Pony Kicking the walls of his stable

[Vinney]

Hi, anyone had this problem? I occurs mainly when I am doing anything with either of my two boys. It is my pony who is 4yrs old. He kicks the wall when my other pony is near to his side of the stable and sometimes he does it to the other pony on the other side of him. I have tried telling him off but this doesnt make any difference and I have made sure he doesn't get treats over the door. I seems to be mainly when I change their haynets or make a fuss of the other pony. In all other aspects he is fine, he doesnt bite, rear or charge off when led so I am not sure what the problem is. All the horses are fed at the same time by the YO.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Difficult one to break, this. There's a mare in my yard (I'm a YO) and she's normally fine inside, but if anyone does anything like mucks out in the stable next to hers, for some reason she stresses up about it.

Know its difficult, but it might just be a case of ignoring it as IME some horses will just do it for attention, and when they get "told off", then they'll just thrive on that, coz attention is attention even if its a negative sort of attention, if that makes sense.

The old fashioned way to stop horses kicking at their box was to get a sprig or two of gorse and hang up along the sides and/or the door, wherever they're banging.......depends how you want to sort it really

 

[Shay]

He is attention seeking - and it happens. How do you respond? If you turn to him - even to shout at him - you have rewarded the behaviour. You need to completely ignore him. To the point of standing outside his stable with your back to him if you have to go into him, feed or whatever. Only turn and notice him when he is quiet. And whilst you wait for that to sink in - nail carpet to the walls to deaden the noise!