Horse that don't LIKE to stalled or horses with

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Sanny

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I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions or has dealt with this before. I have two horses I have problems stalling and don't know what else to do.

We have a mini that came to us out of shape and underweight. He is a performance horse but hadn't been shown in a year so wasn't being worked so in addition to being too thin, wasn't in shape either and didn't have a whole lot of energy.

I would stall him at night and turn him out all day and for several months he has been getting lots of good feed and supplements plus red cell because of low iron and blood levels. I don't recall this being a problem in the beginning. He would circle (fast) in his stall if his feed wasn't ready but as far as I could tell would settle down and calm down after he ate.

I've been working him all summer, we showed him for half the season and took him to nationals and I don't recall it being a problem when stalled at shows. As he has put on weight, gotten in better shape, more muscular and started to be more energetic it has gotten really bad recently. Our box stalls have rubber mats and then I put a thick layer of shavings down. In the mornings there has been a perfect bare circle on the rubber mats with all the shavings kicked to the middle or outside from his circling during the night.

Since we got back from nationals I've been leaving the horses out a lot with shelter available. Yesterday we were expecting bad weather so I decided to put him in a stall and he was going nuts. I thought what if I put a buddy in the same stall with him, so tried that, and the buddy just stood in the corner (looking at him like he was crazy) while he continued his circling. Then I thought what if I divide the stall in half so he doesn't have room to circle. The stall is 12X12 so I took a round pen panel and divided it so he only had a 6X12 area. That was worse, he did it anyway, spinning in circles like a reining horse.

It really is sort of freaky to watch, because he does change direction when he gets tired, and last night he was spinning like a top and changing directions about every third spin. I gave up and turned him back outside and though it is miserable and raining out, he is currently outside soaking wet eating hay.

The horses can't look out of our box stalls because they were designed for big horses, but I've also tried putting a short gate in so he can look out, I've put toys in his stall, I've left a light and the radio on at night, and there are always other horses in the barn if he is in.

I guess the only solution is to NOT stall him but one of the reasons I wanted too is because he is a hard keeper and I want to keep weight on him over the winter. He is also a VERY slow eater so it is more convenient to put him in his stall and leave him in there than wait for him to eat. I don't like for him to eat hay with a group either, for the same reasons, he is a very slow eater and he is also the sort that will not push in there and eat his fair share.
 
If you keep him stalled your gonna have the opposite effect. He will pace so much that he will lose weight.

Can you put him outside alone?

Some horses just dont like to be stalled we have a few of them as well. Thankfully they are broodmares. HOwever when ours are stalled there smallest stall is a 8x16.

Was he confined to a stall alot before you got him?
 
Wow sorry this is a problem for oyu. I bet it's really frustrating eh? I hope someone can find a solution...as a big horse I might think a tie stall, you know the kind they just walk in and are tied..but I've always thought that was cruel to horses as they need to move more..

Our Buddy dislike stalls also..at fair he would actually stand up on the gate to see out at people..passers by thought it was cute but it sent a message to me..Then we would catch him standing with his face in the corner, head hanging. He would heave a big sigh time after time..he was definatly depressed. Our answer was to get him out to walk him as much as possible, but it was county fair and he had to be stalled some of the time and at night..

at home we have stalls but only use to feed the Safe CHoice etc then out for hay..

Wish I had an answer...I've seen Lions do that at the Zoo also...good luck, Maxine
 
Carolyn that is called STALLWALKING and I have one of those too. It can be a brain thing.

Holly is a stall walker and I don't have a clue why. I bought her as a young filly who was out to pasture and never was stalled until she came to me. My horses are only stalled at night and she just made this whole thing up on her own during her pregnancy. It has not stopped yet. The only time it did stop was when Timmy was born, but then after she became used to him, she continued her stall walking pattern again. I am very afriad she was going to step all over him! But she is careful and just goes around him. It's horrible and that is why I will be weaning Timmy as early as possible. He can very well pick up this bad stall vice.

I also do not have a set up to keep her outside. There's no shelter out there anywhere and we do have night predators so keeping her out at night is out of the question.

Our stalls too are large 12 X 12, and the walls are high. There are windows covered in mesh on both sides of her so she can visit with her buddies and also we put in another window in her door so she can see outside, but it doesn't matter. She continues to stallwalk as soon as she runs out of hay. But I spyed on her a lot on the camera and mostly she starts in during the wee hours of the morning about 5:00 am I think that is when she gets hungry, but not sure.

I also boarded a thoroughbred that did this as well. We did have a paddock that enabled her to walk in and out and that helped her. But soon as we locked her in during hurricane type weather, she was at it again.

The new barn is much more light and airy but I don't think that the new surroundings in there is going to stop or even slow her up. I feel we have less than 1% chance of that.

I tried the jolly balls and the balls that you lick and she will only stand there and eat the thing till she wants to colic over it and toys don't work at all.

I am thinking of forced exercise now in the way of lunging daily and see if that helps. She has always been out with everyone too so it can't be from lack of socilization or enviormental problems. Even when she was on dry lot, she was never alone and always had a couple of buddies out with her every day.

If this cycle can be broken in any way, somebody please tell me how I beg you.

http://www.netpets.org/horses/healthspa/stall.html
 
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I have open panels in my barn so they can see eachother and that seems to help but.. i would also suggest perhaps having his eyes checked?

We have a mare whose eyesight has gotten way worse over the pasty year or so.. she is totally blind in one eye now and the worse her sight got the more she circled and circled in her stall she has a indoor outdoor pen with a 16x16 stall and a i dont know 40x30 pen attached and still circles her stall..
 
Our first mini a gelding has always paced in his stall......he also will pace if put in a paddock alone...and will pace if the paddock has no grass/hay and he gets bored.....he was born like this I swear.....his dam wasn't a pacer but his sire was......when I have to stall or confine him I make a point of just not watching him as it drives me nuts........he is 14 now and has done this since we got him as a yearling......I have tried everything imaginable and have given up........
 
Rabbit has done this since he had an accident aged two. He is now 26 and can get his diploma in circling, pacing and fence running. Today he was so bad I tied him up- that is the only way to stop him. First ten minutes he is frantic then he settles and eventually, when I turn him loose he will go and lie down almost immediately. HOWEVER he does it in the round pen he lives in, and he does it in the field when I turn him out. This is a true neurosis- you can try lots of things but I would honestly suggest you have a talk to your Vet about Prozac- no I am not kidding!! It is not addictive in animals. Rabbit has been on Valium in the stud season for twenty three years and it is the only thing that works, it odes not affect his libido!!!
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I never thought of the eyesight thing Leese! Good call Leese!

....... so I just went out and made a total fool of myself trying to self-test Holly! I am so glad that no one human was watching but I can assure you that you did not want to watch my contortions. I can only imagine what the rest of the horses think of me. I guess they have confirmed their suspicions about me now.
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I am happy to report that there is no chance that Holly is having any trouble with her eyesight. hehe.....back tothe drawing board.
 
Thought for the day:

Can you imagine if all of us that have these horses got our horses together and put them loose in a ring................?
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I have read up on this quite a bit and nearly all the articles do make mention of using straw for bedding instead of shavings. If you do a search many articles will come up on this subject. I have no idea why this would make any difference. Do you?

http://www.equusite.com/articles/behavior/...BadHabits.shtml

QUESTIONS: I am willing to try this and go buy some straw. I am wondering what the chances are that a horse may eat the straw and get sick on it. I am worried also about Timmy injesting it as well. What do you all think about this? Anyone else willing to try using straw?
 
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Fascination used to be quite the stall walker/pawer....she would stand in the corner and paw, or run back and forth, etc. What stopped her was putting Dan in there...she calmed down, and while she still doesn't like being stalled, she tolerates it.

Other than that I have no help for you....except that some horses just do that and I don't know that there is really anything you can do. My horses are 'out' all the time, not stalled...but our weather is nice enough to permit that.
 
So long as the straw is clean and not wheat straw there is no problem with them eating it- that is the whole point of bedding them on it. BUT Rabbit has only ever been bedded on straw and has totally ad lib hay and always has had!!! So- no it odes not work. Once the neurosis is set only drugging will stop it.

Many years ago I read a thesis on a crib biting Shetland. Students devised a stall in which it could not crib. They devised routine that kept it alert and satisfied and a diet that suited it. They devised a paddock with plenty of grass where it could not crib. They kept this up for FIVE years!!!! Ten minutes after being turned back in a stall where it had access to things it could crib on, it was back cribbing- These habits release endorphins and satisfy a need in the horses system. If you drug sensibly, these "pathways" are blocked by the drugs. Not all drugs are bad, used properly light sedation can alleviate the situation completely.
 
Marty .. if it makes you feel any better i bed with hay not straw before foaling and this mare still did her circles it was a bit more difficult for her since I think the hay didnt move out of her way as easy as the shavings but she did it anyway.

Might be worth trying though but I would wait until you wean timmy even good straw "can" be very coarse and not good for baby
 
i have a mare that is the opposite.

I purcahsed her at 4 months & she was stabled constantly till the age of 2 yrs (being let out 1 day a week for a few hours)

now if you dont stable her she stresses, starts pacing & wont eat - ends up so skinny!

So she is always stabled (she is 5 yrs now)

A big lesson for me - let weanlings be horses - i now start showing my babies as yearlings.
 
Well we have one like that too sort of. He is last years colt, there is nothing wrong with his eyesight but he also stall walks whenever there is anyone in the barn and it started at weaning. BUT if you watch him on camera and we have, it only lasts a few minutes once there is no one looking. He does figure 8's in his stall and his stall is 10X10 he can see in all directions but the minute he senses anyone is in the barn he starts all over again. He does not do that in the dry lot nor out in our paddock only in his stall and only if someone is looking Once we leave the barn and it quiets down he does graze on his hay or lay down. On a good note since i have a tendency to overfeed what walking he does keeps him just about right physically. I wish some of the others would follow his lead cause they could use the exercise. LOL
 
I have a gelding that used to be one of my stallions that walks the endless circles. It drives me nuts!!! He even walks with other as he is out in a corral with 9 other minis and he has a packed circle. In my observations he only walks when he is bored or nerved up about something. He will so it in a stall but only for a little while then he quits. I just have learned to deal with it and he is happy. He isn't used much so I think he has created his own job so to speak. Oh well I guess. Sorry Sanny I have no real help and it was so good to meet you and your family at Nationals.

Outlaw
 

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