Out at night alone

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doris2008

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My TB has been living out since April time. It has always been with a couple of others, but they have all suddenly decided to start bringing in now at night as one of the connies started to show signs of LGL. The others - a TB & a shire are being kept in too.
At the moment my lad can't be brought in as I am banned from using the stables!!! :rolleyes: He cribs & as the number of horses in barn has reduced he has moved to a stable closer to the others. Until I have sorted out some protection for the gates (big 15x15 pens) he is not allowed in there. I am working on this.
Other owners didn't tell me until late last night that all others were coming in so I havent been able to do anything about it which meant he had to stay out alone last night & probably will tonight at least. Since having him (6 years), i have never left him out alone, and so was a bit concerned to say the least. I checked on him at about 11 last night. I tried to keep a low profile as did not want to unsettle him, and he was eating but giving out the odd shriek too!
I am now trying to decide what to do, do I bring him in at night or will he be ok alone? I dont think he will do anthing stupid like jump out or run around like a goon but I do imagine he will spend a lot of time standing by the gate sulking. I really prefer him to live out at this time of year - he prefers it (with company of course!) and it obviously costs me much less in bedding/hay.
Am I being unfair on him leaving him out or do you think he will get used to it?
 
If he is not hysterical I would leave him to it. You will probably find he will stop sulking by the gate as soon as he realises he is not coming in. My shetland has been living completely on his own for the last 4 weeks, since my horse died. I was going to get him a companion until I find a new horse, but after 2 hysterical days, he has completely settled down, not even calling to the horses who ride past the house. It is surprising what they will accept. Of course there will always be exceptions...
 
I would never leave a horse out alone overnight - but maybe I'm a worrier??

So despite the 'ban' (how ridiculous...) he's be comming in if he were mine.
 
if he looks fine and is not loosing weight worrying etc then i'd not worry too much :)
it's not ideal but it's not going to kill him ;)
 
my 4yro is quite happy to be left out at night by himself; since we got him as a foal he never had a strong herd instinct.

on the other hand, my 6yro would scream blue murder if you dared to leave her out alone overnight!
 
Amymay..I too am a worrier! I don't like the idea at all really. And yes the 'ban' does bug me. Its a complicated situation at the moment. Would love to move but it only costs me £8.50/week! Am weighing up the pros & cons. Difficult with a cribber, although he is not too bad nowadays. Farmer has been perfectly fine the last 6 years but all of a sudden isnt so happy about it. I think another livery has been rattling the cage as such.

Anyway, am hoping he will settle into it. Although inevitably I will probably start bringing him in at some point. I just dont think its fair on them to be alone. OH is working on a method of proofing stable!

Am definatley thinking my plan to get him a friend is more justifiable now!
 
It is my pet hate to see a horse or pony on its own, and something I feel strongly about.

It's very stressful for a horse to be alone, as they can't relax or sleep well without the protection of the herd - he will spend all night on high alert, even if he gives up shrieking and pacing about, he will still be very aware of being on his own. They do of course get used to it, but it doesn't make it right although in this case it is not easy to sort.

Can you speak to some of the other owners and see if someone will change their mind and put theirs out with you?
 
Llewelyn said:
It is my pet hate to see a horse or pony on its own, and something I feel strongly about.

It's very stressful for a horse to be alone, as they can't relax or sleep well without the protection of the herd - he will spend all night on high alert, even if he gives up shrieking and pacing about, he will still be very aware of being on his own. They do of course get used to it, but it doesn't make it right although in this case it is not easy to sort.
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out of interest, does it bother you even when the horse isn't bothered?

i don't think i have ever seen Vinnie on 'high alert' :)
 
Sorry but it is not a good idea to leave a horse alone in a field at night. They are herd animals and at any time some members of the hred will be "on watch" whilst others sleep, who will be watching for your TB? Therefore it follows he will be unable to relax or sleep.

Maybe you should look at the yard you are on, any yard that puts stables before a horse's welfare would most definately not be a place I would want my horse to be.

My YO was cross the other day because Cappy chased one of her horses out of the field, forcing it to jump a fence. When she tried to put her horse back he chased it out again. I offered to have Cappy in a field alone, being able to see other horses. She would not hear of it, she thought it would be bad for Cappy. She moved her horse and Cappy is now happy with 2 of her 3 year olds, who won't challenge him.

A YO should put a horse's welfare before any other considerations, simple really.
 
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The ban sounds stupid.
As you went down at 11 last night to check on him.... is there any chance you would be allowed to bring him in at that time? and turn him out early? That way his time in is minimised reducing his chances to teach all of the horses that are in any bad habits.
I am a YO and we have a rule that you never leave one horse out alone. At the start of the year we had someone leave one out when they brought theirs in (at this point it was winter so all have to be in at night) as the owner had maintained she was ok alone.....
well, we ended up getting the fire brigade! She was ok for a while, then attempted to jump out.... she cant jump! so we had a 15hh cob tangled in a fence that was post and rail, with a strand of electric wire at the top, she was really caught up in on, and on her side, as she tried to get up, she twisted her legs more!
Thankfully, someone was on the yard at the time - but had she been out overnight.....

i think its very difficult for a horse to accept being along when they are used to being part of a herd.
 
i love all of the textbook stuff some people come out with- yes 90% of horses are not happy alone yet some are fine.

my boy is happy to relax and sleep (usually flat out!) when there are no other horses around.
as i said, he doesn't really have a strong herd instinct- never has since we got him at 5 months old.

however, he won't be left in the stable alone for some reason so we never expect him to.

i also used to have a horse a few years ago who was happy left alone when i went eventing with the other one- he could also be left in the stable alone for the whole day while we were out eventing.

i know horses are meant to have strong herd instincts but some just don't and aren't bothered by being alone.
 
If the horse seems content to stand and eat and isnt galloping around like a looney then id leave him :) ... if mine was fine by himself then he'd be out all the time but he goes crackers and has come in injured in the past due to people leaving him alone :( ... so he only goes out whilst im at the yard so i can make sure hes not alone ... although he stands like a loner when hes with friends lol hes weird :)
 
My TB is out at night alone (as of yesterday) untill I find a companion for her. Our bathroom overlooks her field so I can keep an eye on her. I don't think I'd be happy if there was no one there to check her. She is settled, albeit a little indignent!
 
Hmm..definate mixed opinions.
I'm not happy with the situation & am hoping OH will have a found me some piping to cover top of gates so I can have a go at sorting it tonight.
The 'YO' is a farmer - we are left to our own devices - he doesn't run the place as such. The other owner who kept her horses here left earlier this year as she bought some land & there are now just three owners & 5 horses. Owner with 3 wants her 2 connies in due to lami risk - fair does. Apparantly TB now staying as he is competing :confused: again now.
Other owner I don't get on with (she slept with my ex!!!:eek:) but we are adults and are able to communicate about the horses when needs be. She has a shire who was living out with mine but she thinks he is footy & doesnt want to risk laminitis either! So none of them are terribly flexible!

It just narks me cos they were all happy together out & had got into a nice routine with it. It will take G time to settle into it either way as he will have to get used to a new stable as well.
 
Did this ban actually come from the YO or through another livery.

It is just is seems odd that after 6 years things are being said. Apart from the damage, it isn't as contagous as people think

As an owner of a cribber you need to get hold of thick plastic tubing (not drain pipe it is not robust enough), the type they use for gas, cut a strip out and put over the pen sides, this way the damage is to your property and not the farmers.

You can just see the yellow tube on my stable door to the left on this photo

Photo14_14A.jpg
 
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although i can understand the ban from the point of view that a cribber can do damage to the stables.. to exile him to the field on his own is (to me) really harsh on the horse!!
my horse will not be turned out alone (even if there are horses on fields either side and she can touch them etc) and if she is then she'll gallop round and around and around churning up the field until she is brought in! after seeing how affected she gets being left i could never turn a horse out alone, especially 24/7.

and agree with the watching while other horses sleep thing, but i think my horse has made me more sensitive to turning horses out alone! i think if you can move yards to avoid it then i would, but if he's not obviously bothered and you can't move then he might be okay?
i wouldn't personally want it to be a long term situation.
 
Angua2 - I have something very similar to that which I used on front gate of old stable as he didnt bother with sides but YO wants all doing now. This was something I found lying around - not sure where to get from?
YO has told me this - however I do think it was influenced by the other livery as she has mentioned to me a few times 'he said this and he said that'.
 
Obviously the damage side of things needs to be adressed but having done a couple of modules of behaviour analysis in my degree I have to say that there is no evidence at all that horses will 'learn' stable vices off each other. Usually if there is more than one horse with the vice it is down to similarities in management which tend to lead to the vice not copying. There have been some extensive studies on it.
 
Agree totally Lillith - his cribbing has reduced significantly since less cereals, more roughage & more turnout.
 
doris2008 said:
Angua2 - I have something very similar to that which I used on front gate of old stable as he didnt bother with sides but YO wants all doing now. This was something I found lying around - not sure where to get from?
YO has told me this - however I do think it was influenced by the other livery as she has mentioned to me a few times 'he said this and he said that'.
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Do a google search for thick PVC pipe. It will bring up some plumbers merchants. can't remember if wickes do something like it. You need about 60mm diameter tube. (will have to measure mine) You could also investigate ducting (similar to the stuff used for gas) as this comes in big reels... not 100% how robust that is though as it is corugated.

Stirrer's don't you just love'em
 
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