suddenly refusing to be stabled

[fizz-tally]

jay has never been the best stabled horse in the world but is normally ok with fizz beside him.

however the last few weeks he has not wanted in at all,stopped eating most of his hay & feed & has been more tense than normal.

today,he barged past me 4 times & was rearing up in the stable,took 20 mins to get a headcollar on,once tied outside he was fine

i have the option to leave him out with fizz but the field has no shelter,does have hay outside though.

he needs to be stabled sometimes as the weather gets pretty bad here & yo prefers if they are in then.

gave in & left him out tonight with fizz,well rugged.

any ideas on how to make him a bit happer about being in when he needs to be?

 

[Enfys]

Oh dear, they do enjoy making us think don't they?

If I'd asked my wise old friend this he would have said "treat the cause, not the symptom/s" and I'm sure you've thought of all kinds of things that might be a problem. I had this problem once and went back down late at night, OMG, the place was awful, completely alive with RATS, everywhere, in the hay, in the buckets, the beds, the rafters ugh! We had a major poisoning session and things got better for the horses, we truly did not realise how bad it was and all of us felt awful afterwards.

Perhaps he is just one of those that prefers to be outside, although, in your case that isn't a full time option as you've explained. Is he scared to go in, or is it plain "I don't want to be shut in"? Is there anywhere he can be in a pen rather than a stall perhaps?

If you can leave him out then I would if he seems happier, as long as he's got hay and a rug if you think best then I'd let him get on with it and half the time they don't use the shelters anyhow. Mine wouldn't unless I fed them in there.

I guess some horses just prefer to be out whereas others genuinely seem to enjoy their home comforts.

 

[fizz-tally]

thanks.

he was on box rest when he 1st damaged his leg,he was supposed to have 4 months but after 6 weeks he was breaking the door down so they had to put him out

90% of the time he is happy to go in, we did put him in a smaller box[hes a big horse] because they are in a barn & the smaller stable has a door that looks outside,so he can see whats going on, he was not happy in the bigger box as he was unabvle to see much.

that worked for the 1st few weeks,now he is just wanting back out

very cute happy neddie there

 

[sylvapak]

Belle wouldnt let me catch her when she knew she was going to go in the stable. So i left her out not so well rugged up... came in the next day.... loves her stable now

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Have you thought about a stable mirror? Works for some as they have a permenant friend!!!

My friends horse started to refuse to walk into her box, shortly after she moved stables, then she remembered she hadn't put the mirror back up, put it up and the mare started going into the box happily again - even if it was just to slobber over her own reflection!!!

 

[gothdolly]

This is going to sound really stupid but you have not changed anything in his stable have you? Like bought him new water buckets or whatever? I bought Domi a new purple feed bucket and changed the place that I put it in the stable. For a whole week I was unable to get him in the stable. Seriously, nothing would budge him. He stood at the door and planted his feet. He would go in anyone else's stable though. After a week I suddenly realised he might be scared of the New Bucket and took it out, whereupon he walked straight in. Luckily this was summer and he did not need to come in his stable, but he had me really worried there until I figured it out!

Enfys- that is one gorgeous photo! What is his name? Is he yours?

 

[Enfys]

Cassandra, Thanks. That's Robin (aka the Painted Pony/PP) my 6 y.o APHA mare doing her usual "let's sleep in the snow rather than my straw filled run in shed" act. She has got to be the most laid back creature I have ever come across.

Stable mirrors!I didn't think of that because I've never used one for any of mine but I don't think I've read of a horse disliking them. I had a small mirror in my tackroom (well, you can't go down to the shop from the yard with hay in your hair can you?) and my boy used to stick his head in and huff at himself in it.

The bucket thing makes sense too, apart from being moved, was it a smelly one? New buckets smell plasticky sometimes don't they?

That's the joy of this place, always a new slant on things to be stored and maybe used one day.