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Wall Kicking AHHH!!

2K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  GotaDunQH 
#1 ·
I'm so furious! My mare knows wall kicking is absolutely against the rules! She will never do it when I'm with her. But I live in an apartment upstairs of the barn. She knows I can hear her when I'm upstairs.
When we first moved in I made the mistake of running downstairs at every little thump and bump to make sure they were OK and often tossing them a little more hay. Well that has stopped.
The biggest problem is I feed at different times, depending when I have to be up for work. Occasionally at 6, normally at 9, if I don't have work it may be a little later but I compromised with the horses and decided 9 is the latest I'll feed them.
I made my mare a hay net so that her hay will last about half the night before she runs out, so she'll be less anxious for it in the morning.
But yesterday I had to feed at 6, so today, sure enough at 6 Boom!! She starts her wall kicking. About 5-10 thumps for about 2 minutes, then she'll wait 5-10 minutes before starting again. She has done this until 9 when I fed her.
Is there any way to stop her? If I go downstairs she will not kick the wall, so I can't catch her in the act to yell at her. I don't want to resort to things like kick chains, they kind of horrify me. If there anything else I can do to stop this?
 
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#3 ·
I agree to give her a small holed net so her hay lasts longer.

You did make a mistake by rewarding the noise. Now is the time to reverse the action. When she kicks for attention go down and give her a darn good chase around the stable so she is going backwards, so that her head is up in the air and she thinks the devil himself is after her.
When she shows signs of submission leave her and return upstairs.

She was sharp enough to learn that banging brought rewards, she is sharp enough to learn that banging brings the fright of her life.
 
#4 ·
My mare does this at morning feeding as well. My BO says they usually feed everyone first and if Belle is still kicking by the time they get to her, they just walk away and come back when she has quieted down. They try to avoid rewarding bad behavior. Seems to be working as Belle doesn't throw a tantrum too much any more.
 
#5 ·
Punks.....admit it.....you got this horse just to have problems.....:)

I agree with a small-holed net. I made 3 , different sizes, and hung them on different post of the paddock fence. Still put a little on the ground, again, different spots. Then i weighed the filled nets, what I put down, and what was leftover next morning to get an idea of how much they eat. Consumption, free choice, went down from 25 to about 16, 17 lbs per horse. And not very much excitement when I come out for the feedings....in fact, they barely come over to me. Sure is nice and proves that the slowfeeder nets work. It will take about 10 days for them to understand that they'll never be without food and that there is no need to get excited.
So, make a net or even two with holes no bigger than 2"
And just ignore her banging the walls. She will eventually learn that it doesn't get her anywhere.
 
#6 ·
I agree with a small hole haynet to keep your horse busy. My other advice is to feed them at the same time every day. I know full and well that sometimes it just works better to feed later, or you start work later so don't have to be up as early, but it'll help everyone involved if you just get up at 6, feed, and go back to bed for a few hours.
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#7 ·
I agree, get a slow feed net and even double it, to keep her busy. just make sure she does get eat the right amount of hay per day. I too, feed at different times, I read somewhere thats a good thing, because there isn't so much anxiety ( which causes ulcers ). I found some nets for $7.99 if your interested. I believe they are big enough to put a square bale in, but I usually just put loose hay in and they work great, in the stall or in a tree, or hung on the fence.
 
#9 ·
Thanks everyone. I made her hay net and the holes are pretty big, just small enough not to get a hoof in. I didn't want to waste money if she was just gonna shred t, but she hasn't. I'll make her one with smaller holes.

Desert- i think your right! I bought her just to remind me not to get another xD just kidding, i do love her and have actually been able to ride her more now that her other issues are working out :D she's doing much better on this diet, still itchy but cortosone and desitin have helped that. She's starting to look a little more healthy, even though she's still real fat. Thank you again for all your help, my learning curve was pretty steep getting my first horse and keeping her at home without any much more knowledgable help. But i think things are really sorting out now :)
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ETA: oh and i only feed her at 6 one day a week, only some weeks when i cover for my boss at work, but it's typically 9 when she gets fed, doesn't stop her from being rude from 7 on though. I'll try the better net :P
 
#10 ·
Ignore. Brock used to scrape his feet for attention (even negative attention i.e. punishment) - I stopped reacting, he stopped doing it.

He used to wall kick too - he did it while I was in the stable once, I kicked a heap of shavings over his back legs, he leaped like a cat and never did it again lol.
 
#11 ·
Evil- I know you're so right, my ponies wouldn't dare kick a wall with me around, one good scare was all it took to fix that. The trouble is when I'm upstairs. I don't want to not feed them when it actually is time, if they're being rude. I've tried ignoring them and waiting them out but they just keep going.

Notice how I switched to "they" instead of "she". So last night I didn't have time to make her a new hay net, because I had work allllll day. But I shut her top door as usual at bed time in an attempt to limit her door kicking, and I saw my adorable little pony stick his head over his door, which I thought was too tall for him to do as well as he did. So I decided just to try and shut his top door too. Sure enough, there was no noise this morning! It was my stinkin' pony all along, I think. Either way I'll be making her a smaller hay net today, and keeping the pony's door shut and see how that goes. Thanks everyone you all rock ^^
 
#14 ·
Ahh, you trained her to kick by running and throwing hay whenever she banged. Let's do this in reverse. When she's banging, anticipating feed, walk toward her stall but don't enter it. The banging may get worse. Turn your back to her and slowly start walking away. Under no circumstances does she get the feed until she quits. They get tired so it should stop within about 5 min. Only when she's standing quietly does she get her feed. If she starts again as you approach, walk away again. Take the time to fix it now. When you walk away with the feed, stand with your back to her (or sit) and wait out the banging. Don't do other things. Small mesh hay nets are great. They do make the horse nibble rather than bolt down a mouthful. It should make the same amount of hay last almost twice as long and because it goes in slower, there is better digestion.
 
#15 ·
Saddle, so I found out it is definitely my pony not my mare, it could be both of them, but he's a big part of it. And they don't do it if I'm anywhere near them. Even if I stand at the top of the stairs they know I'm there and are quiet, no longer how long I stand there. So they'll kick and kick while I'm upstairs, but when I get close they stop.
Yesterday my pony's top door was closed and it was quiet all morning, I closed it again last night, but it doesn't have a clip it just wedges shut, he must have popped it open cause it was open this morning with thumping starting at 8 -.- So I went down, yelled at them both and closed his door and didn't feed them.
 
#16 ·
I'm so furious! My mare knows wall kicking is absolutely against the rules! She will never do it when I'm with her. But I live in an apartment upstairs of the barn. She knows I can hear her when I'm upstairs.
When we first moved in I made the mistake of running downstairs at every little thump and bump to make sure they were OK and often tossing them a little more hay. Well that has stopped.
The biggest problem is I feed at different times, depending when I have to be up for work. Occasionally at 6, normally at 9, if I don't have work it may be a little later but I compromised with the horses and decided 9 is the latest I'll feed them.
I made my mare a hay net so that her hay will last about half the night before she runs out, so she'll be less anxious for it in the morning.
But yesterday I had to feed at 6, so today, sure enough at 6 Boom!! She starts her wall kicking. About 5-10 thumps for about 2 minutes, then she'll wait 5-10 minutes before starting again. She has done this until 9 when I fed her.
Is there any way to stop her? If I go downstairs she will not kick the wall, so I can't catch her in the act to yell at her. I don't want to resort to things like kick chains, they kind of horrify me. If there anything else I can do to stop this?
But they do work....I've had to use them before on my gelding. He had them on whenever he was in his stall. They are nothing to be afraid of.
 
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