Struggle 😩😩

[Tam82]

Hi i brought a gelding 3 months ago, he is my first proper horse, he is kept on a small quiet yard, and we have just started bringing in at night for winter.
He is a big boy, 8yrs old
In the morning, he kicks the door for food, but also kicks the door when the others start going out, and gets himself worked up, i try and get there early so he can be one of the first to go out, as i dont want to pay the yard owner to have to put him out,
So if he has to stay on the yard for what ever reason, he stresses, paws the ground (marking it terribly) spins round, tries to get himself free, and i cant put him back in the stable... he wont go, im now worried that the yard owner will ask us to leave, i dont know what to do, im on assisted diy so go up every morning and the owner brings in at nights. I know its because he wants attention and wants to be in the field, but even when theres others on the yard it makes no difference. I like the yard im on and dont wana move ☹️

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Could you put an old soft sweeping brush head on the part of the door he kicks, bristles out, to deaden the sound, or a piece of rubber matting? (might be a better option) When you say he is staying on the yard, it sounds like he is tied up. why is this? Its not really clear from your post what is happening here and why he is tied. is this while you are mucking out?

Can you not have a chat with the yard owner and express your concerns and keep communication channels open and ask for their advice? Will he go back in if you bribe him with a bit of food and some tasty hay in a small hole haynet to keep him occupied and slow down his eating while he is in.

I think you should try communicate with the yard owner. I'm not sure why they would ask you to leave unless there has been something said already?

 

[AmyMay]

Have you chatted to your YO about the issues?

 

[ponynutz]

Not sure what ot suggest on the yard, but here's a trick I learnt for door-kicekers:

When you notice he's doing it fill feed buckets with water and put them infront of his stable door. When he kicks he'll get a big splash of water all over his legs!

 

[be positive]

It sounds as if you need a bit of help to establish the rules, gain a bit more control and find a way to work around this, he is probably a bit anxious about being alone on the yard, impatient to get out and generally being a bit of a thug as you are not able to control the circumstances on the terms he is trying to dictate.
Is he getting enough hay over night so he is not genuinely hungry? if he is running out he has good reason to be impatient and this is something to do have the ability to change.
Getting some help to deal with his other bad manners would be a good idea, if the YO is around and willing they would probably step in to advise, if he is good for them to bring in there is no reason to worry about being asked to move and asking for help would be a good start, as a YO I hate seeing horses behaving badly and will always offer to help, most will take up the offer and we work towards having a happier quieter yard with all horses behaving nicely most of the time.

 

[Tam82]

Could you put an old soft sweeping brush head on the part of the door he kicks, bristles out, to deaden the sound, or a piece of rubber matting? (might be a better option) When you say he is staying on the yard, it sounds like he is tied up. why is this? Its not really clear from your post what is happening here and why he is tied. is this while you are mucking out?

Can you not have a chat with the yard owner and express your concerns and keep communication channels open and ask for their advice? Will he go back in if you bribe him with a bit of food and some tasty hay in a small hole haynet to keep him occupied and slow down his eating while he is in.

I think you should try communicate with the yard owner. I'm not sure why they would ask you to leave unless there has been something said already?

Hi, what i mean when he is on the yard is, for example, i tied him up outside his stable to muck him out, normally they go straight out but the yo wanted them to stay on the yard as the field next to them was being muck spreaded. So i know it isnt often, but i dont want him to dictate what i do with him, if i bring him in from the field sometimes when tied up he wont stand still, its partly stress as he poos alot, i just hope it will settle once he is back into a routine? I thought about getting a piece of rubber matting for him to stand on so he doesnt scrape the concrete? If i walk away he ends up putting his leg over his lead rope and getting stuck!

 

[Tam82]

Have you chatted to your YO about the issues?

No not yes, she is lovely, and i am a worrier so it might not ever have crossed her mind yet. It makes it worse as all the other horses always stand beautifully on the yard

 

[Tam82]

Not sure what ot suggest on the yard, but here's a trick I learnt for door-kicekers:

When you notice he's doing it fill feed buckets with water and put them infront of his stable door. When he kicks he'll get a big splash of water all over his legs!

Ho, i think he would end up tipping all his water over, as i said before he is a big boy and so when he is really on one he moves the whole front of the block 😩

 

[Tam82]

It sounds as if you need a bit of help to establish the rules, gain a bit more control and find a way to work around this, he is probably a bit anxious about being alone on the yard, impatient to get out and generally being a bit of a thug as you are not able to control the circumstances on the terms he is trying to dictate.
Is he getting enough hay over night so he is not genuinely hungry? if he is running out he has good reason to be impatient and this is something to do have the ability to change.
Getting some help to deal with his other bad manners would be a good idea, if the YO is around and willing they would probably step in to advise, if he is good for them to bring in there is no reason to worry about being asked to move and asking for help would be a good start, as a YO I hate seeing horses behaving badly and will always offer to help, most will take up the offer and we work towards having a happier quieter yard with all horses behaving nicely most of the time.

Hi, yes i think he does need ground rules, he does act like a baby and wants attention but when he really has his knickers in a twist me being with him doesnt make a difference, he would just end up knocking me over, can u tie a horse up in a dually?

 

[AmyMay]

No!

 

[spider]

You can tie a horse up with a Dually but you MUST attach the tie rope to the ring at the back of the headcollar (under his chin) rather that to the rope that goes across the nose.

 

[tankgirl1]

Could the YO do mornings so he gets turned out first, and you go up in the afternoon?

 

[splashgirl45]

can you get someone out to install some ground rules and show you what to do...maybe a local instructor or your YO if she is very experienced. 3 months isnt long for a horse to settle in. remember he has left people he knows and a routine he knows and is now with a different person at another yard and he is anxious and doesnt realise what the routine is..... he needs competent, calm, but firm handling and maybe you are a little stressed which wont help....hope you can sort this out...

 

[Tam82]

can you get someone out to install some ground rules and show you what to do...maybe a local instructor or your YO if she is very experienced. 3 months isnt long for a horse to settle in. remember he has left people he knows and a routine he knows and is now with a different person at another yard and he is anxious and doesnt realise what the routine is..... he needs competent, calm, but firm handling and maybe you are a little stressed which wont help....hope you can sort this out...

Thankyou, yes i feel i am stressing, i feel i have taken on too much. He isnt nasty, just young and anxious i guess,

 

[Tam82]

Could the YO do mornings so he gets turned out first, and you go up in the afternoon?

I do go up in the mornings, so that isnt an issue really, but sometimes i just cant get there as early as if like

 

[Summit]

It’s still very early days. My horse has only been with me a year and he was a right stress head, the worst thing was box walking, especially trying to groom him

what helped me was a bit of groundwork, just google it and watch some videos. Im
Sure with time and a routine he’ll be fine

 

[tankgirl1]

I do go up in the mornings, so that isnt an issue really, but sometimes i just cant get there as early as if like

Just thinking if you can't get there early every day, then the routine of YO turning him out first might help him stop stressing, and then you can go up and do jobs and bring in later on?

 

[claret09]

i use a bungy across the door. that certainly helps with banging. my boy can be stressy but he does respect his bungy

 

[kc921]

Personally I would move yards.
When I brought my gelding and took him to the livery yard he started weaving like crazy in the stables, if I moved out of sight he would call for me, no one else could handle him but me. So I had to turn him out and bring him in otherwise he would go crazy! Couldn't even be tied up without pawing the ground and moving around constantly!
Baring in mind this was not the chilled out horse I went to view at all! Tried ground manners etc etc. Nothing worked, to the point where my boyfriend said I should give him back! (of course I didn't, I wanted to persue and find out what the problem was)
I moved yards after 1 month of owning him and he was the chilled out horse that I went to view!! 2 years on and he is still perfect, it was just that yard he really really didn't like as we have moved yard 2 more times since!
Sometimes horses just get a vibe about a yard and you have to do what is best for them 😊

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Personally I would move yards................

...............Sometimes horses just get a vibe about a yard and you have to do what is best for them 😊

We moved our first Appaloosa mare after 6 very unsettled weeks, she settled immediately and her behaviour changed for the better, she moved twice after that with no problems at all, although she did move on those occasions with her fieldmates.

 

[KrujaaLass]

Can he be tied up with a haynet

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I don't really understand why he was tied on the yard because his field was being muck-spread. Surely he was going to be put in another field, the grass wouldn't be fit to eat for quite some time. Horses like routine, and new horses particularly need a routine to settle into, if the routine keeps changing it unsettles them even more. They also need to know that he human is in charge - not inabossy, 'you will do as you're told' way but in a 'I won't let any harm come to you' way. If the horse doesn't feel that you are in charge, he will think that he needs to take charge himself.

 

[bluepegasus]

My old mare used to bang her door when I got to the yard, as soon as she heard my car arrive . I put a piece of carpet on the inside of the door to deaden the noise a bit and also fitted a stable chain across the door. So as soon as I got there I whipped open her door so she couldn't bang. She'd still paw the ground occasionally but she wasn't as bothered as it didn't make the loud noise or provoke attention as much.
I'd have a chat with your YO and remember it is early days.

 

[Berpisc]

Don't worry about the concrete, it'll be fine.
Do get help and do lots of work on groundwork, handling skills, to make yours and your horses life more settled. Look for sound sources of advice eg Richard Maxwell, or a good local instructor or the YO if you trust them and they will help. As Pearlsasinger says,
" If the horse doesn't feel that you are in charge, he will think that he needs to take charge himself." So you need to be in charge using good handling technique which is safe for both of you and fair to the horse. And time, plenty of time.

 

[Annagain]

We have one of these on our yard. He's a very stressy horse when in (wonderful in the field and a gem to ride) and can't cope at all with other horses coming and going around him. The only way to manage him is to to get the whole yard on board. Whoever gets there first in the morning will put his feed in for him (he's a poor doer so needs two feeds a day) and then put him out the second he's finished - he announces this with a bit of door kicking - the key is to get to him before the door kicking turns into trying to jump out. He's got used to mine and my share horse going out before him as it's usually my share horse's owner who's there first and they don't have a feed. He'll tolerate them going as they've done it for so long and he knows she'll put him out as soon as he's ready but if any other horse goes out he kicks off. He won't eat, will stable walk - stopping on each turn to kick the door or do what we call the turnout tango - bobbing and weaving at the door and trying to jump out. Routine is key to keeping him on an even keel, although that usually means the reaction is more extreme on the odd occasions the routine is broken.

 

[Leandy]

Don't panic yet! You have only had him 3 months so he may still be settling generally. Also you say you have just started bringing them in at night, so his routine has changed again, so he may be unsettled again. I'm not clear whether the issues with tying up are only after this recent change or have been there all along? Either way, have you contacted his old owner and asked whether this is normal for him or not? If it is, then you will have to work out how to manage it because I would suspect he is unlikely to change. If it is not then get him in a good routine and hopefully he will settle. Did you see him well socialised and settled at his previous home before you bought him? Is your routine/yard etc much different from what he was used to? I would definitely have a chat with your yard owner about it. They may have suggestions which will help? Does he have company or individual turn out? Is it what he was used to before you had him? As to managing a horse which bangs and paws, I would put a rubber mat where he stands at his stable door, it will at least save him digging up the floor and reduce the wear and tear. You could consider one on the inside of the door also. If this is normal for him then I'm afraid the best way to manage it is not to keep him waiting if at all possible (I had a door banger too, he was just greedy and impatient and loved to be out in his field eating but he was also generally a bit of a fidget and wasn't great at standing still anywhere!).

 

[ElectricChampagne]

I think you just need to take a step back and breathe for a moment. There's nothing wrong with a stressy horse, so just stay calm with him and talk to him. Some horses are just stressy and get wound up over the smallest things. I think he will start to calm once you do. Don't leave him tied up on his own, not even for a second. I've heard some horrible stories of what has happened with horses left tied up unattended even for a couple of moments. Particularly if he is twisting himself round and round.

Horses hear our breathing and when we are stressed ours increases, so use box breathing - 4 seconds breathing in, hold then breathe out for 4 seconds when you feel yourself getting a little stressed. He will calm when you are calmer.

I do think you should ask the YO for assistance too, be proactive and see what she can suggest. Doing ground work with him too will increase your bond and help him trust you. Lead him around the arena, make him back up on command. Ask him to stop when you stop and so on. Plenty of other ideas if you do an internet search.

Its all a journey and keep at it, stay patient, ask for help and you will get there. Every day is a learning day