What do you do about your horse and fireworks??

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Holzdweaver

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This year iv moved my horse into a field and have no choice about bringing him inside like i usually would do as i dont have a stable. There is a line of houses a small field's length away and after talking to one of the house owners, quite a few of them have firework displays and they are a lot closer than what id like :S

The whole field has electric fence all the way round in front of a dry stone wall so i dont think he will try and get out, but are most horses liable to panic all night? or do they usuallly settle down once they have been going off for a while? I will be on hand watching him to try and settle him down if i need too. I was thinking of putting him in the paddock which is the furthest away from the houses, but its still pretty close.

How do your horses cope with fireworks? do you do anything to help them cope?

If it was just one night id be tempted to give him a mild sedative to take the edge off him, but these fireworks tend to last weeks instead of a day...
 
Mine have never had much of an issue with fireworks, they tend to stay as far away as possible and then watch the display. If you are worried though it may be worth giving him a bit of sedalin and/or stuffing his ears with cotton wool to drown out the noise. You may find that he settles more as the week goes on as he will start to get used to them.
 
Ours aren't bothered by them - we have a country house hotel a mile away across the fields and all the chavvy footballers who get married there have fireworks so at least once a month they are going off:o - and they are big displays:o - fireworks night is no problem for them after that:)

They are generally all still out 24/7 and I never hear any hooning around - I live at the yard:)
 
ours are usually out and don't seem to care about fireworks - in fact they often seem to like to stand and watch them! However, we don't have them too near to our field so not sure how they'd be if they were really close. Two wil be in the stables this year as they`
have been for the past few weeks as my sister's horse is on box rest. I def prefer them to be out though as always have that slight concern of stray fireworks landing on stables!
 
My lad has never been bothered by them tbh,the 1st couple of loud bangs make him jump but he then realises they are not coming to get him and continues about his business,tbh they usually start letting them off wks before so by the time bonfire night comes around they are totally unphased by it all :) x
 
Last year I was riding in the arena while fireworks were going off about 100yards away and horse wasn't bothered. Ours are all in but they don't worry about them, I think they like watching them!
 
Mine are fine too. The first year that I left them out I took my picnic and blankets and sat and watched the fireworks with them, it was hilarious I had 4 on each side and all in a row we watched the display.:) Since then I have never worried about leaving them out. Even the foals are fine.
 
ours never bother ......... they jumped at the first few but then just settle down and even watch them if near enough. We did many years ago do plenty of getting them used to bangs, lound noises, football rattles etc etc ... although fireorks do have a noise all of their own as well as the lights

I have heard of some that get very frightened and have been helped by things like
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...=aps&hvadid=8912383265&ref=pd_sl_2n1d3kvprm_b

should be started weeks or even months before..... and imo better than sedating as fireworks can happen all year round as well as unexpectedly like for weddings.

If ours were bothered I would still leave them out .... but whether in or out there is risk of injury if horse panics..... each person needs to assess the possible hazards in both areas and make own judgement. I leave them out.
 
Stick them up her bottom to get her to go. :D

No, They go in and have the radio on, I don't think they are in the slightest bit bothered, but their field is behind peoples gardens and I'd hate for them to fall in the field/on the horses.
 
Mine would freak out more if they were shut inside, but then mine are used to being out. We are very lucky with the nearest house 1/2 mile away who dont have much if anything anyway. We used to have a display in the village (1 mile away) which as we're on the side of a hill, we can see it perfectly clearly. That used to scare them a bit, but I found they were happiest standing at the highest point of the field so they could watch! One year was particularly noisy (stupid screechy fireworks) which did spook them, I just got hold of the ring leader and led him about until the display finished which instantly chilled everyone else.
 
I used to have to give my field over to the village bonfire night gathering every year. That was fun. Obviously we had to move out - they went in a stable 5 mins walk over the hill.

This year they are a couple of fields across - they'll hopefully either be moved to the same stables across the hill, or into a field or outside pen in the next village. The fireworks are launched towards the field next door to theirs and I don't think the two we have now will cope, both are a bit neurotic. I know lots of people who find theirs are better out than in.
 
Definitely be on hand just in case - but make sure your tension doesn't wind them up!!

What I have found in the past is that as long as you have one who is reasonably sensible then the others will take courage from that horse.

You are in quite a difficult situation, but if you can judge when the fireworks begin, then I think I would keep their food a little bit short so they were a tad hungry, then put some hay out just before the fireworks begin, to encourage the more 'chilled' horses to eat and help to keep some calmness around.

I used to really worry about my mare when she was young, but in the end nothing bad ever happened. The first year she did get really stressed but we all survived it and now she is pretty chilled out with it all.
 
My horse is scared, I keep him in but stay with him while the local display is on (approx 1/2 mile away) as he is calmer when i am there. The other horses on the yard are completely uninterested in them!
 
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