Agitated

2012paddy2012

Irish Sports horse owned 2 years always very pleasant nice personality... Lately is getting aggressive and seems stressed.... He is on fill livery I just wonder if being kept in the stable all day with an hour in the walker ( so we are told) is
that sufficient exercise to keep a horse happy.... Interested in any views ....paddy

Odelay

What is his diet?

fits

Some horses are fine stabled all the time. Some are not.

If I had a horse in full time id be trying to make sure he is ridden every day as they need the stimulation and exercise. Also ease off on hard feed if he's agitated.

Ave Sodalis

It really just depends on the horse as others have said. Is it used to being outside?

Odelay

He might also need to spend time in a turn out area rather then the walker. In turn out he could stretch his legs more, look around and get some good rolling done. May be hard to do with recent weather, even the best surfaces are water logged.

lyoness

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Irish Sports horse owned 2 years always very pleasant nice personality... Lately is getting aggressive and seems stressed.... He is on fill livery I just wonder if being kept in the stable all day with an hour in the walker ( so we are told) is
that sufficient exercise to keep a horse happy.... Interested in any views ....paddy

Your horse is telling you he is unhappy. You can't lock a horse in a stable 23 hours a day. How come he is not being ridden? It will be very dangerous for your son to ride him when he is in that state. You need to get the horse to a yard with turnout.

2012paddy2012

fits wrote: »

Some horses are fine stabled all the time. Some are not.

If I had a horse in full time id be trying to make sure he is ridden every day as they need the stimulation and exercise. Also ease off on hard feed if he's agitated.

I agree. The yard is a good distance away. Part of the deal is that he is put in walker an hour every morning which is done.

2012paddy2012

Odelay wrote: »

What is his diet?

haylage twice daily /beet pulp/horse mix/at appropriate amouts

2012paddy2012

Odelay wrote: »

He might also need to spend time in a turn out area rather then the walker. In turn out he could stretch his legs more, look around and get some good rolling done. May be hard to do with recent weather, even the best surfaces are water logged.

agreed , the fields are waterlogged , he is let into arena also with other horses , presently

lyoness

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

haylage twice daily /beet pulp/horse mix/at appropriate amouts

He should be on ad lib forage and little or no hard feed. He's not getting enough exercise for hard feed. If they are in I would insist on ad lib hay. Otherwise you are going to end up with an ulcer problem.

convert

lyoness wrote: »

He should be on ad lib forage and little or no hard feed. He's not getting enough exercise for hard feed. If they are in I would insist on ad lib hay. Otherwise you are going to end up with an ulcer problem.

That's a bit of a generalisation, is it not? Some horses need hard feed, regardless of whether or not they're in work, older and younger horses being an example. Obviously sufficient forage is necessary, but to say that you'll definitely end up with a horse with an ulcer problem is a generalisation, no?

lyoness

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Irish Sports horse owned 2 years always very pleasant nice personality... Lately is getting aggressive and seems stressed.... He is on fill livery I just wonder if being kept in the stable all day with an hour in the walker ( so we are told) is
that sufficient exercise to keep a horse happy.... Interested in any views ....paddy

convert wrote: »

That's a bit of a generalisation, is it not? Some horses need hard feed, regardless of whether or not they're in work, older and younger horses being an example. Obviously sufficient forage is necessary, but to say that you'll definitely end up with a horse with an ulcer problem is a generalisation, no?

The horse is agitated as per the op. Only getting in walker not being ridden. This is a kids pony. In 23 hours and only fed hay twice a day.

Ave Sodalis

lyoness wrote:

The horse is agitated as per the op. Only getting in walker not being ridden. This is a kids pony. In 23 hours and only fed hay twice a day.

In fairness, we haven't addressed is there's another reason for the horse being agitated. Also, ad lib hay depends very much on the horse/pony and how prone they are to weight gain. As Convert said, concentrates may have to be fed, and may not necessarily be the cause of the agitation.

Is the horse usually out OP? Is this behaviour out of the ordinary, or did it build up over time? How's the horse when it's out of the stable? Can the horse be handled in the stable? Groomed?

convert

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Irish Sports horse owned 2 years always very pleasant nice personality... Lately is getting aggressive and seems stressed.... He is on fill livery I just wonder if being kept in the stable all day with an hour in the walker ( so we are told) is
that sufficient exercise to keep a horse happy.... Interested in any views ....paddy

lyoness wrote: »

The horse is agitated as per the op. Only getting in walker not being ridden. This is a kids pony. In 23 hours and only fed hay twice a day.

It's a horse, not a pony, and is reportedly on the walker for an hour a day. However, as the OP stated, they can't be sure this is the case, and if the horse is getting some hard feed, then of course they'll be a little more fresh than usual. In this weather, and given the flooded fields, similar to those I'm looking at out my window, there's probably no other option than the walker (if there's an arena I'm assuming it's being used by those riding their horses most of the day). Usually an hour a day on the walker would be sufficient to keep horses exercised, and I know plenty of race horses who would get that exercise a number of days a week and it's sufficient.

Horses all respond differently to every situation. There are 4 horses at home, and all of them are fine with just an hour's exercise each day. Granted, it would include cantering and jumping work, or some road work, or even just been let out in the arena for an hour (no walker available), but they're all getting a lot of hard feed (even the horse not in work) and plenty of roughage. They're all chilled out and happy, no signs of agitation (even Stephen's Day, when why couldn't get out with the bad weather).

If the horse in question is showing signs of agitation, then, if possible, it might be an idea to have someone exercise the horse to keep them stimulates, and/or reduce the hard feed sufficiently until they can get regular work again. Also, if there are no automatic water troughs in the stables, it might be worthwhile checking that the horse has adequate access to buckets of water as a lot of horses can get agitated when dehydrated.

convert

Should have added that it may just be the case that the horse gets bored in its stable very easily. In his case, in addition to forage being supplied regularly, he horse could benefit from some stable toys to keep it occupied.

Paddy, you know your horse best, so you'll be able to take a course of action best suited to your horse, but given the suggestions outlinec above you could start by looking at the horse's hard feed and forage, access to water, their exercise on the walker (walking only, walking and trotting, etc.), boredom, etc.

2012paddy2012

convert wrote: »

It's a horse, not a pony, and is reportedly on the walker for an hour a day. However, as the OP stated, they can't be sure this is the case, and if the horse is getting some hard feed, then of course they'll be a little more fresh than usual. In this weather, and given the flooded fields, similar to those I'm looking at out my window, there's probably no other option than the walker (if there's an arena I'm assuming it's being used by those riding their horses most of the day). Usually an hour a day on the walker would be sufficient to keep horses exercised, and I know plenty of race horses who would get that exercise a number of days a week and it's sufficient.

Horses all respond differently to every situation. There are 4 horses at home, and all of them are fine with just an hour's exercise each day. Granted, it would include cantering and jumping work, or some road work, or even just been let out in the arena for an hour (no walker available), but they're all getting a lot of hard feed (even the horse not in work) and plenty of roughage. They're all chilled out and happy, no signs of agitation (even Stephen's Day, when why couldn't get out with the bad weather).

If the horse in question is showing signs of agitation, then, if possible, it might be an idea to have someone exercise the horse to keep them stimulates, and/or reduce the hard feed sufficiently until they can get regular work again. Also, if there are no automatic water troughs in the stables, it might be worthwhile checking that the horse has adequate access to buckets of water as a lot of horses can get agitated when dehydrated.

There is an automatic drinker ok. He is brought out as much as possible weather dependant. I am happy that he is being minded there genuinely. I am told he may have a sore tooth which is to be looked at soon , which may be an issue. He has been moved about a bit , seemed settled till recently ..thks for all the advice. Paddy

byhookorbycrook

Might be worth getting his back checked too.

2012paddy2012

Spot on he had a bone slightly out if sync last week and was fixed ! Prob teeth and lack of exercise. He is a sports horse thks

Ah_Yeah

Agitated and aggressive are two very different things. Agitated spells boredom to me, whereas aggression signals pain. I would do the usual checks, back teeth and feet.

Is there any moment when he is aggressive to you, for example when you're tacking up, grooming or feeding, or is it all the time?

eorna

Hi there,
So many horses are on 23 lock -up. When you think of it ,this is how we punish criminals. So of course a large animal like a horse is going to crack up at some stage. Its so unfair for the horse and it's not right for livery yards to keep animals in this way. Horses should be free to roam around a field, graze, roll, sleep, gallop.... all the things a horse needs to do to keep his mental balance. Its not your fault but really you should change this and if this yard can't provide you with several hours grazing a day then you need to change yards. Good luck!

2012paddy2012

Moved two months ago...out and about now all the time all well.