Yearling help!

[Captainshell]

Hi everyone,
I’m after some advice. I have a beautiful mini cob who is bang on 12 months old. We have had him since he was 10 months old and he was gelded before we got him. over the last month, his behaviour has been really bad whilst leading him to and fro his stable. He’s had the same routine every day - in the morning he has a feed, gets walked to his field, stays out until 5pm, walks back, has a groom and a feed and back in his stable. But lately, he’s flicking his head, sometimes rearing,he’s bucked, tried to bolt and when he’s not doing any of this he just feels tense and like he wants to try something ?
The only change he had was moving from his gears to a small paddock while a fence was fixed because he kept escaping but he’s back now. Does anyone have any tips or advice as his behaviour is getting dangerous and he’s supposed to my daughter’s pony who has lost all confidence with him. He don’t seem to enjoy a groom anymore either and seems to lost his love for being fussed ?
thank you in advance ?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

He is a yearling. Punt him out in a field 24/7 and let him be a baby.

 

[spacefaer]

Sounds like he has a lot of pent up energy.
Why is he stabled and fed?
Is he used to being stabled and fed?

He's very young for a lifestyle that would normally suit an adult horse

 

[sherry90]

Don’t fuss him. Turn him out as much as possible, ideally with others his own age, if not other horses who are used to youngsters.

 

[Arzada]

What equine company does he have?

 

[Captainshell]

Sounds like he has a lot of pent up energy.
Why is he stabled and fed?
Is he used to being stabled and fed?

He's very young for a lifestyle that would normally suit an adult horse

He’s stabled because it’s our yard rules until the summer comes and he’s fed because all the horses are fed routinely and he goes crazy if he’s not. He should be living out very soon.
he did used to go for a nice long walks but it’s too risky with how he is atm. We were advised to to get him into a routine before he got too big to manage.

 

[TheMule]

I really, really hope this post is a wind up as I just can’t get my head around the being yet another poster who thinks it's acceptable to keep a young horse in this manner.

If this is a serious post then sell the yearling, take some professional advice and buy a much more suitable pony for your daughter.

 

[laura_nash]

We were advised to to get him into a routine before he got too big to manage.

I think you need a different advisor. A horse his age needs other horses, ideally a mix so he has some to play with, some to nanny him and some to put him in his place and teach him some manners. Maximum turnout and minimum stabling and handling.

 

[spacefaer]

He needs to go in a field with other youngsters before he hurts you or himself. It's not psychologically good for him to be stabled like that.
It's nearly June. When does your YO think summer starts?

 

[Captainshell]

I think you need a different advisor. A horse his age needs other horses, ideally a mix so he has some to play with, some to nanny him and some to put him in his place and teach him some manners. Maximum turnout and minimum stabling and handling.

He goes out in a big herd every day. The only time he’s handled it to take him out the the herd every morning and a groom. We started walking him when he was in a little paddock to burn some energy. He was in there for a couple of weeks while waiting for a fence to be fix as he kept escaping. No other horses are living out yet so he needs to be stabled at night at the mo.

 

[ycbm]

. We were advised to to get him into a routine before he got too big to manage.

I think you need to change your advisors.

He's a yearling, he doesn't need a routine until he starts some work at 3 or 4, he just needs turning away with occasional handling to be sure that you can handle him if you need to.

 

[daydreamer]

hi,


Young horses don't really need a "routine", they need enough ground work and handling to be safe and then they can be more or less left alone. At most that is probably just 15 min every so often at his age otherwise they get fed up (which yours seems to be telling you he is). I have a 3 yo who I have had since he was 6mo. He is my first youngster. Now I go and see him every day mainly because my old horse was PTS and because I have had more time free due to lockdowns and WHF. But up until he was about 2ish I could only see him sat and sun and maybe a couple of times in the week (he is at full grass livery). That was plenty to get the groundwork done and for him to be familiar with me.

I know it is really difficult to accept and to find an alternative but most normal livery yards aren't set up for keeping youngsters. Young horses have short attention spans and lots of extra energy so really should be out 24/7. It is just like you wouldn't expect to put a 10 year old child in a 9-5 office job and expect it to go well! If he can live out 24/7 soon that is great but I think you need to look for somewhere else to keep him in the autumn and next winter. It can be hard to find youngstock livery but if you put the word out you might find someone local to you who has 1/more youngsters that they want company for.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

He needs to just live out and be a horse not be dragged in fed and groomed they don't understand or want that.

 

[Trouper]

Youngsters need "nursery time" just like children do. He is not ready for the big boy routine yet so not only are you making him unhappy you are - inadvertently - teaching him to be "naughty" as he has no other way to express his frustration.
This is not your fault - you have been badly advised but, like others, I do urge you to find him somewhere he can just be turned out 24/7 with other youngsters. That way you will end up with a happy pony.
You don't say whether or not your daughter can/hopes to ride him but he is a long way off being old enough to break or ride so I am struggling to understand why you bought such a youngster? It would be a shame for your daughter to lose confidence in horses because of a mis-match like this so the other alternative might be to sell him and get her a "been there/done everything" pony that she can just have fun with??

 

[Littlebear]

OP - it may feel backwards to turn your horse away and not handle them so much at this age and everyone does things differently, but putting this horse onto a young horse turn out livery will do you a big favour here, you may think he needs daily handling and normal routine etc - he doesn't.
The hierarchy of the young horse group will do the hard work for you and then bring him back at 3 and you will likely have a much more well rounded easier horse to manage. You will have a battle here if you carry on the way you are and there is just no need to let it go that way.
Trust me I have done it both ways and the ones that have lived out with babies are 10 x easier after that than the ones that haven't. I hope you take on board the advice given here in the way it is intended, good luck x

 

[Captainshell]

Youngsters need "nursery time" just like children do. He is not ready for the big boy routine yet so not only are you making him unhappy you are - inadvertently - teaching him to be "naughty" as he has no other way to express his frustration.
This is not your fault - you have been badly advised but, like others, I do urge you to find him somewhere he can just be turned out 24/7 with other youngsters. That way you will end up with a happy pony.
You don't say whether or not your daughter can/hopes to ride him but he is a long way off being old enough to break or ride so I am struggling to understand why you bought such a youngster? It would be a shame for your daughter to lose confidence in horses because of a mis-match like this so the other alternative might be to sell him and get her a "been there/done everything" pony that she can just have fun with??

Thank you. I’m going to look into this but there really is no where else around and my yard is really lovely. My daughter already has two ponys that she rides. This one is a rescue that we took in and wanted to give a home to. He is hers too and her confidence is only diminishing with him. Just didn’t want her to be scared of him. I wanted some advice to cope with the situation we are in as I’m aware it’s not exactly ideal.

 

[j1ffy]

Thank you. I’m going to look into this but there really is no where else around and my yard is really lovely. My daughter already has two ponys that she rides. This one is a rescue that we took in and wanted to give a home to. He is hers too and her confidence is only diminishing with him. Just didn’t want her to be scared of him. I wanted some advice to cope with the situation we are in as I’m aware it’s not exactly ideal.

The problem is that it is the situation that is causing the issues - unless you change the situation, you will continue to have these (and worsening) problems. I hope you take this in a well-meaning way.

When my youngster was a yearling, I sent him to a nearby grass livery yard even though I had two ridden horses at a yard that I really liked. That yard couldn't offer 24/7/365 herd turnout, so I had to take on the inconvenience of horses in multiple places. The grass livery included twice daily checks and holding for vet / farrier so I could almost forget about him, I'd just pop over once a week to say hello. Once he started to do work last year as a 3yo he had great manners and was keen to learn. He was in a mixed age herd rather than only youngsters but the outcome was still the same.

Like everyone else on the thread, I would urge you to find a more suitable situation. If you let us know your location I'm sure people could recommend trustworthy grass liveries nearby.

 

[Littlebear]

Thank you. I’m going to look into this but there really is no where else around and my yard is really lovely. My daughter already has two ponys that she rides. This one is a rescue that we took in and wanted to give a home to. He is hers too and her confidence is only diminishing with him. Just didn’t want her to be scared of him. I wanted some advice to cope with the situation we are in as I’m aware it’s not exactly ideal.

Its a tough one for you, but genuinely - the mixed baby turnout does not need to be super close if they are checked regularly, you can go and visit and let this get sorted out the natural way that will make life easier all round. I assure you that of the 15 maybe mine was with, handling them the way you are would have been tough going (they are all big warm bloods) but over the years the way they are managed means there is no stress, none of that tricky behaviour and they all come back at 3 quite well rounded and easy to manage and ready to move on in their careers as ridden horses. My current horse that i bred has never, ever tried to do anything remotely dangerous or naughty. I have no doubt he would have done if things were different.
The only time i ever had a foal on a livery yard the way you do was over 25 years ago and i had the exact same problems you are having, i wish i knew then what i knew now as it really didn't need to be that way. I say this only from experience and knowing that this situation is unlikely to improve without changing the management to suit the horses needs better.

 

[I'm Dun]

I send mine away as well. They come back at 3 do the basics and then quite often go back for another few months. Mine end up about 45mins away. Its close enough to pop over every couple of weeks and is turnout in huge hilly fields specifically for youngstock so perfect.