Discussion on Help! Colt Trying To Go Over Stall Partition
Use the navigation bar above to access articles and more discussions on this topic.
| Author |
Message |
    
Bonita (Bonita)
| | Posted on Saturday, Aug 17, 2002 - 10:45 am: |   |
Just this past week, for some inexplicable reason, my 18-month old stud colt (soon to be gelded as soon as hot weather breaks) has begun rearing up & apparently trying to get over the 7-foot-high tongue-&-groove board stall partition separating him from my 10-year old gelding. He doesn't seem to be doing it out of aggression - ears are up, etc., & at first, the gelding just treated it like "play", but now is beginning to get pissed off & pins his ears, & bites at the colt's head.
My biggest concern about this sudden weird behavioral onslaught is that this colt is not only really SLAMMING into those tongue-&-groove boards, but seems to be trying to hook his legs over the top, & I am becoming anxious that something is going to break soon - either the colt, those boards, or my gelding's patience.
So far, strong verbal admonishment, a tap on the rump with a dressage whip, & even a brief squirt with the hose haven't seemed to diminish this nonsense. (The "hose squirt" was given when he was doing this stuff while the gelding was turned out & I was in his stall filling his buckets.) A stall change isn't possible, as everyone else in the barn is a girl, which obviously would be asking for this behavior.
Can anyone shed any light on why this might have suddenly come about & what I might be able to do about it without escalating the punishment unreasonably? He's been interested in "girls" for quite some time now, so I don't think it's plain sexual maturity.
Thanks for any ideas guys - I'd really like to squelch this before there's an accident. And since this is a sale colt, it would be nice if I had a chance to sell him before he kills himself.
Bonnie |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Monday, Aug 19, 2002 - 6:27 am: | |
If you cannot move this horse I would go ahead and geld the horse Bonita, it should take some of the wind out of his sails.
DrO |
Bonita (Bonita)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Aug 20, 2002 - 2:06 pm: | |
I fully agree, Dr. O, & like I said, have just been waiting for at least a slight break in this hideous weather we've been having. The last several weeks have found us with very, very few days under 100 degrees with heat indices around 110+.
Surprisingly enough, since I posted the above problem the little devil has ceased the above behavior - hasn't tried once. I am completely stymied.
Unless, of course, he somehow got wind of your recommendation Dr. O. . . . |
