# Stable Possessive Issues



## TheBrokeHorse (19 May 2017)

Hi  

Okay so my horse is quite difficult and nasty in the stable especially when we try to put a halter on but we accidentally let her walk out today and she was fine with us putting the halter on then. And if she goes into another horses stable she is fine as well.

Have never dealt with protectiveness over a stable before any ideas how to improve her behavior towards us?

Thanks


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## highlandponygirl (19 May 2017)

When you say difficult/nasty, in what way? Being evasive/threatening you etc? Also, how long have you had her? Does it happen all the time or just at certain times like, feeding time, when other horses are next/not next to her etc?

It sounds like she is taking the P. I used to work with a TB who was 'difficult' but it was more of a show than a real threat, and her, initially, testing how much I'd let her get away with. Being firm, straight to the point handling and not allowing her to get away with rude, bolshy behaviour, with the odd well-timed smack put that one to rest.


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## Auslander (19 May 2017)

Does she need to be stabled? Reading back some of your previous posts, she sounds like she was already challenging, and now she's getting worse. if you're still not getting help with her, things aren't going to improve, and you need to think about your own safety. If her behaviour is better outside,let her live outside


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

highlandponygirl said:



			When you say difficult/nasty, in what way? Being evasive/threatening you etc? Also, how long have you had her? Does it happen all the time or just at certain times like, feeding time, when other horses are next/not next to her etc?

It sounds like she is taking the P. I used to work with a TB who was 'difficult' but it was more of a show than a real threat, and her, initially, testing how much I'd let her get away with. Being firm, straight to the point handling and not allowing her to get away with rude, bolshy behaviour, with the odd well-timed smack put that one to rest.
		
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She will threaten to kick but that is quite rare but mainly grind her teeth and bite us. I have been on the end of her bites before and they are not just a nip. We have had her for four months now. She eats her food outside so we can work in the stable as she gets antsy when we are in the stable and she eats which leads to her threatening us. Its mainly the worst when we have to do her feet and she is eating her grass in the stable and need to put a halter on her because if we try do her feet without one she also tries to bite us but she is calmer outside her stable to handle then in. Although after she has eaten for a bit she calms down and we can enter her without being threatened. We have a fence like barrier between her and the other horse because they are not fans of each other but they don't get aggressive much with each other.


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

Auslander said:



			Does she need to be stabled? Reading back some of your previous posts, she sounds like she was already challenging, and now she's getting worse. if you're still not getting help with her, things aren't going to improve, and you need to think about your own safety. If her behaviour is better outside,let her live outside
		
Click to expand...

She does need to be stabled for her safety and our sanity. She has actually improved with not kicking down the stable and she actually doesn't try to kick us when we do her feet anymore. The only issue is her biting which improves in some aspects and gets worse in others and tends to switch quite a bit and her stable possessiveness against us and sometimes other horses. She does not actually mind being stabled and likes to go in.


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## ycbm (20 May 2017)

I recommended scoping for ulcers on your previous thread. Have you done that, or tried any ulcer medication?


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## Shay (20 May 2017)

It sounds like she might be food possessive rather than stable possessive? You obviously have a lot of other issues with her.  But perhaps try to make it a habit not to go into her stable when she is eating.  Don't challenge her for resources.  And certainly don't attempt to handle her whilst she eats.  Leave her in peace then.

You can do all your handling, grooming etc tied up outside so you only need to tackle being able to get a halter on her whilst she is stabled.  It isn't uncommon for horses who are only taken out of their stables for something they are not keen on - like work - to put up a bit of a show of resistance.  You just need to be calm and consistent with them.  When they learn it doesn't work they will stop.

But you also need to get the ulcer situation checked.


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## highlandponygirl (20 May 2017)

Having read your previous thread, I would get the vet out to rule out anything that could be causing the swinging changes in behaviour.

Secondly, from what I've read she was unhandled unitl she was 2, and is it safe to assume she was out in a paddock with her dam up until this point? 

Could it be a case of her just not knowing what is expected of her? Have you tried going right back to the very basics of handling horses and starting again as if she came to you unhandled. Usually a youngster with an attitude problem is a reflection of how it was initially handled, if not done right you end up with a bit of an A-hole, which is really not fair for the horse if it's to be moved on. Speak to your mum, I think she really needs to help, if she is compitent in brining on youngsters, and there is no medical reasons for the behaviour, it can be turned around quite quickly.


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## Pearlsasinger (20 May 2017)

TheBrokeHorse said:



			She will threaten to kick but that is quite rare but mainly grind her teeth and bite us. I have been on the end of her bites before and they are not just a nip. We have had her for four months now. She eats her food outside so we can work in the stable as she gets antsy when we are in the stable and she eats which leads to her threatening us. Its mainly the worst when we have to do her feet and she is eating her grass in the stable and need to put a halter on her because if we try do her feet without one she also tries to bite us but she is calmer outside her stable to handle then in. Although after she has eaten for a bit she calms down and we can enter her without being threatened. We have a fence like barrier between her and the other horse because they are not fans of each other but they don't get aggressive much with each other.
		
Click to expand...

This usually known as being proud of her food. I used to have a made like this, I know because I was told her history, that she had had a period of time as a 2 yr old when she was kept very short of food. I was lucky, the yard we were on at the time had loose boxes with a walk way behind, with the wall between being made up of the hay and feed mangers with a space for a water bucket with a weldmesh 'fence' above. So we put her hay and feed in before she came in, then stood behind the manger while she ate. She learned that we were no threat to her food and eventually learned to trust us. Later she would offer us her hay, while we stood in her stable.

The answer is to make sure that she has AdLib hay when she is in the stable, give her plenty of time to eat before you take her out again, and don't do jobs like picking up her feet while she is eating. In your case I suggest taking her out of the box to groom etc, if that is safer for you. It takes time to win a horse's trust, especially if they have been let down before.


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

ycbm said:



			I recommended scoping for ulcers on your previous thread. Have you done that, or tried any ulcer medication?
		
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We have and there were no ulcers.


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

highlandponygirl said:



			Having read your previous thread, I would get the vet out to rule out anything that could be causing the swinging changes in behaviour.

Secondly, from what I've read she was unhandled unitl she was 2, and is it safe to assume she was out in a paddock with her dam up until this point? 

Could it be a case of her just not knowing what is expected of her? Have you tried going right back to the very basics of handling horses and starting again as if she came to you unhandled. Usually a youngster with an attitude problem is a reflection of how it was initially handled, if not done right you end up with a bit of an A-hole, which is really not fair for the horse if it's to be moved on. Speak to your mum, I think she really needs to help, if she is compitent in brining on youngsters, and there is no medical reasons for the behaviour, it can be turned around quite quickly.
		
Click to expand...

We have had a vet check there was nothing wrong with her. She has been stabled and blanketed since birth but no one seemed to have taught her manner or anything. Previous owner didn't seem to take much interest in her. She also didn't know how to balance or pick up her feet when they were done so our guess is if she acted up they left her feet. I have discussed it with my mom and she has decided she will try handling her mostly from now. She has improved in many aspects, our biggest concern is the biting issue as my mom and I have never dealt with a horse that so aggressive with biting. The only experience my mom has is with a friends horse that could not be lead and had to be fed with a stick but was a dream to ride and that horse never improved on its biting aggression so we have not much ideas where to start since its also mainly connected with her stable. And I hate to admit it but I also think they used to have her drugged up on calming substances possibly.


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

Shay said:



			It sounds like she might be food possessive rather than stable possessive? You obviously have a lot of other issues with her.  But perhaps try to make it a habit not to go into her stable when she is eating.  Don't challenge her for resources.  And certainly don't attempt to handle her whilst she eats.  Leave her in peace then.

You can do all your handling, grooming etc tied up outside so you only need to tackle being able to get a halter on her whilst she is stabled.  It isn't uncommon for horses who are only taken out of their stables for something they are not keen on - like work - to put up a bit of a show of resistance.  You just need to be calm and consistent with them.  When they learn it doesn't work they will stop.

But you also need to get the ulcer situation checked.
		
Click to expand...

Her aggression is always around the stable mainly. She has stopped bullying the other horses and when she is in their stable and she finds food there she doesn't get aggressive with us then. She eats outside during morning and evening but with winter a few weeks away she has to be fed inside especially when it comes to taking of her blanket. When she gets food in other parts of the garden she is quite relaxed and if I need to handle her she is like 'ok whatever'. We had her checked and there were no ulcers.


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## TheBrokeHorse (20 May 2017)

Pearlsasinger said:



			This usually known as being proud of her food. I used to have a made like this, I know because I was told her history, that she had had a period of time as a 2 yr old when she was kept very short of food. I was lucky, the yard we were on at the time had loose boxes with a walk way behind, with the wall between being made up of the hay and feed mangers with a space for a water bucket with a weldmesh 'fence' above. So we put her hay and feed in before she came in, then stood behind the manger while she ate. She learned that we were no threat to her food and eventually learned to trust us. Later she would offer us her hay, while we stood in her stable.

The answer is to make sure that she has AdLib hay when she is in the stable, give her plenty of time to eat before you take her out again, and don't do jobs like picking up her feet while she is eating. In your case I suggest taking her out of the box to groom etc, if that is safer for you. It takes time to win a horse's trust, especially if they have been let down before.
		
Click to expand...

I have started to pet her and groom her when she eats her concentrates and I've noticed she is not as aware as she is before but I will try standing by her while she eats. I believe that she was raised at a yard that did not know how to handle foals so if she did something wrong they would punish her and take her food away. Thus began the kicking and biting. I also have very high belief that the previous owner may have had her on calming substances. We wanted to try some on her as that really does seem to calm her down but I fear if I ever get her off it she will return to being like this again. Thanks for the ideas on the hay


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## Pearlsasinger (20 May 2017)

I found that my mare was worse with a bucket feed than with hay, or at least over a longer period of time. In the summer, we fed our horses in the field, holding the bucket so that they could eat over the wall. I think that helped too.


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## Goldenstar (20 May 2017)

One of mine is a bit territorial about his stable he was thirteen when he came to us and his character is pretty set .
We just work round him we are quiet but firm and we do stuff like grooming out side the stable If it's easier .
Interestingly in the evening with only me about he's happy .


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## Pearlsasinger (21 May 2017)

I have one now, who for the first few months that we had her hated having more than one person around when she was in the stable, she wasn't happy even if there was one person in the box and another outside but near the door. We think this could have been because she had bitten her previous, short term, owners, trying to tell them that her tack didn't fit. We worked gently with her to teach her that her new tack fits and if she threatens us we just puysh her away.


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## Xtra (29 May 2017)

I have a mare like this.  I bought her as I felt sorry for her as she was really thin.  I can do something outside like scratching her poll then put her in stable and she reacts badly.  I just accept that due to her past she has issues and aim for mutual respect.  I try to avoid spending too much time in her space and if I do need to she is more tolerant.

I moved her stables (same yard) and she seems better though


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