Re: RC: Problem with stall walking mare

[DVeritas@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/27/01 9:36:12 PM Mountain Standard Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:


> Meaghan Athenamax@aol.com
> my mare has been stall walking for that last few month from bordom. she 
> gets turn out on good days. she is in a pasture by herself but between two 
> horses. she has worn two good size holes in her stall forcing me to mat it. 
> she also has worn a path between the gate and one of the other horses near 
> her. her pasture has no gras and i dont believe any will grow. she is now 
> on a flake of hay out side and two at dinner. three qts of pellets a day 
> plus some suplements. i was thinking of lowering her grain and giving her 
> more hay. she is a show horse and as the weather improves she will be 
> ridden harder and longer. anyone have any thought to what i should do? 
> please e-mail me i wont check the site.


    You say she is a "show horse and as the weather improves she will be 
ridden harder and longer..."  DO HER A FAVOR and treat her like a horse and, 
trust me here, she would prefer to be outside almost all the time as compared 
to locked in a stall until a "good" day comes around.
    Horses kept in stalls all the time can, and do, acquire an equine form of 
agoraphobia....horses who stay "out" all the time acquire an equine form of 
claustrophobia...help your horse avoid those pitfalls.
    Horses get "cabin fever" same as we humans...let her find an "endorphin 
lick" and watch the boredom go away.
    Keep grass hay in front of her all the time and let her be a horse. 
 The holes in the floor of her stall are not what should concern you most...

Frank.

>