Would you move yards?

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Jim bob

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Some time ago I told you about my horse causing problems in the field, rug ripping, going after another horse etc. I believed he was kept by him self due to him been a racehorse, however according to his trainer he did get a small amount of group turn out each day and since then spent time with atleast another horse in the field, with previous owners.

Rightly or wrongly some of you told me the horses were teaching him a lesson, by bucking him and biting him. Saying he was a bit of a pin in the arse and needed to be taught some manners. Around 7 weeks ago or so now we moved our horses into another field and we noticed that the rugs weren't getting ripped. However my horse was still coming in with bite marks up his neck. The on the 2nd of this month, my day off . I got a phone call early morning ( as I was having a lie in!) around 8am telling me my horse had a cut on his head and blood all down his forelegs.

Shot down there and yes my horse has a cut on his head and blood all down his legs. I spoke to the vet 20 mins (8:20) later as his nose was bleeding quite abit and wouldn't stop. The vet came out soon after .Had a good look, said the blood from his nose was coming from his head or 'higher up' and that he has a fractured frontal bone or fractured forehead. possible need a Xray or CT aswell. Straight away my vet asked if there was a chance another horse could have kicked him. I said maybe but no one saw it.

Still, weeks after, my horse continues to come in with kicks on his rump and bites on his neck, he doesn't seem happy but likes the security of a herd.

Would you move him?
 
I think you need to spend some time watching what is going on in the field to see if he is provoking it or if it is one particular bully in the field. If he is unhappy can you make alternative arrangements for turnout i.e., a smaller herd, do you have a sympathetic yard manager you can talk to? Many yards now do individual turnout because of this problem or they put 2 or 3 horses together. For your own peace of mind it might be worth quietly investigating what other yards are around as the last incident sounds quite nasty and I would be concerned about further injury & a larger vet bill. What type of herd is he in & how was he introduced?
 
The night before the injury, apparently one of the horses was chasing mine and another one around the field. There isn't much my YO can do actually. He is in an all gelding herd, he was introduced to them but litrally just putting him in and seeing how the got on, rather then doing it slowly. But we don't have enough land for the amount of horses on it. To be fair it was quite nasty, any higher up and it would have been his brain that got the injury.
 
big groups in a small unstimulating field is a recipe for disaster sometimes. Also is the herd stables or are there new ones coming and going? glad your horses injury wasn't worse, hope he's ok.
 
Jim bob said:
The night before the injury, apparently one of the horses was chasing mine and another one around the field. There isn't much my YO can do actually. He is in an all gelding herd, he was introduced to them but litrally just putting him in and seeing how the got on, rather then doing it slowly. But we don't have enough land for the amount of horses on it. To be fair it was quite nasty, any higher up and it would have been his brain that got the injury.
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Is the horse still in a 2 acre field with 3 others? if so there is something the YO can do and that is to take less horses so there is enough space for them, to introduce each new horse gradually and make sure they are settled rather than just chucking in a new one and hoping for the best, if there is not enough grass and space then the horses may have to come in part of the time to give the field more chance, so plenty a good YO can do if they can be bothered.

I spend time watching how my horses interact, as a YO I do not want avoidable accidents so it sometimes means moving a trouble maker into a different field until I find the best situation for all the horses, if one was regularly coming in with cuts and bites then I would try and move it ASAP before something more serious happened, I think it is an important part of my job to know each horse and look after it's welfare as best I can, accidents do happen however hard you try but many are avoidable if you really know what is going on and take the time to watch them.

I think for such a big horse I would look at moving to somewhere that can cater better for him, he seems to have a few issues and many may well be related to living in an unsuitable yard.
 
The group at the moment stands at 4 horses.
Be positive; Yes that correct 2 acres, 4 horses. The problem is that some of the liveries have gone against the YO for example the YO said for this winter if its awful weather don't turn out and the livery later said that they wont still turn out.
 
BethH said:
I think you need to spend some time watching what is going on in the field to see if he is provoking it or if it is one particular bully in the field. If he is unhappy can you make alternative arrangements for turnout i.e., a smaller herd, do you have a sympathetic yard manager you can talk to? Many yards now do individual turnout because of this problem or they put 2 or 3 horses together. For your own peace of mind it might be worth quietly investigating what other yards are around as the last incident sounds quite nasty and I would be concerned about further injury & a larger vet bill. What type of herd is he in & how was he introduced?
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Agreed with you
 
I would move i'm afraid. It wouldn't matter to me if it was him causing the fights, he is still coming in every day with injury.
I would be too scared that he would get a life threatening injury, the injury he has now sounds pretty horrid.
I do realize that horses are not robots, and will get into scraps, but this sounds like more sustained bullying in the group than I would put up with.
Kx
 
I'd be spitting blood if my precious boy came in with such a massive injury when the yard owner knew there was bullying going on. She/he needs to do something to stop the rug damage and injuries occurring.
Firstly, 2 acres isn't enough space for 4 horses so fights are much more likely as your poor horse has no-where to go to get away from another horse they don't get on with. Secondly, the field is going to be overgrazed, (and possibly becoming 'horse sick') leading to less forage available i.e. shorter tempers among the herd.
Although you think your horse likes being in a herd, they need to feel safe, and they will still be as happy right next to the others but separated by a bit of electric tape. I'd speak to the YO and ask them if they can put some up for the safety of your horse. If not, it's definitely time to move.
 
I would move 2 acres is not enough for 4 horses especially if one is aggressive, your horse has already had a nasty injury from one of them I would not take the chance and put him out with them again as he may not be so lucky, I have seen a horse with a broken leg kicked by another it's not nice, I often witness what one pony does to his other field mates in the field next door to mine and if it were my yard I would not allow other horses to be out with him as it's only a matter of time before he really hurts one of them.
 
Jim bob said:
Some time ago I told you about my horse causing problems in the field, rug ripping, going after another horse etc. I believed he was kept by him self due to him been a racehorse, however according to his trainer he did get a small amount of group turn out each day and since then spent time with atleast another horse in the field, with previous owners.

Rightly or wrongly some of you told me the horses were teaching him a lesson, by bucking him and biting him. Saying he was a bit of a pin in the arse and needed to be taught some manners. Around 7 weeks ago or so now we moved our horses into another field and we noticed that the rugs weren't getting ripped. However my horse was still coming in with bite marks up his neck. The on the 2nd of this month, my day off . I got a phone call early morning ( as I was having a lie in!) around 8am telling me my horse had a cut on his head and blood all down his forelegs.

Shot down there and yes my horse has a cut on his head and blood all down his legs. I spoke to the vet 20 mins (8:20) later as his nose was bleeding quite abit and wouldn't stop. The vet came out soon after .Had a good look, said the blood from his nose was coming from his head or 'higher up' and that he has a fractured frontal bone or fractured forehead. possible need a Xray or CT aswell. Straight away my vet asked if there was a chance another horse could have kicked him. I said maybe but no one saw it.

Still, weeks after, my horse continues to come in with kicks on his rump and bites on his neck, he doesn't seem happy but likes the security of a herd.

Would you move him?
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Without knowing your horse and his temperament around others I would er on the side of caution and say move and find somewhere that does small group turnout. On the flip side you need to make sure your horse wont turn back into his old ways and damage other owners rugs etc as this wont sit well and you maybe asked to leave.

We have strict routine and all 8 horses on two paddocks works and we always have good grazing and a routine. On the flip side we have our fair share of rug rippers and the owners got fed up and the rug ripper owner had to pay. *Touch hypothetical wood* We have had a few injuries due to bullying but they soon quieten down. ATEOTD horses are horses and some do have a destructive side and for this you have to think of a livery yard which reduces damage but keeps your horse happy.
 
spacie1977 said:
I'd be spitting blood if my precious boy came in with such a massive injury when the yard owner knew there was bullying going on. She/he needs to do something to stop the rug damage and injuries occurring.
Firstly, 2 acres isn't enough space for 4 horses so fights are much more likely as your poor horse has no-where to go to get away from another horse they don't get on with. Secondly, the field is going to be overgrazed, (and possibly becoming 'horse sick') leading to less forage available i.e. shorter tempers among the herd.
Although you think your horse likes being in a herd, they need to feel safe, and they will still be as happy right next to the others but separated by a bit of electric tape. I'd speak to the YO and ask them if they can put some up for the safety of your horse. If not, it's definitely time to move.
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I was very angry as eventhough no one saw the injury and we are just guessing, it does look like a hoof print on his forehead. My horse did use to do the rug ripping however that has stopped... almost two months ago now. When I told the YO that day she was shocked but didn't seem to do anything about it. A bit higher up and that would have been curtains for my boy!
 
HGA-12 said:
Without knowing your horse and his temperament around others I would er on the side of caution and say move and find somewhere that does small group turnout. On the flip side you need to make sure your horse wont turn back into his old ways and damage other owners rugs etc as this wont sit well and you maybe asked to leave.

We have strict routine and all 8 horses on two paddocks works and we always have good grazing and a routine. On the flip side we have our fair share of rug rippers and the owners got fed up and the rug ripper owner had to pay. *Touch hypothetical wood* We have had a few injuries due to bullying but they soon quieten down. ATEOTD horses are horses and some do have a destructive side and for this you have to think of a livery yard which reduces damage but keeps your horse happy.
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My boy is very very sensitive. He can be aggressive when there is hay around but only to one pony. He likes to be with others sometimes too much and almost follow them around to a degree. I have said before I would pay for the repair of the rug but that livery refused saying horses are horses.

I understand horses are horses and that's why I wasn't happy about it but the little kicks and small bites I have put down to 'horses been horses' yet when he comes in with a kcik to his shoulder within 2 hours of been out and broke the skin. Vet happened to be down and said that's not a fencing wound he has been kicked. Or when the rug ripping stops and he still is getting kicked on his rum , bites on his neck. I counted 5 recent bits at one point. Then my horses head injury aswell.. My boy has high needs... so I need to be careful but I cant be taking him to every yard in the area as that wont help him .
 
Theres no way on gods green earth I would stay there and if he were mine, Well he'd be staying in until I found somewhere....today! How could you look at him and put him back out there?!
Edited to add....if you can't see that his injuries are from another horse rearing up and coming down on his face between his eyes....??
 
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Thank you! I checked for any blood on the wooden posts as we thought he may have somehow have tripped and bashed his head. But nothing. We also thought maybe he may have bashed his head on a high branch as my horse cribs on a tree branch. But we could think of what would have caused him to throw his head up so high. We though maybe another horse biting hi but I doubt he would have thrown he head up with such force as to fracture his forehead!
We will never know.
 
I'm sorry if I've seemed sharp but I was so so shocked. I'm in no doubt that you want to protect and do the best for him or else you wouldn't of asked for help on here.
I'd say hes had another horse, whose shod, rear up and come down on his face as I can clearly see what appears to be a hoof mark.

Please move him even if it's to your garden, he's certainly in immediate danger where he is if this is the case.

Good luck!
 
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Thanks no its fine. Again we have no idea how it has happened. I just got a called saying he ahd cut his head and had blood on down his legs. Not sure if he has been kicked reared up on... smacked it on a branch or what! He is getting moved as soon as there is a box free.
 
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