Tips on keeping my youngster in the stable please

Devonshire dumpling

Devonshire dumpling

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Freddie is to hopefully come in this year with the aged mares, it will be his first ever winter inside, he has lived in the past in a big field with youngster and had a lovely barn for shelter.
Where he is now there is little shelter and I would like him to learn to be a big boy and come in every night, he will go out every day no matter what the weather, so we are only talking overnight.
Freddie is a jumper, he has jumped out of his barn before over the 5 bar gate and has under pressure jumped out of his paddock a long time ago.
I would say he is a different horse now, he will happily stand in his stable, have a little bowl of food or have a scratch, but he gets a little panicky if we walk away from the door.
Yesterday we brought him and his friend in, she stood outside his stable while he stood in his, while we tacked her up, you could see he was excited and wanted to be with her and did two little rears infront of the stable door. I just do not trust him not to attempt to jump out, call it a gut feeling, but I think he wouldn't think twice.
We have no top door, but could make a wooden antiweave, or put a couple slats across or a piece or electric tape.
Does anyone have any sound advice, I want to bring him in this year , would rather face this now as a 2,5 yr old than a 3.5 yr old..... he kind of needs to poke his nose out so he can see his friends? If they are in the field and he can't see them, he isn't too bad, but people need to be able to walk past his stable with another horse, he needs to learn.

Any tips will be very welcome .

(I might add he went out for a little inhand hack with the mare and was a angelic with a skidding car, someone above his head in the woods on a mountail bike etc, so it's not as if he is a stressy head X)
 
Make a rail that lives above the door. You need 2 bolts, one each side and one that is removable so that you can let it down to one side so that you can get him in and out etc. About 8 inches from the top of the bottom door if you follow. Easy to do and should sort you out. I have seen a couple of nasty injuries from youngsters trying to climb through anti weave grills and the like so I think this may be safer.
 
Suelin said:
Make a rail that lives above the door. You need 2 bolts, one each side and one that is removable so that you can let it down to one side so that you can get him in and out etc. About 8 inches from the top of the bottom door if you follow. Easy to do and should sort you out. I have seen a couple of nasty injuries from youngsters trying to climb through anti weave grills and the like so I think this may be safer.
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this was what we were thinking of doing, but just slotting them in and out? do you think he will realise he can't get out of the gap is smaller, I know I am nbot giving him much credit here, but would he still try to get out if he could poke his nose out?
I am more trying to prevent it, he hasn't ever tried, but have a gut feeling x
 
That is what I use. You may be surprised by him. When my now 3 year old came in from living in a field all his life he went from mud monster to slippers and smoking jacket-type mentality overnight. he is very nosy and loves attention and even now prefers to be in. I had to teach him how to use the hay bar though as he couldnt work it out.
 
Don't use a weave grill, get a proper metal bars full grill. He must not learn to get out over the door for his own safety. I am sure once he is in the routine he will be fine but leave he bars shut while he is in for a good long while. Don't be tempted to make anything yourself as if he goes for it and breaks out he could seriously injure himself.
 
Cedars said:
Can't you just buy a weave bar with the infill?
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This. We used one for Little Lad, who was much older but hated being stabled, but didn't have much choice about it when he had laminitis :rolleyes:

We put the anti-weave grill up with the infill piece in for a few days, then took the infill out when we were there to keep an eye on him.

Gradually he settled (over a couple of weeks) and the grill was taken off completely.

We made the stable as inviting as possible, with different feeds he could have in little piles and trails, so there was something for him to do.
 
Devonshire dumpling said:
this was what we were thinking of doing, but just slotting them in and out? do you think he will realise he can't get out of the gap is smaller, I know I am nbot giving him much credit here, but would he still try to get out if he could poke his nose out?
I am more trying to prevent it, he hasn't ever tried, but have a gut feeling x
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Just make the height of the rail so that he can just get his head over and no more. We always did this years ago with no problems, once he's realised he has to respect the door then you can probably take it out. I wouldn't be too worried most horses will settle once they realise their boundaries. I think he will work out he can't jump out, it takes a seriously brave or bonkers horse to jump through a small space ime. Relax, he'll be fine.
 
So we are going for full bars then, this does make me feel happier.... what should I expect him to do behind the bars? It scares me to death, to the point I have nothing to do with it a I send off vibes, hubby is super laid back, so letting him deal with it!

His stable is in a larger shed, so about the width of a doorway around his stable too... but we have made cot bars around, so its above his head.

The trouble is he is so powerful and strong, we are going to reinforce the front of his stable with as a scaffolding pole... he has never pushed yet, but only has to scratch his arse and things break!
He doesn't push, just does little bunny hops at the door, scares the hell out of me! Where do U buy these bars?
 
Suelin said:
Just make the height of the rail so that he can just get his head over and no more. We always did this years ago with no problems, once he's realised he has to respect the door then you can probably take it out. I wouldn't be too worried most horses will settle once they realise their boundaries. I think he will work out he can't jump out, it takes a seriously brave or bonkers horse to jump through a small space ime. Relax, he'll be fine.
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He's relatively calm when in the stable, but I have seen him pop over 5 bar gates from standstill to go where he wants..... he fails miserably and lands in a heap on top of them!
 
Cedars said:
Can't you just buy a weave bar with the infill?
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This is what I did worked a treat.

Though some will wreck the stable if they really hate being inside and nothing worked on keeping T in .

Try all approaches but keep it in mind it might not work
make the stable a nice place ,use a trickle net so he isnt standing ages with nothing to do.
 
Leviathan said:
This is what I did worked a treat.

Though some will wreck the stable if they really hate being inside and nothing worked on keeping T in .

Try all approaches but keep it in mind it might not work
make the stable a nice place ,use a trickle net so he isnt standing ages with nothing to do.
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Thanks, he has a tricklenet X
 
My pony got excited and tried to barge the door and then jump over it first time we bought him in

We got a 6x3 wood and mesh chicken run panel and placed it over the door just for an hour staying to supervise from a distance

After that he was fine and hasn't tried anything since

Anti weave grills are pricey but I guess they dohave a second hand value as a flip side. There is a small square mesh whole panel available though too which may be cheaper
 
Freddie will stay in and be relaxed if you are with him, so think I am half way there, If I had a grill up I would have the confidence to walk away, just need to source one now :-/ I am super poor since my dog cost me £900 this week:D
 
A while back someone posted on here about their horse who was found strung up by it's leg which had gone through the dividing bars of the stable... (barn type stable with wooden partition and bars above) the bars sprung open from the force of the leg bashing them, but then sprung back to trap the foot. For this reason I would not use any form of weaver bar/grid if the horse is likely to try to climb or jump out. I'd go with the above suggestion of slot in bars/planks to put above the door.
 
mainpower said:
A while back someone posted on here about their horse who was found strung up by it's leg which had gone through the dividing bars of the stable... (barn type stable with wooden partition and bars above) the bars sprung open from the force of the leg bashing them, but then sprung back to trap the foot. For this reason I would not use any form of weaver bar/grid if the horse is likely to try to climb or jump out. I'd go with the above suggestion of slot in bars/planks to put above the door.
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I'm sure I've seen small-hole mesh ones that would be safer.

http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/...oor-grid-steel-mesh-large-74-cm-x-104-cm.html
 
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If hubby is handy, get him to make a square mesh grill on a frame which will fit onto the door frame. I personally would get a anti weaving grill with infill and cover it with square mesh so there's no chance of a foot going through it. http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=anti+weave+grills

Remember, if he can't get his head over or through anything he won't be able to get close enough or enough momentum to it to even think about jumping out; if he can get his head over it gives him the incentive to think about it. If you use an infill then you can gauge when he's settled enough in a few days/weeks that you can take the infill out.
http://www.derbyhouse.co.uk/Equestr...ng+and+Accessories/Grids+and+Grilles/list.htm
http://www.rideaway.co.uk/Stable-Door-Grids/
 
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all our youngsters get used to coming in, being in a stable on their own while mares etc go out or get ridden from early age. We have bred both mare and colt sports horses too. Start early. Yes they all live out but they also regularly come in, have feet picked out, headcollars on, rugs, walked trotted up etc. They have jumped over gates but soon get put back and learn it doesn t get them anywhere. Bit of electric also helps.
 
We have home made grills above the door in the stables we use for the weanlings. These are simple to make. A piece of weld mesh from MVF, cut to size with bolt croppers. 2 uprights, made from timber approx 4"x2", long enough to allow them to be bolted to the inside of the door. Staple weld mesh to uprights, bolt on. We leave these in place for the first week or so, until they are used to their new arrangements. The youngsters can still see each other as they are in an American barn system. It may not work as well if he cannot see any other horses.

ETS as Maesfen says, do cut out a piece of the weldmesh to allow you to reach the bolt!
 
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I would go with the square mesh grille, but paying attention to how you can bolt the stable door when you are in the stable with him. I would have thought that your local tack shop/feed merchant could order one in for you.

I brought in my weanling colts last winter, I shut the top doors every night, but they had louvre windows (with mesh in front of them inside the stables), so got the light and ventilation that way. I trusted them enough not to do something stupid from about March onwards. I don't plan to bring them in at all this year, they can wear rugs instead and live out.
 
He's probably not as bad as I am making him sound, he is as good as gold when we are with him, or pottering around the yard, it was just yesterday when the mare was stood outside his stable, he did little rears as he wanted to go out with her, pure tantrum really! Have had a measure up today and shall me using weld mesh.

I also know of a stallion that got his foot stuck in the upright bars of a posh stable, he was destroyed!
 
I'm having similar problems with my 3 year old - when I take my mare out, she thinks nothing of hopping over the stable door. As it is, I have closing barn doors on the outside of these, so as long as I remember to close these when I go out, she can't actually get anywhere. Since she started doing this, I've filled a feed ball with nuts and she's been fine until I get back. A joiner friend is hopefully going to build me what some of the people above had described, that I can use when I go out. She was fine until recently, but she is going through her toddler stage and I worry unduly! But the feed ball has worked wonders as she is obsessed with food....good luck! :)
 
Holly Hocks said:
I'm having similar problems with my 3 year old - when I take my mare out, she thinks nothing of hopping over the stable door. As it is, I have closing barn doors on the outside of these, so as long as I remember to close these when I go out, she can't actually get anywhere. Since she started doing this, I've filled a feed ball with nuts and she's been fine until I get back. A joiner friend is hopefully going to build me what some of the people above had described, that I can use when I go out. She was fine until recently, but she is going through her toddler stage and I worry unduly! But the feed ball has worked wonders as she is obsessed with food....good luck! :)
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Been focusing all our efforts on the naughty baby... today the 23 yr old TB mare popped over the fence because she didn't want to leave Freddie, quite funny actually as she has decided to be naughty at her age!!
 
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