Planting in front of stable

[Gail&Merlin]

Right, well i suppose having your first foal is such a learning experience...i never stop, dancer is teaching me so much...anyway..the little sod! as you know he now has is bestest bestest friend, gypsey here...they get on so well that dancer gets stressed if they are apart...i have been seperating them for periods of time during the day for work and building the time up...ie to walk out dancer or even just groom him, or to ride gypsey etc...what the monkey has started to do now, cos he wants to go to the paddock with her, is to plant his feet and refuse to go into the stable...i have tried backing him up into it, he backs up really well but there is a small step in which always gets in the way and sends him forward....any tips, he is not frightened of rustling bags at the rear of him, my daughter has even slapped his backside, to which he just sighed! lol...any tips how we can stop this fight before it really gets into a bad habit, you dont stand a chance if you are on your own...at night he plants but is fine if gypsey is bought in first...thanks guys

[wozzer]

Polos worked for me? Tried any bribes?

[jen1]

take him away from the planting spot and make life a little hard for him, as in tight circles, back up and come towards you, all done in a matter of urgancy, then calmly walk him as near to the stable, any sings of resistance will be met by the above, so that for getting him in ,but it doesnt really adress why he feels the need to do it, which is the most important thing to sort out, good luck

[tammy68]

Make him move. As long as you are instigating his movement then he is not winning. As Jen1 says, move him in circles or sideways just so long as he isn't getting his own way by standing still and refusing to move. Eventually he will go where you want him to. This is a form of napping and needs nipping in the bud. Little devil, they do like to try it on. ;D

[Gail&Merlin]

grrr did that jen....grrrrr, this is getting a pain now, i bought him in tonight, to another refusal, so i thought id show him i can move his feet if i want...he happily obliged to move sidewards, backwards in circles very quickly, but still refused point blank to walk forwards....just what you want to be doing when its peeing down...grrr

[Rosie J]

does he get fed? if so, have him on a longline, go in the stable with his feed and just wait a mintue or two. Maybe without something to fight against, he'll want to investigate and think its his idea.
Otherwise, lucky you! you get some loading practice! seriously, treat it like a loading horse, read (or re-read) Perfect Manners by Kelly Marks. Lots of backing up anbd bringing him forward, pressure and relaese, use angles to help get him to move.

Make sure he has something nice once he is inside.

[tammy68]

I know it's a pain but keep circling him until he will move in the direction you want. He will get sick of it in the end and give him. It is something I have had to do with ridden horses when they are napping in the past. I was taught to do it and it does work. They will sometimes block one side and won't turn so just turn the other way until you can feel he is ready to move forwards. He will probably jib again at first but persevere as a little time spent now is a lot of time saved in the future.

[Gail&Merlin]

rosie, i did think about his feed, as he is such a greedy boy...but i was always told never to use food as his bribe if you like, as he was once really bargy in a hurry to get to it....maybe i could give it a go, just to break the habit...i didnt think of it as loading, good point ! and i will re read the book..am learning so much from him its unreal...he is easy to move all around, backwards, sidewards either way in circles just not forward...lol..

[Rosie J]

hmmm - well I dont want you getting barged over!! maybe some sweet smelling hay would do it.
Why does he need to go in the stable?
If the idea is to get him used to being away from gypsey, how about keeping him entertained elssewhere for a while, obstacle courses and the like, lots of groundwork, leave the stable issue until you have solved a bit more of the actual probelm - being upset to come away from her. Once he is fine with that, go back to the stable, it will probably have melted away (not literally the stable of course, that would be alarming wouldnt it?!)
We have all fallen into the trap of looking at the stable as the issue, when in fact it is only the sypmtom of the real problem. focussing on it too much now might make it more of a problem than it needs to be if there is an easier way to teach him the desired lesson - e.g. its ok to be away from gyspey.

[Rosie J]

Incidentally, I have a 14 month colt. hes turned out with 4 other geldings, next to 2 bossy mares. One of the geldings is a little riggy and all are quite 'mean' to him by human standards, but he isnt bullied or iunjured or chased. He sees people daily and has a hand run over him and down his legs. He comes in 1-2 times a month, for feet trims, wormers etc. Thats all, he certainly doesnt get handled properly on a weekly or daily basis. He is an angel to handle, and lead, very well mannerred, sensible etc. He is a little wary of people, not through ever being hurt, only through lack of handling, but not really scared, just reacts how you would expect him to. Im not saying this to make you feel bad about dancer somtimes being a little tricky - just to let you know that sometimes withthe littluns less is more. I am only saying this so you dont worry too much about things now, dont let it worry you because I am sure that when I come to work with him as a 2 year old for a few months in the summe,r then again as a 3 year old, he will be fine to work with even though I have put very little time in now.
If they are going to have an awkward child/teenage stage then Id rather not be part of it!!Hes not learning much ,but he certainoy sint learning anything bad.
Its great that he has gysey now, that will do him the world of good, he so beautiful isnt he?!

[Gail&Merlin]

thanks rosie, he has to come in at night, theres no getting away from it now, I used to have the option of leaving him out, but YO has said they must be bought in to save the ground, dancer has turffed it up hareing around...Infact YO had a pop at me the other day saying i dont do enough with him? Im not sure what more i am supposed to do with him at his age...I have started bringing dancer into his stable when doing stuff with gypsey as he gets so stressed and then starts galloping aroung YO didnt like it..so i bought him in his stable of course he still gets really stressed barging the door to try and get out...again YO didnt like it, so i cant do right for doing wrong at the mo...When i was riding gypsey for 10 mins the other day, i passed the fence line witnessing the YO bopping dancer round the face everytime he barged the door...I lept off gypsey and obviously threw a hissy fit!..lol ( it was then i was told i dont do enough with him) and need to teach him manners....barging the door to get to his mate isnt manners !! its because he is stressed at being apart from his new bestest friend...when i bring him out of the stable he is very respectful of your space and will wait in the open doorway and stop and start quietly going into the field again...but i cant get YO to understand that...He has been told in no uncertain terms if i see him hit dancer again, i will be leaving and called him a bully and left it at that....now ive put it down in writing I bet he doeesnt want to go into the stable because he associates it with getting a bop...maybe i dunno....

[Rosie J]

ok - got a new light on it again - sint it funny how new sollutions pop up as you understand the situation better!!
Maybe a stable mirror would help then?
my yearling also went a bit banzai once when left in to wait for the farrier, there was no other way to do it he only had to wait 10 mins but I couldnt wait till farrier was there and couldnt bring all the others in for various complicated reasons! So, he had to come in and wait in a stable alone. Im afraid I just shut the top door on him, so that I didnt have to worry about him getting out, and made sure he had plenty of hay. Im not saying this is the best thing to do always, as I can imagine it would upset some horses more and cause claustriophobia worries, but it was the safest thing to do. I had 4 boxes to muck out on that yard, so I carried on without paying much attention to him while quietly listening- within 3 mins he was quiet and within 5 hje was e4ating, at 7 I openned the top door and he was settled and munching away.


I think with dancer, you need something interesting to be i nthe stable to help distract him from being away from gypsey - because you dont want this worried behavior to become associated with the stable rather than just the separation. Try the stable mirror, if not, try a snack ball - teach hi mto use it then only give it to him when hes in the stable, some of them love it.
maybe that will help.

[Gail&Merlin]

was gonna look into a stable mirror, and will try just giving him his snackaball when he is left alone...i did shut his top door yesterday, for 5 mins, when i went back, he was literally saturated with sweat and his stable had become a sauna through steam...lol.....its funny cos at night when he eventually goes in, he eats his tea munches hay and is very quiet all night...so he doesnt mind being seperated then...weird eh! appreciate your advice rosie!