Stressed out gelding

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ammannie

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I need help. I have a 12yo ISH which I have owned since march. He was out 24/7 from end of may up until start of October. He is in the same field with the same horses but the last two weeks all he does is stand at the gate pacing. He is turned out at 8am and I bring him in around 3pm. He has been clipped and in a medium weight rug but is coming in dripping with sweat. I put him back in his light weight and today again dripping with sweat. I am at my wits end worrying about him being unhappy. He didn't do it when I first bought him and he was stabled overnight. Any ideas?
 
He doesn't get stressed in his stable. He would stand in 24 hours a day. I live north east scotland and it's dark by 4 so I can't leave him out any later
 
He sounds like he wants to be in. I think I might let him. Some of them really do like it, but you'd have to be able to work him.

Has anything changed about being out, like which field they are in?
 
Nothing has changed in field and there is lots of grass. Am I wrong to think that he will just get used to being out if I stick to the time routine? I don't want him stabled 24/7. I have limited knowledge of his previous history other than he came from a hunting yard
 
It is so bad that I have to sneak on to the yard so he doesn't see me. If he clocks me or my car then he goes mad shouting and barging the gate. LO must be getting annoyed as he keeps breaking the fence which is post and rail
 
Has he been doing it eight weeks so far? If so, I wouldn't expect that to change unless you can find the reason he's doing it.

You first owned him in a period of increasing nutrition in the grass. There's now little nutrition in the grass and mine are very happy to come in and eat hay. It could be that., maybe.
 
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He has only been doing it for 2-3 weeks max. He has been in since start of October. I bought him march so was stabled overnight, turnout 8-4 and then out 24/7 from end of may. He has always been keen to come in and has always cantered to gate when I have shouted on him. The pacing is a very new thing and has came out of nowhere. The only change has been the extreme drop in temperatures
 
It sounds like he isn't getting enough goodness from the grass and thinks he's going to starve. Is it possible to test feeding hay in the field?
 
Sounds like he is hungry to be honest. All ours will start to behave like this about this time of year of left out without hay. Although there is grass visible the nutritional quality isn't good anymore. Some horses are just happier in. I've gone one whose idea of heaven is room service 24/7.

If you can't feed hay in the field can you bring in for a brief feed midday?
 
All the other horses are head down munching but he is stood at the gate. He is given a feed prior to going out and fed haylage in a haybar so life isn't too hard for the boy
 
He has a haybar that is stuffed full of haylage. Usually a wee bit left in the morning. It is a good quality haylage that he gets. The only other thing is that I had to change his feed. He has been out of work for 8 weeks due to my ill health. He looks fab for the time of year and not being in work but he was pinging off the walls. In order for me to get back on him safely I had to reduce the sugar, starch and protein. He was getting conditioning fibre, cool conditioning cubes and Alfabeet. His hard feed is hi-fi molasses free and Allen and page calm and collected. I wonder if it's this that has upset him and making him feel hungry
 
ammannie said:
He has a haybar that is stuffed full of haylage. Usually a wee bit left in the morning. It is a good quality haylage that he gets. The only other thing is that I had to change his feed. He has been out of work for 8 weeks due to my ill health. He looks fab for the time of year and not being in work but he was pinging off the walls. In order for me to get back on him safely I had to reduce the sugar, starch and protein. He was getting conditioning fibre, cool conditioning cubes and Alfabeet. His hard feed is hi-fi molasses free and Allen and page calm and collected. I wonder if it's this that has upset him and making him feel hungry
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So he's had two major changes. One is a reduction in his work, the other a very big change in his food.

He came from a hunting yard where he was probably worked hard. It sounds like he thrived on that regime and doesn't on this new one. Can you get him ridden by someone else when you aren't well enough to ride?
 
I hope he returns to his normal self when he's ridden again. At least you know early that he'll probably never be a horse you can retire!

Forgot to say earlier that I got you are OK again too.
 
My horse is a butthead when she's out of work too. (she will jump paddock to paddock though to get other horses to run with her....) Only solution for us is riding 1+ hr per day, I hate longeing but if I don't have time it's a good stop-gap. :)
 
If he came from a hunting yard, then possibly he was turned out/away for the summer, hence why he was happy out when you first got him.

But he would have come in from September to get fit and possibly from the autumn onwards he wasn't turned out as much, so he isn't used to being out all day with the change of season. He possibly associates autumn with an increase in activity somewhere in his very basic brain!

Is it possible to bring him in after just a few hours? He might get used to being out just for a few hours (although always tricky if on DIY to bring in half way through the working day). Hopefully he will get used to the new routine in time, but I did have one who didn't want to be out for long so it was easier just to bring him in at mid day in the winter.
 
I totally agree with your thinking. He needs to be in more work. He was grazing when I went up at 1.30 today. We all took a moment to appreciate prince Arnold grazing instead of charging around the field like a lunatic
 
No new horses. Not being bullied either. He is a very mouthy gelding and likes playing with his field mates. Sometimes they ignore him and he gets a bit annoyed at them
 
Unless you fed him alfalfa in some form before and he was OK with it, I would take him off it again. It really upsets some horses. In fact I think I'd take him off it and monitor carefully anyway. It could be that it has taken time for his reaction to build up.
 
He was on spillers conditioning fibre previously but he was wired! He was pacing before I changed his hard feed. He is much more calmer since I changed, it's just the pacing at the gate. As soon as the headcollar is on he is a little lamb. On the last feed it was a ten minute fight to get the headcollar on and get him out the field
 
My horse was like this last winter; he wouldnt stay out in his field for more than a couple of hours before, like yours OP, he would start pacing the fenceline, then if still no one came to bring him in he would escalate it and start running about until he was foaming with sweat, dripping in mud, pulling shoes, risking injury. He had company; I tried feeding hay and/or haylage in the field and he would ignore it (especially if it was raining)! In the end I admitted defeat; he would go out for two or three hours a day and I would ride, in-hand walk and hand-graze as much as I could. It was very stressful, time consuming and went against everything I believe about giving a horse as much turnout as poss)! This yr I am trying a different approach; since the summer (when he goes the other way and gets tricky to catch!) he has been out at night with a couple of quiet horses and (touch wood/crosses fingers/says a little prayer) he is still ok with this routine. My thinking is that the reduced quality/quantity of the grass isnt enough to keep him occupied and during the day he can see people about/horses coming and going (we're on a livery yard) so hes more unsettled and if he plays up enough someone will come get him eventually, whereas on a night it is quieter so he is more 'resigned' (for want of a better word) to being out. He has hay in the field for overnight and gets his breakfast and supper in the field (so he doesn't only associate getting fed with being in). Its only just December though so I cant say its definitely the solution; we'll have to wait and see, but if nothing else, at least you know your horse isnt the only one like this!
 
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Thank you for that message. It's is good to know he is not the only mad beast that doesn't want out in the field with his friends. Touch wood, I have increased his hard feed and he is grazing happily till 1-2. It's not ideal only being out for that time but it's better than nothing. As soon as he sees me walking up to the gate he goes beserk right enough. If his field mate is taken out before him he gets very stressed but all in all this week is an improvement!!! Long may it continue 😳
 
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