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Author Topic: kicking stable door/walls  (Read 9764 times)

dysie39

  • Joined Oct 2009
  • Life is what you make it, so make it worth living.
kicking stable door/walls
« on: April 27, 2011, 11:24:50 am »
Hi has anyone any ideas on why my 3.5 yr old cob will kick the door of the stable when there are people on the yard, we think its attention seeking
but hes also allways itching his legs rubbing them against anything available when hes in or tied up
never does it when hes out in the field/turnout,
mites have been suggested
An immaculate house is a sign of a dull life

Daisy

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Near Earlston Scottish Borders
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2011, 11:41:32 am »
Could be either, try treating him for mites and see if there is any improvement.

The longer you leave doing something to stop him the more of a habit it will become, I've heard that putting something on the door to deaden the noise can help with some horses

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2011, 12:17:58 pm »
Boredom springs to mind first

jinglejoys

  • Joined Jul 2009
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2011, 12:21:15 pm »
Boredom springs to mind first
Ditto,after all living in a cave is not a horses natural habitat,,,,there may be bears ;D

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2011, 02:57:24 pm »
Hi has anyone any ideas on why my 3.5 yr old cob will kick the door of the stable when there are people on the yard, we think its attention seeking

Does he do it when there are no people in the yard?

ellisr

  • Joined Sep 2009
  • Wales
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2011, 05:17:36 pm »
It sounds like boredom. My horse started kicking the stable door when he thought it was time to go out or just wanted attention so I put a couple of bales of straw between him and the door and he stopped and hasn't done it again after the bales were removed

AengusOg

  • Guest
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2011, 07:44:40 pm »
In the days when hedgehogs were killed in large numbers as vermin, their skins were sometimes nailed to the inside of stable doors to dissuade horses from kicking.

It's difficult to prevent the habit on a livery yard as there are always horses going to and fro, and feeding times are never synchronised. Some horses will use it as a means of seeking attention. This works because someone always gives attention to a door-kicking horse, although the best thing to do is ignore it.

Some people have used water pistols to good effect, spraying the horse with water when he kicks and totally ignoring him if he doesn't. That only works if the horse doesn't really know where the water came from though.

Negative reactions to door-kicking, such as shouting or other forms of vocal chastisement seem only to encourage the horse to kick.

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2011, 08:30:10 pm »
I don't have horses myself, so could be way off the mark here, but I think it sounds like anxiety. You know how some people fidgit or scratch when they are nervous/tense - it sounds like it could be a similar thing with your horse, he doesn't like being in and this is his reaction to it (or as already mentioned, maybe mites bothering him in the stable)
Have you considered a 'horse whisperer' or Reiki practitioner to come and see if it chills your boy out - after ruling out mites first  ;)
Karen x

dysie39

  • Joined Oct 2009
  • Life is what you make it, so make it worth living.
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2011, 08:51:28 am »
Hi all
Thanks for your input, I personally dont think its anxiety, or fear/not liking being inside the stable,
as hes happy to wander in there on his own, and is for most of the time ok,
when I appear he starts kicking, if I dont go staraigt to him or im talking
this morning for instance I was first on the yard doing all the feeds and nets,
before i even got to the barn where feeds ect are stored he started kicking the door I gave him his feed first and carried on
with the rest then before I had got back to him with his net hes was at it again,
determined not to give in, i shut his top door and carried on withe the others nets,
he then decided as i was in the stable next to him he would kick the wall instead,
grrrrr
im torn between ignoring him and seeing to him first so it doesnt form a habbit,
I treated him for mites last night and didnt got a call from any of the others to say he was kicking while they were on the yard.
I have the vet up today to check his tail sore and the strange lumps that he has on his chest,
never just one thing is it,
ill inform you all later
Just to say when he first started kicking the door, i tried spraying him with water and it did work so does ignoring him and closing the top door, but this is fine when im there but i cant expect every
An immaculate house is a sign of a dull life

dysie39

  • Joined Oct 2009
  • Life is what you make it, so make it worth living.
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2011, 05:56:37 pm »
Hi again folks,
 Ok so the vet has been and hes had the first of 2 injections for mites, and has been given antibiotics to help heal his tail,
today first thing he wasnt kicking the door hoooooorrrrraaaayyyy
he did kick it once after his feed and before i put his hay in but nothing like before so prblem may be solved.
ill keep you informed and hope its the end of it all thanks again for the input
An immaculate house is a sign of a dull life

bazzais

  • Joined Jan 2010
    • Allt Y Coed Farm and Campsite
Re: kicking stable door/walls
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2011, 10:47:00 pm »
Is it the first time that its happened?

Hope it goes OK and the little blighter is fine.

 

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