Sudden Change in Youngster

[tjitske]

Hi everyone. I have a 4yr old ID mare who has literally over the last 7 days become really anxious when being put in her stable on an evening. Before this she has been calm and goes straight to her hay. There have been no changes to her stable or her feed. She has been out of work over the winter but I was hoping to get back on this week. She hasnt had her saddle on so it cant be that, her feet are great and her teeth are checked. She is on alternate days turnout because of the state of the fields but she is turned into a pen when she is not in the field so never left in her stable. She is absolutley fine in the pen and in the field and showing no signs of discomfort. When she is brought in she weaves, throws her head and bounces around the stable however if i take her out and lunge her she settles.

Could this be hormonal? I have started her on Oestress to see if this makes her more comfortable.

I have another mare and you would never tell when her seasons start and end so I am not experienced enough to know if this is the case.

Is anone else experiencing this and can give me some form of idea?

 

[ihatework]

First up clear the stable out and check for any sign of rats!
Clean fresh bedding in case you had a bad batch with critters.

It could be something medical of course, but such a sudden onset of stable anxiety often means something odd has happened in the stable

 

[TheresaW]

I was going to suggest rats may be around.

 

[Horseysheepy]

I remember mucking out my horses stable and seeing the straw bank literally do a mexican wave as a rat scuttled from one side to the other.
I lifted the corner straw to find a rat shaped escape hole in the brickwork.

So it could easily unsettle a horse.

 

[Birker2020]

I had to call the vet because Bailey was stood at the stable door staring at the wall behind her and box walking and generally unsettled. Like she was going to try and jump over the stable door. I took her into the indoor school where she rolled, but she often did in the school and having been through hundreds of mild colics with her over the years I was unconvinced that was what it was and thought she'd possibly had some sort of head injury as she was acting so strange.

It took 3 of us and a tap from a schooling whip to get her back in the stable, she put the brakes on! In the stable she kept standing at the door pushing against it whilst staring behind her.

On call vet was duly called, came from 50 mins away! Arrived and sedated her.

Said her back end looked colicky but her eyes, ears, and vital signs told of huge stress but no colic. Her heart rate was through the roof. Even sedated loose in the stable with us she'd stand by the door and would bravely grab a mouthful of hay from the hay bar before shooting back to the door to stand with us clearly terrified looking behind her. We were perplexed. Hay barn behind but no rats, cats, foxes or dogs in there and anyway she was used to noises behind there.

Vet felt she wouldn't attempt to jump out and said by the next day she'd have forgotten all about it. I was very sceptical, thought " there's no way she will forget"

Didn't sleep a wink that night expecting to find her in the morning with her front end hanging over the door trying to escape from whatever she'd been terrified of only to find her asleep on her shavings bed with her back to the 'bogey monster wall'!!

Blo*dy horses!! £250 quid down! Never did find out what had scared her so much. Still wonder if she'd had a stroke or something but then this was a horse that snorted and spooked going up the track daily to and from the same paddock she'd been in for five years! I had loads of suggestions on the forum, everything from rats, foxes, electric under floor giving her a shock, noises I couldn't hear but she could.

 

[PurBee]

Have you got a male yard cat peeing on the stable bed? Their pee is stronger for scenting and can make horses react. I think it was that which unsettled my mare once, as i then caught the male cat peeing in there, which i never knew he did at the time!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My first thought was 'rats'!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Could just be the lack of turnout and her wanting to be out it's getting to the end of winter and she may just get anxious of the thought of the stable.

 

[EventingMum]

I would also say rats. We were stabled for an event at a chicken farm and one of our horses who was normally no problem at all in strange stables was really distressed whereas our other horse was fine. He was in such a state I couldn't even plait him up as he wouldn't stand still. We could hear the rats running around the ceiling and behind the kick boards. It was probably fortuitous that the event was rained off the next day and we requested not to be stabled there in the future.

 

[McGrools]

Yes my first thought was rats. My two have free access to 2 stables and both were dodging the stable that had a rat run appear overnight. I had to put poison down which I hate doing but 2 big dead rats later and problem solved xx

 

[GreyDot]

Also immediate thought was rats. With all this wet weather they are looking for drier nesting places and stables and the walls behind them make perfect areas.

 

[SEL]

Also rats! All the wet weather has brought them into my yard and we've been checking for holes in the corners of stables.

 

[holeymoley]

Yep, Rattys