I've been barn sitting this week at my boarding stable. Now I'm seeing the behaviour the barn owner has been complaining about. My TB gelding has kicking issues. After diligently ignoring his kicking in the stall at mealtime, he stopped doing it. Now he waits until after mealtime, on his way out to the pasture. He just lingers outside his stall until I go inside, then he starts hammering the siding. It's metal, so he gets the satisfaction of making a huge noise. He also has one pastern/fetlock, on his kicking foot, that stays swollen. I knew he'd injured it some time ago by kicking something sharp (he's had a few kicking related injuries in the pasture). The cut healed, he walks on it just fine, but the swelling never went away. The vet said to be patient. Well, patience ain't gonna fix it! He's just re-injuring it again and again every night. I really don't what to do with him. Other than his need to constantly injure himself, he's quite healthy. He's just brain scrambled.
I've read about kicking chains, but that won't work since he's on his way to the pasture. He cannot be locked in a stall or he'll become unapproachable. I thought about hanging stall mats, but he isn't too picky about the location he kicks. I'd have to swathe the whole barn in padding. Is there anything safe, but annoying I can wrap round his pastern to discourage the behaviour?