Absolutely awful evening

Widget

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Mar 29, 2004
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Ending with me in tears and with no confidence in my horse handling abilities.

Have issues with my yard, re: huge fields with no restricted grazing and dangerous fencing of sheep netting and barbed wire that is lose or too low in places. She needs a fly rug but will rip it in the fences (and probably herself!) so decided to find a new yard. I told my yard this and they kindly agreed to let me elec fence an area for her. Went last night to fence it. Its past the stallions field :eek: He looked like her was gonna clear the fence when I took her past. Through a field with 1 gelding, who would NOT go away and they nearly had a kicking match with me in the middle! And is separated by 2 post and rail fences from the boys turnout with about 8 geldings in.

Finally got a VERY excited Jasmine in her paddock, boys galloping about like lunatics. Me thinking this will be fun every day and I hope they settle pretty quick. Then one of them clears his fence into the no mans land between the fences!:eek: Rang yard manager who says to catch it and put it back. Eventually got it after being galloped past many times and scared to death of being kicked.(Is a new BIG horse and I dint know what its like to handle but manager said its ok) Had to get through single geldings field to take it back to its own gate. Its rearing and pulling. Got out that field and halfway up track when it rears, kicks out and sods off straight over the 5 bar gate back into its own field with my halter and line attached.

By now Jasmine is almost having a heart attack so I decide to take her back to old field as dont want to risk her being hurt if that horse goes over again in the night. All horses going wild. Get her through single geldings field and along the track a bit, but the geldings are just on the other side of the fence and were going mad. She was squashing me and pulling and starting to rear and I really thought I was going to get hurt. So I let go. She galloped up past the yard and back to her original field with all the mares in it. When I caught up she was happily grazing by the gate so I put her back in with the mares and came home.

Got really sore hands where the gelding pulled away. Was a 12' line but I still couldnt hold him. I got myself in such a state. Im not confident with other peoples horses, or with Jazz when she gets wild like that. Really horrid evening and didnt get home untill nearly 10pm. Now I have to go take all the fence down that I carefully put up last night!
 
phew what a nightmare!

i think i'd have left well alone and let jasmine rip her fly rug as much as she likes :eek:
that would challenge anyone, and tbh i don't think i'd have given the notion a go myself. discretion being the better part of valour and all that....

why does jasmine need a fly rug? is it the dreaded sweet itch?

my lad gets a reaction to midge bites on his tummy and we use baby oil to stop it. it works really well.
 
1. Not an ideal situation to be walking a mare past a field of stallions...:confused:
2. YM sounds very helpful....:rolleyes:
3. I dont blame you for worrying. I would also be ****ting myself and lose my confidence very quickly.

As for having no handling abilities!!!!! I dont want to hear you say that again young Lady......You did a lot better than most yard staff would of done in that situation...:eek: :D
 
I dont think it is sweet itch but she rubbing her tail. She has been getting huge bites that weep and scab. Scabs fall off to leave bald spots! So I have bought her a sweet itch rug coz I thought if it stops sweet itch it will stop whatever is biting her!

She is fat and needs restricted grazing but our fields are about 10 acres for 5 mares. Tried a muzzle but she got caught in the fence 3 times in a week:eek: The fencing is dangerous as far as I am concerned and I dont want her near it. Hence the elec fence idea to solve it all in one go. I just put it where I was told to. They have now said I can fence a bit of her existing field off but it is on top of a hill, very exposed with no shelter and I would have to carry water a long way up a steep hill to her. Couldnt take it in the car as the track is too rutted to get up there!
 
sounds like your stuck between a rock and a hard place! how did you manage last year?

are the scabs just on her tail or are they on her body too?
 
Why will your YO not let you electric tape a small area in the mares field so she can be near her friends? You can get electric gate 'handles' for ease of going in and out. In fact a square of tape inside the field entrance with two gates in it, one to your small area and the other to the big field would keep everyone safe.
We use arrangements like this all the time at home.
 
Your yo sounds odd. And not practical in the slightest!!!
Id say hurry and find a new yard. That stallion is enough to knock anyones confidence :|
 
She didnt itch last year and she also was at a different yard. Not sure if the 2 are connected or not. YM has now moved the fence into a mares field. Not Jasmines group but another group. One of Jasmines friends would take great delight in pulling down elec fence and letting her out aparantly so they dont really want it in there. I still have to walk through other horses to get to her bit but they are mares so hopefully a bit easier. Will have a good look in a bit when I go to the yard. Gonna be much more cautious this time!

Teabiscuit the scabs are on her body. She has rubbed all the hair off either side of the dock but the skin looks ok there. The bites are on her body, legs and face. Weeping spots the size of a 5 pence. After a couple of days the crust drops off and leaves a bald patch. Only she has it and I treated her for lice and critters etc just in case but it made no difference. She is also very flappy with her head and sneezing lots.
 
Widget that sounds absolutely awful, i really can not believe you have been made to go through such a nightmare because you want restricted grazing....my impression of the yard when i looked round was that it was quite knowledgable but from what you've said i am so glad i found my place :(

Do give my YO a call if you haven't already, will have my new one down there on the 20th. PM me if you need a hand with anything at all until then, most of all look after yourself!!!

xxx
 
Geez, you two are having a rough time of it ! What else can fate throw at you??? Hope it all settles down for you ... if that partitioning off of the other mares' field looks like it's going to work, then I think what I'd do, for a 'first' exercise, next time you go see her is simply work on the exercise 'leading her through the mares' field. Or even simpler than that - how about 'safely walking just yourself through the mares' field' ? And quit as soon as you've managed it well. That could be your 'start point' without any pressure to get her somewhere and teach her something.
 
Gosh! Are you sure that's a yard and not an assault course? I'm sure anyone would have had trouble in that situation, and you seem to have coped very well :)
 
To be fair to the yard they are trying. Im the first to ask for such a thing and they are trying to oblige. Trouble is that the fields have been used for fixed groups for years so I cant really expect them to change. That leaves few places available to put my elec fence up. My girl has been in with the naughty girls so cant stay there without them having the fence down!

Put her in the new bit tonight. The mares stayed away. Jasmine was a bit full of it. Partly due to the awful sideways rain and partly I think due to yesterday! Anyway I got her in without feeling in fear of my life at least. Unfortunately all the other horses were as far away as they could get so it appeared to Jazz that she was on her own. Suprised she stayed put as she galloped about so much I thought she would go through or over the fence! Was still there after I hav mucked out though and had given up and started to eat so we will see in the morning!

Timed it right though as last night a mare from jasmines field got into the boys and all the boys got out and came on the yard and ate all the feeds left out for breakfast!:eek:

OH has just said if I give up and sell the horse he will get me a puppy. Still think I would rather be scared witless by my horse though!!!
 
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