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Stall Kicking!
I have a 5 yr old mare whom i have owned for 5 months. She is a joy to ride and handle. She is sensitive, but not "marish." She is turned out every morning for 4-5 hours and ridden 5/days/week. In the last 1 1/2 months she has started to kick the stall walls, resulting in 2 minor injuries with short time off. We have moved her 3 times now to see if it is her roomates. She is now in a corner stall with a wall to the next horse and continues to kick. Any suggestions??!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris - resident queen of shops on
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is she kicking the door or the walls of the stall? My mum's mare kicks the door at feed time & we haven't found a good way to stop her apart from mixing the feeds quicker. We used to leave the door open but put a rope across the door, which worked for a while, but know she kicks the frame instead!
I saw a product at a trade show that squirted a jet of water at the horse when they kicked, I don't know anyone who has used one though.
The only other thing that works is our Jack Rusell Terrier yard dog, Mini. When a horse kicks the door, he runs to their stable door, jumps up & barks, which does stop the horse! I'll have to get a video clip of him doing it as it's so funny - he doesn't jump up or bark at the horses any other time!
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Permalink Reply by Janet B on
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She kicks at the walls. Thanks for the reply. Can i borrow Mini...ha ha; we could use him in the barn!
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That's a bit harder to stop when it's the walls. The only thing I can suggest is lining her stall with rubber & if you use straw bedding, have really high banks.
My mare cow kicks at the wall as she doesn't like the mare in the stall next door a feed time, so I try & keep the bedding banked up on this side of the stable to protect her legs, but it's always a worry.
Sometimes I think I need the stables padded out like the recovery room in the vets with that vinyl padding!
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Permalink Reply by Lucy on
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Hey!
Like Christina said I would recommend lining her stall in padding or rubber so that when she kicks the blows are less painful to her. A horse at my barn kicks and the B/O added padding to his stall and its kept him from getting any injuries. I'm no expert in stall kicking but I do know that one reason a horse could develop a stable vice is due to boredom. Maybe you could get a lick-it or a salt block in her stall? Or maybe get her a toy to see if that can amuse her while she's in there. What also can help if your horse is good and the B/O allows it you could put up a stall guard up 24/7 that way your mare can always see what's going on around the barn. At my barn the horses always have their stall guards up and never the door shut unless they're the type of horse that likes to escape. But all the horses with stall guards love looking out and 'socializing'. The horse who sometimes kicks has a stall guard and he doesn't usually kick with it up. It's mostly only when his door is closed.
I hope I made sense and am maybe some what helpful. Like I said before I am no expert on the issue and these suggestions are just suggestions based on horse behavior that I have witnessed but every horse is different so I guess its all just experimentation.
Good luck!=)
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Hi Lucy, We were thinking of opening her stall window into the barn, so i will try it and see if it keeps her happier! Thanks for all the input!!
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Permalink Reply by Sierra<3'sDusty on
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Maybe its just out of pure boredome. Maybe if you havent already done this, get her something else to akupy her and that should take her mind off kicking the stall.
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