Tips from Hadlow College
Hadlow, Kent's premier college and one of the UK's leading specialist colleges, has a renowned equine department. Each month, the college offers some tips, advice and suggestions.
Horses confined to a stable for long period may become bored. Bored horses tend to develop vices. On the other hand, highly-strung horses stabled in busy yards may develop similar vices. These can include:
1 Kicking the stable door or partitions.
2 Weaving.
3 Biting rugs.
4 Crib biting and wind sucking.
5 Irritability that might manifest itself in kicking and biting
6 Box walking.
Although these vices are associated with a horse that is confined to stables, in an extreme case they may continue when the animal is turned out to grass.
SOLUTIONS. Once a horse has developed a vice it is virtually impossible to 'cure' it. The best option involves early recognition and a good management programme that will help to control the situation. This will include:
1 All horses benefit from a regular routine. Highly-strung and bored horses benefit from a work programme that includes daily exercise and schooling.
2 Highly-strung horses are generally best stabled in the quietest area in the yard.
3 All horses benefit from daily turnout. If laminitis or tendency to put on too much weight, et cetera, are issues, it may mean adjusting the size and management of paddocks.
4 In their natural state horses spend most of the day grazing. Horses that must be confined for lengthy periods, especially those that are highly-strung, often benefit from having their hay ration split into several small nets fed throughout the day.
5 Some horses will spend hours playing with stable toys. Most saddleries stock toys that have been especially made to hang in stables and are therefore safe.
6 Crib biting usually begins with chewing the stable door and then extends to biting every accessible wooden surface. Caught at a very early stage, it is sometimes possible to prevent it becoming a habit by covering the top of the door with a metal strip and painting other surfaces with one of the nasty-tasting proprietary substances.
7 Weaving bars attached to the stable door will help to prevent the problem but, in especially bad cases, the horse will continue to weave behind the bars.
8 Crib biting turns into wind sucking when the horse tenses its neck muscles while it is gripping the wooden surface with its teeth and then swallows the air. A correctly fitted cribbing strap will usually alleviate the problem.
9 Box walking usually takes the form of walking round and round the stable in one direction. The bedding becomes disturbed, even completely churned up. When the problem is severe, the horse may lose weight, limbs may suffer from continuous movement in one direction and the animal may become one-sided much as he would if constantly schooled on the same rein. The best solutions involve regular exercise and turning the horse out for long periods.
As well as a range of equine-related courses, Hadlow College also offers a wide variety of one-day and short courses useful to anyone keeping or working with horses including: Tractor driving; Sites, Soils and cultivation; Chainsaw handling; Health and safety; Appointed person first aid - and a lot more. Freephone: 0500 551434.
