pokeynokes
Member
My horse is in every other respect one of the most laid back I know. But.. now that winter is here and he is coming in at night, combined with the start of the hunting season, he is a nightmare. He is in an internal stable & has the company of 4 others in the barn. If other horses are being seen to, he becomes "wild eyed" followed by either getting his front feet on the stable door or jumping out completely. When he gets like this you can open the stable door & he'll just stand there so it's not being shut in the stable that he objects to. I can bring him out & tie him up with a haynet & he's happy for a little while (he's fairly food motivated) then he starts to dance & get really agitated. It gets to the point that I dare not leave him unattended even just to empty my wheel barrow. There seems to be some anticipation that we're going hunting but of course, most mornings, all we do is either hack or he gets turned out. Even after following the same routine for all of last winter regardless, he still didn't relax. On mornings we do go hunting, by the time we're ready to go I am pretty stressed & so is he, then loading becomes an issue and it's no fun for anyone. I think there might be some separation anxiety (me) and/or attention seeking. I have an option to move to a private yard (2 other horses) with external loose boxes which may help. The only other option would be for him to live out but I think when I did bring him in he would still wind himself up at some point. PS Tried calmers & they don't work for him