed to keep the owners happy and dont do the horse any good?
 
Whats creosote? *goes to google*. I want something to put in her box but its not technically my yard (OHs mums yard) so I cant really stain the wood =[
 
My mare chewed everything in reach that was wooden when she had ulcers...not sure if they are possible in a horse of 17 months but i can't see why not. It could be some sort of imbalance in her digestive system perhaps.
After treating my mares ulcers shes on NAF Pink Powder and she doesn't chew at all now and is looking the best she ever has weight wise.

On the other hand she may just be a bit bored and it's just a phase so yes, another vote for a strand of electric tape along the fence too.
 
Olbas oil for the box?? Few drops go a long way, we use it on the furniture whenever we've had puppies in the house :o Perhaps if you mixed it with something in a spray bottle??
 
I did briefly think about ulcers but its literally been the last 3 or 4 days that shes done it, so its not got progressively worse, and also she is a big gypsy cob and although not impossible its mostly unheard of in them isnt it?
 
Oooh Sol that sounds like it might work...its just something safe that makes a bitter taste really! GRRRRR!

Would show you a photo but don;t know how to get it off my mobile.
 
Youngsters between 1 and 2 years of age chew like bloody beavers! I just chuck old fence posts and dead trees into the field in the HOPE that they'll chew those and not the fence posts. Creosote substitute (proper creosote is now unavailable) stops some of them - but others view it as salt & pepper! Yummy!

I THINK it's down to teeth changes! And the fact that they are little PITAs!
 
flamehead said:
2. Anything I can paint on it to stop it? The fencing is long gone but she starts coming in at night from tomorrow and her box is brand new =[[
Click to expand...

Not much use but it might cheer you up. A friend of mine used to use curry sauce, and paint it onto the fence, it worked a treat at first. Until all the horses liked it, and began eating it more. And some of the clients were quite surprised by receiving curry smelling kisses of the ponies :P
 
I did consider throwing lots of old branches etc in the field and leaving her to chew them but I thought it might either make her think that chewing is ok or give her a real taste for the stuff?

I've heard about horses liking the taste of chilli oil before LOL but not curry sauce hahaha!

Might need to pop to Stroud farm tomorrow and see if they've got something. I do have some crib stop spray from NAF but it didnt work AND stained all our clothes =[
 
To stop her eating her stable door you could put some old drain pipe over it, some at the stables do this for cribbers. Know any builders with offcuts?
 
For a quick solution when I had nothing else I found a bottle of jeyes fluid, diluted it and poured it over worked a treat, you coul brush it on to make it go further. It was only short term as she was alone in the field for about 3 weeks before her mate came back from rehab, she really stressed. Good luck
 
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