Youngster door banging

lialls

lialls

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We've recently moved yards and i think that boots has become attached to the mare she now shares a field with. Boots will happily leave the mare at the stables tho and go for a walk down the drive totally out of sight of her and the other horses but if i put boots in the stable and take the other mare a few stables down or in the shcool (out of sight) Boots is continuly door banging even tho there are 4 horses on the yard and see can see atleast 4 others in the fields close by. She has a hay net in the stable and has only been in there a long enough for me to tack up so its not like shes bored. Theres a total of 15 horses on the yard as welll so there is usually something close by.

I'm not sure if shes doing it for attention or if she dosnt like me giving the other horse attention (its only been me and Boots untill now) or if she has become really attached to the other horse and really is worrying that its left her. In the field Boots and the other horse appear that they couldn't care less about each other tho and are often at deffernt ends of the field out of sight of each other.

Should i just carry on like normal and ignore her door banging? shes 2, is it likely that she will do this forever now? from what you've read what do you think is the cause of her door banging? and can i change the way i do something to try and eliminate it? Any help welcomed!
 
Try your hardest to ignore it. Door banging is definitely a very irritating habit. Best thing to do is put some rubber matting or door matting on the inside of the door to deaden the sound because you won't stop him doing it, any approach to him to console/reprimand him is giving him the attention he is demanding.
 
So you do think that its attention seeking rather than worrying that her friend has gone out of sight?

Thanks for the reply as well :)
 
Ooops, sorry I called your filly a he. :o It's just a teenage thing, but she may always do it at say feedtime or when other horses are moving around her. She's having a bit of a tanty because no one understands!
 
It's defiantly attention seeking, but it's so hard to ignore!

Someone on here last year advised me to hang an old carrot net filled with holly inside the door. I did this but also reinforced with lots of praise when he didn't attempt to bang then as he got better i just used it at the prime times ie feed or taking the other horse away. And he soon worked it out.

He's been out all summer so may need to do again but hopefully he'll remember.
 
My yearling picked up this habbit when a new horse came to our yard n in next stable n door banged all day! Ive moved yards since n she carried on doing it.a friend told me to squirt wafer at her face each time she did it.so i did and it only took 2 days of that and she has now stopped.
 
Thanks guys. She only does it when me and the other horse go out of sight but i might be able to get someone else on the yard to get her with the water. Oh thats a briliant idea with the holly in a bag! I have been told about putting rubber matting on the door to drown the noise out but i dont want to make any drastic changes to the stable really so thats quite a good idea.

Thanks guys.
 
Mine is an awful door banger. Has been since he was 4!! And is now 13! He is a complete attention seeker and stress head. If he doesn't go out first he is NOT happy!!
 
Give yourself an afternoon to deal with it, close the top door every time she starts banging, open it after about 5 or 10 minutes. If she starts banging again repeat immediately. She may continue for quite a while but she will quickly realise that if she kicks the door then she doesn't get to see out. We have used this on several of ours, it has never failed. They may forget a couple of times over the following days but it quickly becomes instilled that they shouldn't do it, ever! Be careful squirting water, or anything else that can make your horse jump, they can end up with a nasty poll injury if they throw their head up.
 
ever heard of chinese water torture??
Im astounded that this technique has even been suggested - Disgusting behaviour and practice.
Ignore bad behaviour - reward good.
 
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