playful horsie what a night mare

Kayfm

Kayfm

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My horse is very playful in the field (typical warmblood). He only plays with his friends and there is no fighting or kicking. However he comes in every day with small bite marks/nips and has recently hurt his eye. Its a nightmare as im at shows regular and it looks a mess and of course i worry about him getting badly hurt. Does any one else have a playfull horsie and do you find it a pain !!! what has your horsie been up to or done whilst out in the field ?
 
I used to have a 3yr old gelding that wold come in covered in cuts and scrapes everyday, it would just harrass the other horses all the time and I never understood why he didn't learn not to bother them so much!
 
Mine LOVES to play. He's rising 3.

His equally annoying young friend (who was a lot bigger than him) used to try and pick him up by the neck and pulled out most of his beautiful mane in the prosses
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Gutting, considering it was 2.5ft long and stunning (he's a traditional coloured cob, so mane's essential!).

I wouldn't sperate him from his friends just for my benefit though!
 
I have a playful horse - started off just being annoying with odd cuts and scrapes, rugs getting torn etc. Culminated in a fractured hock in the summer though so he's on his own now
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I have a natural victim who as a young horse he loved to play however as he got older what started as playful fun gradually got more abusive.
I could cope (just) with the ripped rugs but then when they came off he was coming in with bites all over, some just removing hair but some breaking the skin and scaring him. The final straw for me was that he started getting agressive to other horses that came into his "personal space" at competitions, on the yard etc although in the field he continued to be the abused.
I moved him to a new yard with individual turnout and he has chilled out no end, the agressive behaviour has stopped and although he likes the company of the horses in the fields around him he likes to be able to keep a distance from them when he wants and groom his girlfriend over the fence when he wants to as well.
 
Yes!!! I have a youngester who plays all the time (well not so young anymore as he's been playing for 3 years now and is 7!!!) and two others who always go through a play-fighting phase as soon as the weather gets cold.

My only tip is don't look! I just leave them to it and pick up the pieces afterwards!!!
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Yes Mr M, if the other horses won't play with him, then he'll settle with you
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, loves chasing after a the headcoller on a leadrope if you drag it behind you in the grass, he's as mad a breakfast but also it can be a pain because he's the one that leaves the odd chunk in other horses, if they won't play with him he then turns on them, very Jekyll and Hyde personality I'm afraid.
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He's also used to wreck the ball cocks of the water mangers because the thought they were food balls
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Yes, it's a nightmare! He's 6 and up until a few weeks ago he was out with a 2 and 4 yr old (and 1 oldie) and he would come in almost daily with cuts on his legs. He has since been put in with some others and touch wood he's been ok so far. Actually bar one nip mark on his neck and a strange mark on his face where he'd managed to bash it on something!? I do worry every day though, thinking he's gonna do himself some massive injury but as they don't do individual turnout at my yard, I'll just have to let him be a horse and whatever will be, will be
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Mine is like that and at 7 shows no signs of growing up.
However he's not happy without company so I put up with it.
We did separate him and another horse as they were both playful and didn't know when to stop.
The horses he is with at the moment are good with him and go along for a bit but don't encourage him.

I think the key is finding the right companions.
 
Yup i have 2!
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My 8 yr olds neck looks like he has been in a war zone.
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And the 17 yr old got kicked and now has a bad fracture at the back of his knee. So he is now on box rest for god knows how long, but the infection has cleared up now!
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He will be in a padded field when he eventually gets turned out loool!!!!
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So yes i know how you feel, it is a complete NIGHTMARE!!!
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My 3yo was kicked and had 4cm of bone removed last Christmas from above his knee and this year has spent most of him time wrestling with his 15yo fieldmate and has now injured his tendon sheath. Absolute nightmare. Since a baby has always played a bit too hard but at 17hh thinks he can.
 
I wish Scooby could play with the other horses, but they all hate him.
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I don't know why, but it's very sad! They don't hurt him, but every time he tries to join the herd they pin their ears back and chase him away so he always ends up grazing on his own at the other end of the field. I don't think it's just because he's new, because there's another pony in his field who came a couple of weeks after Scooby did and he's been accepted - apparently Scooby just hasn't made friends very well, bless his little heart. His rugs have been ripped to shreds, but he's never had any marks or anything on him (although I did find a chunk of his mane on the floor the other day!
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). He's learnt his lesson now and stays out of the way.
 
my 4 year old warmblood is very playful!

He rears when he plays and in september reared up too near the fence and came down on the fence post ripping half his chest open!

Now he is back out again All I think about at work is is he safe! I dread driving down in the afternoons!

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I dread getting in to work and finding a "can you call me at once" text from the yard manager.
When I moved yards recently, one priority was small sensibly managed groups of horses which touch wood I have had so far at my new place.
 
Letting my horse be a horse nearly killed him. He was very playful at his last yard and I had the vet at least once a week as the others just didnt want to play back and kept battering him. He didnt learn and kept going back for more, then I moved him to a small yard, he was in with 3 geldings, great at first, still playful but he had a mate who played back. I got the bites, ripped rugs etc but no nastiness. However the playing got rougher and rougher and one day I found my horse on 3 legs. He had a fractured radius and a bad wound near his carpal sheath. Fortunately he made it after months of box rest but had to be turned out alone as part of his recovery. He still has individual turnout now and its been a weight off my mind. He is in the same field as his friends, can touch, itch over the fence so hes not totally alone. I have to admit I hate him being alone and often feel terrible about it but he will never stop the rough playing as he tries it even when hacking out. So its let horses be horses and him probably be dead or carry on like this.
 
I used to think they should all have company, and I think some still REALLY NEED it, Samson was never happy alone even when others were just over the electric fence.

However after knowing several horses end up with nasty injuries I now prefer individual turn out as long as the horse is settled and happy with it. It is such a relief not to have to worry about it, especially as being a college there is a frequent turn around of horses
 
Yep Vardi loves playing! He has just moved yards and is now turned out with a 6 year old Gelding and they play chase, banging each other over the head with the Horse Balls and the favourite jousting with the traffic cones the fencing with them bit was fine but now they have started backing up and running at each other with the cones in their mouths in a new form of Horsey Chicken
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