Separation anxiety and door grills

J

Jericho

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I posted in NL earlier about my little Welshie who is barging through fences when I take his field mate out for a hack. There were several replies about getting him a companion, giving him ACP to settle him, selling him, not leaving him on his own - none of which will really work in my situation. The simple fact is that my mare and I will go out once or twice a week, he does get upset as we are leaving, has a gallop about and neighs a bit but not to the point where he is going mental / working himself into a sweat - he just will work on any fence by barging at them. By the time I get back he is grazing albeit still checking every minute. It doesnt warrant selling him - I just need to find a solution so that he doesnt hurt himself and that isnt going to make him more upset.

After a good ponder I think the safest option is to put him in the stable and put a grill over the top door so he can see out but cant get his head / legs over and this should stop him barging. What are your thoughts on this? What kind of damage could he do to himself enclosed in a stable for an hour or two (with water, hay, feed of course) if he did freak out?
Do you think that it will make him hate the stable - he isnt overly keen on it anyway but they are generally out 24/7 anyway.
 
Hi

I put full grills up for my horses when there on the yard on there own, had a few go over the doors, its safer puts your mind at rest and they settle quicker i think anyways. I can now leave certain horses with out the grills so worked in the long run too :)

I know how much its a pest but keeping working at it and make it safe for the horses i.e no buckets or hay nets.
 
When hubby and I ride out together we have to put our youngster in a stable alone, he will run around in the field like an idiot and jump in with the girls next door. I used to put a full grill up but now he is a bit better behaved he has the grill in the middle out so he can now pop his head out.
 
Have you thought about a stable mirror? My TB wouldn't be in the stable without his! He loves the reassurance, and I leave my pony in whilst I'm out riding and he seems rather fond of himself too! Definately helps to settle them IMO :)
 
Out of interest, is the pony young? Our Welsh sec A did this when young, but grew out of it. It didn't go through fences though (although we have electric).

Ours are stabled at night, so if we are leaving one alone while we go to a show or something, we leave them in until right after the others are loaded in the box, then turn the lone grazer out. this way they are so busy eating they hardly seem to notice or bother that the others are going. Its when you take the others out of the field and leave one behind that the problems occur.

Shutting in the stable may work, but it may create a box-walker too. Like Ride-to-Live said, a mirror may help.
 
If you go with a grill, make sure his little hooves won't fit between the bars, even if he strikes them with some force and they give a bit. There have been some nasty accidents with horses hung up on stall dividers etc.
 
RIde2Live - a mirror is a fantastic idea as I think he might fall for that, bless him! Thank you so mucvh for the idea - I have just gone and bought one online.

Honey08 - He is 18 yrs old so not a baby but hopefully he will gradually get used to it. Just dont want him to get hurt in the process.

Tarrsteps - thansk for the advice about the bars - I Was very conscious of that so I made sure that I bought a grill rather than bars and the gaps are very small so hopefully he should be fine.

Wish me luck!!!
 
Will he use stable toys?

When we had 3 horses we used to stable the Shetland companion pony when taking the other two out as she is a houdini and would try to squeeze through the fencing / hedging and follow them.

We would stable her with a nut-ball while we were out and it kept her safe and quiet!
 
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