I have a terrible time with my mare.I cannot leave her in the barn by herself she goes NUTS!Spins in the stall won't eat or drink,and hollers!She also canot be turned out alone.Any sugestions on how I can get her over this?She is the top herd mare.

Horsecrazi

Sounds like a temper tantrum.  Let her throw it and eventually she will quit. 

thanks for the info,but I don't want her to colic or injure herself,but she does need to get over it!

horsecrazi

Why/when is she alone? You said she was boss mare,so you have other horses?

We go thru this every year when we wean our foals.We now,keep the mommas up and turn the little kids out with the herd( they have run with them all their short life.) And after a day or two,the mares settle down. We have also had to keep a horse up due to injury and they are not happy campers.But after a bit,they relax and acccept it. If your mare is left alone ,due to others being ridden or what ever,it is hard to watch.Horses being the herd /social animals don't like being alone,but as many a single horse owner can testify,they can cope.As several others have stated,just make sure her stall is safe and check on her .She will get better.

Was just wondering why she is being kept from the rest of the herd?   Is this going to be permanent thing?  If she's use to being top banana it's going to be tough going for her and you. 

FYI:  Keep "ulcers" in the forefront of your mind.  It's more common than you think. Stress is the main cause.  In my own personal experience, it seems that the symptoms can be similar to a horse with colic, not the rolling, but off feed, lethargic, pooping, but not as often........I've had 2 horses with this problem.  One had ulcers from being seperated from it's mamma and another adult gelding had ulcer like symptoms also from being seperated from the herd. But in both cases it didn't happen overnight.  In my cases it took several days to almost 2 weeks before real symptoms showed. 

I have 3 horses ...all mares,and one is the daughter of the mare that has always givin me the problem.The problem mare had a tendon injury last year ,and the vet wanted her to stay stalled.I kept her in one night,and not once did she settle.She didn't eat or drink all night.So I ended up turning her out in a small lot with a pony I was borrowing.That did work.But now the pony is gone,and she is sound,but If I take the other 2 horses away for a ride she has a fit.Also if I turn the other 2 out and cross tie her to ride she has a fit the whole time.

The strange thing is when I weaned her foal...which I did through the fence line ...she could care less about her foal.

My other mare is a little funny about being left also ,but not as bad.The only horse that doesn't care is my filly.Maybe cause she is part draft.She must of gotten the draft brain!

Horsecrazi

Ya see,,,,,,,,,this is just another reason why alot of  us nutty horse people own so many gosh darned horses.  You can't just own "THREE".........look at the problems it causes.  You gotta have "FOUR" if your going to take out TWO to go trailriding. If you take out "THREE" to go riding, you gotta own "FIVE" and so on and so on ...................

Not only makes ya nuts, but keeps ya poor!

Luckily I have a really nice horse neighbor....who has said that I can bring her over while the others are away.Sounds good to me,but it really doesn't teach her how to be alone

Hi Terri:  the B1 helps the body process feeds;  and sometimes the sugars in feed aggravate a horse's disposition.  High sugar can give a horse the out of control fidgets just like a sugar high in a child.  When stalling a horse for separation purposes, it may be best to go with a good grass hay, salt block and water for a few days.  A whole lot of problems can be worsened by diet.

Another point on the feeds is the high oil content of senior feeds and feeds for performance horses.  The fat gives the animal controlled engery instead of the burst of sugar or carbs.

B1 is also a water soluble vitamin;  it is not stored in the tissues;  any that is not used by the body is flushed out in urine.  It may help calm the horse or it may not.  But the beauty of it is, that it will do no harm.

Just my 2$ (inflation, you know)

Have you ever wondered "why" a horse that you may have purchased has "issues"...........

Give me a break.

Purchased 4 of the five horses that we own at different times and each didn't even have a clue what a halter was,let alone loading.2 of these were 3 years old by the way and one of them had never seen a bowl of sweet feed from the way that she backed away from it when put on the ground. Have had pretty good luck with training each to ride but still have buddy soured horses after all these years! Sure would be nice if people that are raising these animals would at least pat them on the nose every now and then or something to in the least demesticate them from the wild state that they are in. I seriously dought that mustangs would have been much more wild than these where to start with! I know!,I know!,I should have bought some much more tamed but there seemed to be such a great challange to these.What was I thinking! But seriously they are good horses(now) and I wouldn't trade them for anything......sept maybe a boat, motorcycle,land,money,etc.ect....Just kidding!

                                ,Ardly

We all know that horses are "herd" animals.  No rocket scientist needed here.  So we, as the more intelligent species, are to convince them that they should behave when left alone, which goes against the laws of their nature.  Horses need companionship. We as humans cannot sleep in the frigging barn, hang out in the corral or pasture with them 24/7.  So to think that "we" are it's #1 herd buddy doesn't fly with me. It's what it has had to settle for.  It's better than being alone.  I own 6 horses.  They trust and respect me.  That's as far as their loyality goes. And that's all I expect of them. 

From what I can tell, we have 2 distinct points of view on this subject and don't necessarily disagree with either one.

First of all, I think everyone has brought some REALLY good points to the thread.

Second, I kind of agree with everyone in one way or another and I really like Ardly's take on this as well as windwalker2.

Last, but not least, I'd like to share a short story about one of my horses. The first horse I ever bought and paid money for is my 12 yr. old mare. Sorrel arab/paint cross with too much brain.  One of the reasons I bought her was she was not in a good place, needed a home and begged me to take her with me. I know, I know, how can a horse beg? She does, believe me. This is Marylynn Monroe in fur with hooves. She's a flirt, an emotional and sensitive red head. My dad warned me about red heads, but did I listen? Noooooooooooooooooo.

I purchased her, brought her home and a friend of mine is a trainer and wanted to go from amateur to pro and use my horse as stepping stone to get it done. The first few weeks, this mare was perfect. Do anything you asked her to do, when you asked her as long as she could understand what you wanted. Then something changed. She decided that she was going to be pasture queen and took that position very seriously. The trainer says, "I don't have time for this," and moved her into a separate barn with a box stall. The stall was lined with 2" thick rough sawn oak boards and a VERY heavy sliding door. This completely wigged my mare out and me too I might add. I think it hurt me more than it bothered my mare. After 4 weeks of being turned out at night, boxed stalled all day, except for 2 hours when she was being trained during the day, she was as right as rain! Complient, agreeable, easy to handle, flex at the pole, collected, no head tossing, no tail swishing and a really nice horse to be around. Did I learn something from this experience? I think so and I think I learned more than my mare did? Did I think it was cruel and unusual punishment in the beginning? You bet I did!  Would I do it again? You bet I would, once I saw the results. I truly went through a paradym shift in my thinking on training horses. I asked the trainer the first couple of days after my mare had been in the box stall what she was doing? The trainer replied, "I'm hitting between the eyes with a big 2x4 without the 2x4!" I didn't understand at the time, but I understand what she meant, why she did it, the purpose behind it and the results that came from it. Showed my mare in Hunter/Pleasure and she placed in the ribbons her first season on the circuit. No, I didn't ride her in the ring, trainer did. 

Just my thoughts on the matter. Happy trails.

monsterhorse,

No, for the first couple of weeks she didn't have any contact with horses when she was turned out at night. The next paddock over had a burro in there 24/7 and my mare did the best she could to be satisfied with the burro.  After a couple of weeks, the trainer put an older little arab gelding in with her for a paddock buddy and I subsequently purchased the gelding. *do you think the trainer thought about that ahead of time?*

Anyway, the isolation was what "got her mind right." Like I said before, my mare is; very sensitive, very proud, very opinionated, very pretty, very talented and a red head.  I love her, but there are times when she can be just too darned complicated and I don't feel like dealing with her and find another horse to ride.  Eventually my wife and I are going to move, I'll build the barn I've always wanted, fence it the way I want to and if it's not too far in the future, I'll have it set up so that I can use "separation" as a training tool.

Happy trails.

Yikes.  Let her just come undone and "work it out"????? 

Here's the bottom line: horses are herd animals.  It is perfectly natural for her not to want to be alone.  

Please be aware that if you just let her freak out she could tear a tendon or ligament, colic, bleed an ulcer, or dozens of other options I don't even want to contemplate.

When she is alone, can she see other horses or is she completely alone?

Is she just like this when she's the one left?

Can you take her away and work her alone?

Yes horses are herd animals and it is natural to not want to be alone.  but there are times when a horse is alone and they need to learn to "self pacify".  They are just like a child that is throwing a fit and crying because they don't want to go to bed.  Leave them to throw their fit, make their enviornment as safe as possible and let them have at it.  They arent' going to learn and will just become spoiled if you keep trying to pacify them.   If they never learn to opperate on their own they will be a danger to their rider if they ever find themselves alone on a trail.

She could tear a tendon or ligament, colic, bleed an ulcer, or dozens of other options you don't even want to contemplate while you are on her if you don't teach her to be alone. 

Thanks for all the info.I had no idea this would be such a subject!

The thing with total isolation would really worry me.Like I had said when I first starteded this thread ....I had my mare in the stall overnite ...she was so persistant and did not eat or drink all night long.Is it worth colic? Or further injury?

The reason she was in the stall was a tendon injury ,and she was in so she wouldn't move around much.She was worse in than out.For my situation I decided that It was not worth her colicing over, and if it would take longer for the injury to heal by being in a very small lot(where she couldn't run much)then that is what I would have to do.

Total iso may work for some,but it scares me to no end thinking she may colic or injure herself worse.I would be upset if I lost her to colic knowing there were other options.

...she was so persistant and did not eat or drink all night long.Is it worth colic? Or further injury?

How long was all night long?  My horses eat dinner and then don't eat or drink much overnight.  They generally use that time to relax and sleep.    Personally, I would give her more than one night alone.  If you don't like the total isolation, start slow.   Maybe keep her up during the day when its light so she can see that the boogy man isn't sneaking up on her, and turn her out at night.   Then pen her away from the others where she can see them.  Then start giving her more time alone.  She will adapt and it will make her safer to be able to function with out her herd.

She was in from early afternoon until about 7am.She has a big picture window in her stall that she can hang her head out.She could also see the other 2 horses in the field,but was still persistant.

Before I had them at my house she was at another barn ,and needed to be in for a period of time.I left her in (I think )for 2 days and she never got any better.She could not see the horses at all at that farm...from her stall.In fact she was so worked up...when I opened her stall door she busted through ,and took of galloping down to the field jumping a 3ft gate at 10 months preg!

My horses are in at night and out during the day in the winter.They all get 1(or so)bales split between the 3 for all night,and a bucket(or 2)of water in thier stalls.In the morning all the hay is gone.I do find that my gals eat a good bit while in.Now in the summer when they are full of grass I do find they eat less hay and drink less.

Yeah, in 3 days you'll have a different horse. A horse w/serious and maybe permanent neck issues and probably others.

How do you come to that conclusion?  The horse needs to learn manners.  Stall manners and ground manners.  She is having problems in the stall, so she needs to be in the stall to work on it.  If she can't stand tied out of site of others, she needs to be tied out of site of the others.  Otherwise she will learn that if she misbehaves she will get what she wants.

This mares behavior is dangerous.   I would have a serious problem if one of my horses almost ran me over to get out of their stall.  That is unacceptable behavior.

You posted above, ...when I opened her stall door she busted through ,and took of galloping down to the field jumping a 3ft gate at 10 months preg!

That makes her behavior dangerous.

Such as tying her in a stall.tree,high line.Great start.Kind of a age old way.Yes there are many ways to do the same thing.But the stalling and tying is also one of them.Its not THAT big of a deal to correct if you have a clue how.Take her to round pen or not even a round pen and let her throw a tatrum.Move her a lot.Let her stop.If starts hollering or throwing a fit do it some more.She'll get the idea.Stand quiet all is well and no work.Be a pain and move/work. I've horse shopped or visited someone with a RUDE horse and got some mannors in 15 minutes doing this.Always a excuse of I've been meaning to work on that.Yea right and by ther way get the treats out of your hand and you said you fed HOW MUCH grain.LOL

I sent "Sunshine" home for a while due to the fact she was getting too attached to my mares.  Roundpen is available whenever you need it.  We'll be bringing "Sunshine" back and forth for a while and letting her stay at her barn for a while.  She was just getting too hard to catch in the pasture since she had been out with my girls for a while.  Neighbors were pleased with the progress she made while she was here.  Bring your problem child over, put your earplugs in and let her buck.

Happy trails.