Fat_Pony
Well-Known Member
I have a tiny mini Shetland mare. She is probably in her teens, but we don't know, may be older. She is a splash white and has a white face with pink skin and blue eyes. She also has pink udder and pink bits (excuse my lack of better terminology!). She was fully clipped out and hogged in march as she had awful rain scald under a very thick coat. That's now all cleared up. No idea if any of that is relevant, but it may be.
my horses are currently out 24/7. They are all good doers so the grass isn't fabulous, but they have ad lib hay too and they are ignoring it, so there must be plenty. The other two are geldings and they all get on well. She is never bullied by them.
She spends 90% of her time walking in a large circle in the field. She has made a bald track in the field as she walks exactly the same circle each time. She often swishes her tail and occasionally breaks in to trot as if she is trying to get away from something. If you open the field gate she will dart straight out and walk up to her stable where she will happily stand and eat hay. The field is large, there is a lot of natural shelter (tall hedge on one long side, thick woodland along another side which leaves one area permanently shaded from the sun) and we are no worse with the flies as anyone else is. There is another field next to this one that is the same size and has the same amount of shelter and she does exactly the same. And another smaller field next to that with no shelter and again she does the same.
I bought her a fly rug incase the flies or midges were bothering her. It has a neck cover but no belly cover (she wears a 3'3 rug and I struggled to find any fly rugs in her size, let alone one with a belly cover) so she is also smothered in long lasting fly gel. There never seem to be any flies on her and she never has any visible fly bites anywhere on her. She does not have a fly mask as they simply don't exist in her size. I bought one designed for a mini Shetland and it was no where near close to fitting her. But with the fly gel she doesn't have them on her face anyway. So my fly theory seems wrong as this has made no difference to her constant circling.
my horses are in overnight in winter, but spend the day on an all weather turnout area with ad lib hay. They fields are far too wet over winter to have horses on them. Plenty of room to move around and she is very happy - no constant circling.
so I am stumped. My other horses are not herding her around. As I said they get on incredibly well. She is in good health, her weight is good (all the walking is keeping her fit!), my only other idea is that the sun is bothering her somehow? She doesn't do it in the winter so it is either to do with the weather/flies or to do with the fields themselves. Maybe her blue eyes/pink skin are bothered by the sun? I've not noticed if she does it less on cloudy days. I will have to look out for that.
Any ideas?
my horses are currently out 24/7. They are all good doers so the grass isn't fabulous, but they have ad lib hay too and they are ignoring it, so there must be plenty. The other two are geldings and they all get on well. She is never bullied by them.
She spends 90% of her time walking in a large circle in the field. She has made a bald track in the field as she walks exactly the same circle each time. She often swishes her tail and occasionally breaks in to trot as if she is trying to get away from something. If you open the field gate she will dart straight out and walk up to her stable where she will happily stand and eat hay. The field is large, there is a lot of natural shelter (tall hedge on one long side, thick woodland along another side which leaves one area permanently shaded from the sun) and we are no worse with the flies as anyone else is. There is another field next to this one that is the same size and has the same amount of shelter and she does exactly the same. And another smaller field next to that with no shelter and again she does the same.
I bought her a fly rug incase the flies or midges were bothering her. It has a neck cover but no belly cover (she wears a 3'3 rug and I struggled to find any fly rugs in her size, let alone one with a belly cover) so she is also smothered in long lasting fly gel. There never seem to be any flies on her and she never has any visible fly bites anywhere on her. She does not have a fly mask as they simply don't exist in her size. I bought one designed for a mini Shetland and it was no where near close to fitting her. But with the fly gel she doesn't have them on her face anyway. So my fly theory seems wrong as this has made no difference to her constant circling.
my horses are in overnight in winter, but spend the day on an all weather turnout area with ad lib hay. They fields are far too wet over winter to have horses on them. Plenty of room to move around and she is very happy - no constant circling.
so I am stumped. My other horses are not herding her around. As I said they get on incredibly well. She is in good health, her weight is good (all the walking is keeping her fit!), my only other idea is that the sun is bothering her somehow? She doesn't do it in the winter so it is either to do with the weather/flies or to do with the fields themselves. Maybe her blue eyes/pink skin are bothered by the sun? I've not noticed if she does it less on cloudy days. I will have to look out for that.
Any ideas?
