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Post by kateanne0 on Oct 2, 2016 9:04:23 GMT
Hi, looking for some advice on our TB who has been in the herd for over 12 months but in the last week came in one morning ooking sore. He was definitely not himself, looked dazed, uncoordinated and generally not well.
Vet was called and she diagnosed that he had been 'absolutely battered' with seriously hard kicks to the shoulder and chest. We had noticed a couple of bite marks on his neck (he had a lw turnout with neck on) but after a really good going over by the vet she found that there was evidence of bite marks all over his body.
He is a gentle gelding and there is only one new pony in the field, the rest have been together for over a year. There have been a couple of other horses that have come in with bite marks and one pony with another hard kick to the shoulder in recent weeks.
No one has actually seen any of the horses being harmed. Field is showing signs of not enough grass but our lad is in during the day and out at night so he has 2 feeds a day and haylage, so is not hungry and has no need to fight for grass. All the horses/ponies that were out with him the night he was injured have been checked and none show any signs of injury/retaliation?
In effect, our lad was 'punch drunk'. Our vet has said that she wouldn't put him back out with the herd, got to be honest, I don't want him injured again either! We are on a livery yard and mares and geldings are in separate feeds.
So, what do we do, advice really appreciated please and how do we find the culprit/culprits? We are very happy on the yard and all owners are good. Neither the gelding or mare fields are over stocked, grass is just a symptom of the time of year.
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Post by catkin on Oct 19, 2016 12:09:47 GMT
Poor horse! Well, by process of elimination, if they were all fine before the new pony arrived, the simple answer would be to remove that one again. Though I guess it's not that easy in a livery situation. It may not be the new pony that is actually doing the damage though, its arrival might have set off a different dynamic in the herd so there many be another culprit. Without watching them closely for some time, you will never really know.
Could you turn out your boy and watch him for an hour or two to see if anything is revealed. Short of this, the only answer seems to be to remove him from this situation.
Good luck
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Post by gillwales on Oct 19, 2016 15:29:27 GMT
My experiance has been that if a pony has been bullied previously they will often pick on the weakest member of the herd when introduced to other equines. I, at different times, took in 2 pony mares who were obviously the under-dogs, all of my home-bred stock were very good and kind to eachother, but these 2 would attack other ponies if they thought they could get away with it. Have a quiet word with the YO and see if there is other turn-out he can go in, maybe with one other friend. I doubt that the YO will want your horse to be injured again. My only other suggestion is to reverse your management and turn him out during the day when there are people around who can intervene. Your last option would be to change yard, but until you turn him out with the field mates you will not be able to tell if it will happen again.
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Post by sjw87 on Oct 19, 2016 20:00:50 GMT
I agree with Gill - often those who have always been underdogs don't understand how to quietly display their higher status and end up being quite nasty to begin with. This does usually settle down with time but obviously there is a risk that injury could happen during that time.
Are all the other horses out 24/7? If yours is the only one being taken out, he's essentially being reintroduced to the herd on a daily basis.
I have my 'big ones' (basically those over 13.2!) in a herd and it's very interesting to watch herd dynamics, especially looking back over the last 8 years. I'm very lucky to have a veteran who quietly keeps order - he's always been the same. If you can't turn yours out 24/7, I would agree with Gill to do daytime turnout so someone can keep an eye. Set aside a day if you can to just watch - you'll be amazed how much you learn about the herd dynamics.
Sent from my SM-A300FU using proboards
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Post by kateanne0 on Oct 19, 2016 20:44:26 GMT
Thank you for the information. Some of the liveries prefer to have their horses out overnight and in during the day; he isn't the only one being taken away. Whilst I have been away (visiting my son), our boy has stayed in and just gone out in the scratch paddock with our mare for a couple of hours a day to stretch their legs; they get on well together. I put our boy back in the geldings field today and stood and watched for 40 minutes. The herd dynamic was good and there were no issues. I left him out for 2 hours then brought him back in. What has been noticed is that there was a lady walking down the lane with a big bag of carrots! We think she has been feeding carrots and the herd have got a bit feisty. One of my friends asked her not to feed the carrots to the horses again because it may start a fight. One of the ladies on the yard has been putting her 2 horses out and fetching them back to the yard in her lorry. One of the other liveries was out hacking today and noticed that when the horses saw the lorry they stated running around and getting a bit bolshy with each other! Fortunately mine was already in. The new pony is stabled next to my boy and they get on ok with each other Yard owner is brilliant and has done all he can to help out. The yard is very settled and a nice place to be. I'll carry on as I am and fingers crossed all will be quiet again. With the turn in the weather the majority of the horses will only be out for a few hours a day  |
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Post by gillwales on Oct 24, 2016 19:18:43 GMT
Glad to hear that things have settled down
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Post by kateanne0 on Oct 25, 2016 18:07:52 GMT
Thanks gillwales, unfortunately he has been chased away! Don't know what is going on at all! He's been with the herd for 14 months with absolutely no issues. Put him out for a couple of hours, went back to get him, he was on the far side of he field, the rest of the herd on the other side. When I got him back to the yard and took his rug off he was white with sweat down his flanks! Rug was wet through as well. I'm at a loss I've put him in a separate field with our mare for company and when we change to winter grazing, not far off, the geldings get split into two groups going out on alternate days. I'm going to turn him out with the horses and see what happens, I'm hoping all will be ok. If he still gets chased, I'll try him with the other group and have to try and work out what has happened to upset the dynamics of the herd. |
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Post by gillwales on Oct 25, 2016 19:04:09 GMT
oh what a shame, I do hope you get it sorted, it must be a worry for you
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Post by stormyskies on Nov 17, 2016 13:37:33 GMT
How worrying for you. whats the situation now?
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Post by kateanne0 on Nov 17, 2016 21:43:46 GMT
Geldings been split into 2 groups now for the winter with alternate days out. He's with horses we know that get along together, so we are hoping for a calm winter and the groups will integrate again next spring.
With a bit of luck everything will be quiet once again! No rhyme or reason why the field dynamics changed!
Still not sure what went on, wish they could talk!
And thanks for asking how we are getting on, it was a very worrying time.
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Post by mcnaughty on Dec 7, 2016 16:18:19 GMT
I am pleased things have settled down but you really cannot look for 'culprits' in a situation like this. The only choices you have are remove your horse if you are worried or boot it up and let them settle into a herd again. As someone else said, yes there is a new pony but that pony may not be the one who is causing the damage.
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Post by kateanne0 on Dec 10, 2016 10:52:39 GMT
Quick update: Before I left for Switzerland our gelding was doing very well in the winter turnout field He is in a group of 6 and is very settled with no signs of stress Long may it continue! |
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