My 8 month old colt has been making huge strides in his training. I have been using the Dually halter and he stands beautifully for grooming while alone in the barn. The problem is when I put him in his stall when he is alone in the barn he rears and throws himself at the bars. He is only 13hh but he rears so high he can almost get his legs over the top of the stall. Any ideas, suggestions in how to get him to stop??!! I'm worried he's going to hurt himself!!
Thanks
Hi Brando,
You seem to be making good progress with the training of your youngster.
Your 8 months old colt is a weanling, in my opinion he should not be alone in a stall, he is not yet at an age, where he can learn to stay on his own. Horse are herd-animals, if they are in fear of being left alone, they can do very dangerous things. Please look for a good solution for this problem, otherwise this could become an issue for the rest of his life. Later you will be able to get him used to being without a companion for a while, but weaning-time is not the right moment for that.
Build up a deep and trustful relationship with him and the problem might solve itself over time.
Miriam
I am trying not to leave him in the stall for long - I have always allowed a horse to go in a stall in case they need to urinate before I ask them to do any type of work. I was also trying to reward him after he was brushed by giving him some cut up carrots in his stall. I guess the solution is to not leave him in his stall at all until he gets a little older. Thanks for the advice :)
Hi Brando - I notice that your problem here is similar to Ellie's "Moving forward issue - weaner wont go back into stall". I agree with Miriam's advise here for both of your weaners. They are just too young and missing their mums too much to be put into a stall by themselves and left alone. I do hope that you can both find some kind of solution for your weaners as otherwise their personalitits will be marred. This is a very fearful and stressful situation for them. They do need a safe companion horse and preferably allowed outside but I realise this may not be possible given your climate.
He goes outside during the day with 3 other babies that are around the same age. At night they all come into their own stalls with the other horses on the farm. Brando is fine to be on his own in the barn when I am grooming him but when the barn owner is bringing in the other horses, I put him in his stall. Even if there are other horses in the barn, he rears like crazy until all his baby friends are in. There are bars between the stalls and he can see all of the other horses in the barn - he does settle if I go into the stall with him. I don't want to stress him out so I have been standing with him in his stall while the other horses are brought in. I've had a couple of babies before and never had this issue before so I'm kind of at a loss :(
Sounds like you are doing all you can then Brando. I would just continue to stay with him while the others come in and hopefully he will soon accept it and settle by himself. Well done and good luck.
Curious,.. When Willow arrived, at about 6 months old, I didn´t even think about all this. She came shortly before Christmas and we live in the North of Spain so the weather is cold, rainy etc... Willow was brought in a small trailer and was put in a pretty big barn with hay and water. It was the first time we saw each other and she is a mountain horse. The man who sold her to us had brought her down from the mountains along with her mom and aunts. He told us he had been handling her so she would be used to humans by the time she came to me. (Thank goodness he is a gentle person).
Obviously she was wary so we left her alone to get used to her surroundings. Later that day i went in, soft posture- carrying a bowl of feed. I have written about this in another post but... I crouched beside a beam in the centre of the barn and extended the bowl and waited, looking down. Soon she extended her nose to smell... and gradually approached the rim of the bowl. Still I didn´t move and she started to eat. I slowly drew the bowl towards me until our foreheads touched. We breathed each other and that was our first Join-Up. Since that day we are herd.
I had never had a horse of my own and had only had some riding lessons. I always dreamed of having my own horse.
Christy
A very cute story Chisty and I think the guy who initially handles Christy must have done a great job. You are very lucky that she was so calm and relaxed when she first arrived particularly when she was put in by herself. She must be an exceptional horse as most young horses would not be so relaxed particularly if they had been recently weaned. Well done with Willow.
Sorry Christy - I just re -read this! Of course I meant " the guy who initially handled Willow!!!!! Ooops!!! Sorry!