Geldings behavior is driving us crazy!

Tapsmom

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Hi all, Let me give you a little background. I have a 26 year old Arab. I purchased him just before he turned 4 and he was untrained. He has been-and still is-an awesome horse. My 10 and 6 year old children can handle and ride him but he is still willing to go for a gallop when we head out for a trail ride. He has very good manners and is frequetly led with just a rope around his neck. About a year ago he was moved to a friend's house while we build our barn to finally bring him home. Previous to that he was at a barn with just himself and another mare. They got along well, but neither one cared much if the other one left. Where he is currently there are 6 horses. He has REALLY bonded with a paint mare there. There have been some shifting of pastures etc and he has not handled it well., They cannot put her anywhere but with him or he gets frantic and gallops along the fence. Apparently he has started coming out of the barn in the morning like a stallion and this morning he actually mounted her once they were turned out! The current setup has him on a dirt turnout during the day and the barn is not attached to the pasture so they are lead in and out am and pm. He had also started losing weight with the heat and the flys so we have been trying to get it back on him for the winter. He is currently on a cup of Sunshine pellets, 2.5 qts of SBP 1410 (Blue Seal) and a couple of good handfuls of alfalfa cubes am and pm along with pm hay. As a yougster he was a fence walker, but when he could go in and out the problem did decrease. When he comes home he will be out with our Nigerian Dwarf goats and will be able to go in and out of his stall at will.
My conundrum is that his behavior is causing problems for my friend. She also has an older gelding and the other horses are picking on him so she needs to find a better way to mix the horses. We are going to try and put up some other fencing andsee if the two old guys will be ok together with the mare. My barn is not quite done and we have to do more clearing before I can get the permanent fencing up. I am starting to bring him home a little bit here and there..but I haven't brought him alone yet.Does anyone have any suggestions or thought as to what I might be able to do to get hime to relax and or what I can do if he really flips out about being home by himself? At this point I cannot afford a second horse. His current possesive behavior towards this mare is proving a challenge.:rolleyes:
 

dianneS

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I have a feeling that if your 26 year old gelding has never shown any studdy behavior like this before, that mare has been flirting with him. She's most likely been the instigator. I have a mare who was never ever marish when in heat. However, when a cute young guy (a gelding of just four years old) arrived here, she flirted SHAMELESSLY with him, winking at him all the time. That poor boy had no clue what she wanted, he was totally confused. But she eventually "taught" him what to do, now he's extremely bonded to her and very possessive. :love

This same mare used to get very frantic when separated from her original pasture mate (a very young mini horse) and she would run the fence lines until I thought she might kill herself! However today, this mare has three guys throwing themselves at her and worshipping at her feet :bow all the time so she's all good now, calm cool and collected and never gets worked up anymore, she's in control. :cool:

As for our young gelding, he is learning that he just has to deal with it while she's gone (he does have a pasture mate in the interim) and he is starting to understand that she will eventually return. At first, I made sure he could still see her when I took her away from him. He pitched a big fit, but at least he could see his girl. Now when I remove her from the pasture, he isn't quite as nuts and if he is, he just has to get over it. Taking her away, then bringing her back to him repeatedly, allowing him to see her while I'm working with her, has helped a great deal.

Another thing I did when my mare was the one going crazy, is I reduced her protein a bit and got her some "calm and cool" pellets. They worked great and I would sometimes give her a double dose at night in her stall and she'd be calm and cool by morning! I would often keep a tube of the paste around for emergencies when she would get really frantic.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.
 

Tapsmom

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I think you hit the nail on the head! The mare has been a breeding mare over the years so has definately been flirting with him. In her owner's words "She is a tart." lol. However, when he comes home he will be by himself and I am definately worried about him getting frantic and racing the fence. What are the "calm and cool" pellets? I might have to look into those. I know he will eventually settle down, but he did clear a few fences when he was a youngster:(
 

dianneS

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yankee'n'moxie said:
This is calm and cool (in pellet form) on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/OralX-Calm-an...&qid=1344967199&sr=8-1&keywords=calm+and+cool

This is online, obviously, but you can probably buy them at a local grain store or TSC. IDK, though, you will just have to check. It may be cheaper....

I haven't ever used it, but I have heard GREAT things about it!
That's the stuff. I've only been able to find calm and cool online. At one time it was difficult to find the pellets, but I do highly recommend it. The paste works a little more quickly and they did sell that at TSC at one time. I gave my mare a dose of the paste one day when she was being a raving lunatic. She was her old self in a few hours.

Actually, I used the calm and cool pellets to transition my mare to her new home at first as well. She came from a 12 horse farm, to being an only horse. She was very upset at first, nervous and even spooky under saddle. I only had to give her a few doses of the calm and cool and from that point on she was back to normal and I was able to discontinue the calm and cool.

If I were you I would give your guy a dose of calm and cool (or a similar) paste before you move him home. Then give him a dose of the pellets in his feed for a few days upon arrival. If he needs more, just increase the pellets. I gave my mare a double dose and it worked great. Here is the paste. http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail....5&ccd=IGO043&gclid=CIPFhdeZ7LECFcfb4Aod5zkA3w

The nice thing about the Calm and Cool products is that they only contain herbs and no triptophan to make them sleepy and less attentive.
 

Tapsmom

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Have you guys used Vita-Calm? I was able to find that at TSC the other day. We have started bringing him home during the day and he is not happy:( He walks and walks..and sometimes gallops the fence. Yesterday morning I gave him the max 4 tbsp of the Vita-calm and he was great..until about 3:00. But I didn't know if I could dose him again. It worked just as it said it would..he was his normal self..it just got rid of his neurosis. He will be home full-time by the end of the weekend and I am worrying. It does seem like you have been through the same things, too Dianne:) He is coming from a barn with 5 other horses including the mare he loves and he will be by himself at home. Well, he will have 3 Nigerian Dwarf goats, 10 chickens and 2 dogs for company. He is out with the goats. They have a part of the fencing they can get away from him if they get scared.
 

dianneS

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I've never tried Vita-calm. I liked the calm and cool because it was herbal, and the valerian root works great for me so I figured it would work well for the horses too!

I think he'll adjust with time. When my mare first came here, she was totally alone, no goats... nothing. In the morning when I would turn her out, she would graze peacefully for about three hours, then she'd get a full belly, realize that she was all alone, and start to go nuts. I'd just put her in her stall with all the doors closed, nice and dark and peaceful where she couldn't hurt herself. (This was before I tried the Calm and Cool). I did this for about two weeks, then decided to ride her. She was really nutty on the longe line and spooky under saddle. I ordered the calm and cool, gave her one double dose in her stall at bedtime, went out for a ride the next morning and she was a completely different horse.

It did take her a full two months to get completely used to being alone. She didn't act crazy or anything, but she made it clear that she was nervous about being alone and didn't even want ME to leave her! She thought I should be her pasture buddy and when I would try to go in the house, she'd get MAD at me! She eventually got over it and relaxed. The first day I found her lying down in the pasture, taking a nap, I thought she was sick or injured. Nope, she was just finally settling in.

Then I got her a pasture buddy, and the whole frantic behavior started all over again when I tried to separate her from her little mini horse (whom she thought was her baby! She did get maternal on me, had to break her of that behavior too.) The calm and cool came in handy at that time, and separating her from her buddy from time to time made her realize that he wasn't going to leave her forever. She's fine now.

I think your horse will adjust. It may take time, be patient. Do what you have to do to keep him safe and he'll eventually get used it the situation. I think with the goats as pasture mates, he'll adjust quickly. Plus he's a gelding, they get over the drama a lot quicker than mares!

Oh, one more thing I did with my mare during those first few weeks, I took her off her feed and just gave her extra hay. She didn't need the extra protein or sugars adding to her nuttiness. It helped a lot. I gradually started her on a small amount of oats and then mixed in her regular feed until we were back to her normal winter ration, and she was back to her normal self!
 

Tapsmom

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He has been home full-time since Sunday night. I have been still using the Vita-Calm because I can't find the Calm and Cool around here:( I guess I will try and order some. He seems to be ok in the am..after about a half hour to 45 minutes of walking the fence. However, about 5:00 he starts to pace in earnest and tonight was actively trotting the fence. Part of my problem is his weight. He was already dropping weight and now it is getting worse! Augghh!!He does settle down at night in his stall..as long as we put him in and shut everything off. I am probably going to give the vet a call tomorrow for some ideas as well. The winter is approaching and I don't want him skinny going into winter:( Also, he is by himself, but now the next door neighbors horses have started coming donw near him and calling to him.. This is NOT helping. (I mean the horses coming down and yelling for him..your suggestions have been very helpful:)
 

treeclimber233

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I have a horse that will walk/run a fence line. One thing I did to stop the behavior is put obstacles along the fence line where she does most of this activity. Logs, cinder blocks, old tires etc..... any thing that she will have to focus on to get around instead of staring at other horses and just running with her head over the fence. The more my horse runs and screams the more she gets worked up and runs and screams and the cycle continues. I have seen her run until she is foaming. I don't know about your horse but mine will have a brain shut down and she is not aware of anything but her desperation to get to another horse. Even if the other horse is standing on the other side of the fence sleeping (completely calm).
 
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