Tell me, am I overreacting? What would you do?
So I get to the barn yesterday, late afternoon and I look in Mika's pasture (my 3yo Arab colt) and he's not out there and two of the three older (20something) horses are out there. Clearly the turnout situation has changed. So I go looking for my colt and he's back out in one of the dry lots by himself. That's all well and good except for the fact that now he's separated from his buddies and is going bonkers. He's sweaty enough to have been trotting back and forth ALL DAY LONG (note: its 17°F out so he had to be quite worked up to be drenched). So I pointed out that he was clearly upset and asked why no one had done anything about it because I was pretty sure he was going to get out of there one way or another - either jumping it because the fence is pretty low or by breaking the boards down when he slid into them. Then the horses start being brought in before I got Mika in. Past the dry lot. Mika goes ballistic and starts RUNNING from one end to the other. There was no reasoning with him. Well, he got down to the far end and tried to stop, but couldn't since (here's where I got really pissed) THE DRY LOT WAS ONE GIANT SHEET OF ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When he was previously turned out in there, I specified not to turn him out in the mud because he's a stupid colt that runs around regardless of the surface. I didn't think I'd have to specificy NOT putting him out somewhere that is one giant sheet of ice!!!!! Not to mention, he was supposed to be in a pasture!!!
Mika's been turned out with a 3yo Belgian, Spike, and a 15yo Percheron, Czar for the past couple months and all was well. Czar largely ignores him and Spike plays stupid colt games with him. Both are aware he's significantly smaller and act accordingly. Spike was pouting in the new pasture they put him in too.
The problems here are that there are several *difficult* horses to deal with in turnout. Chance is a jerk to the other horses. There are *very few* that can go out with him. He nearly ran Jericho, a 2200lb Perch through the fence a few weeks ago and then he started in on the two old guys (he's older too so they got put out together) and the one that ran almost went through a fence and the one that fought back was pretty torn up. He got banished to a dry lot for a while. His owners don't really care what happens with him and they rarely come out to see him. He's now back in a pasture. Mika can't go out with him because I'm pretty sure one of them would get seriously injured. Chance won't back down when he gets crazy hostile like that and I don't know if Mika would. I'm not risking it.
Then there is Gambler. He's a TWH and is an obnoxious brat with other horses. He just starts stuff constantly, but if he gets a mark or two on him from another horse telling him to knock it off, his owner goes bonkers and threatens to move him. So Mika can't go in a pasture with him because I guarantee Mika would put him in his place and Gambler would get scraped up.
MIka can't go out with Dauntless and Augustus because they're aggressive draft crosses that would likely kill him. They're NOT appropriate in their dealings with other horses so can only go out with similarly sized horses.
So now they changed the pastures so that the 3 old guys are in one pasture. A bunch of drafts and Chance are in another. The mares are in another. The geldings that include Gambler are in another and then Dauntless, Augustus and Everly (all same owner) are in the last pasture.
Lets compound this problem with the fact that I work there. So what the hell am I supposed to do? If he can't go out with other horses he will have to be moved. I can take him to my future father in law's place if I do the barn chores (wouldn't be much, they just have 3 other horses) if I need to and most nearby boarding places aren't full right now, but that leaves me without a job AND imposing on my FIL...
Last night I didn't do anything other than catch Mika and put him in his stall. I left shortly after that because all three of the new boarders were there and I didn't want to cause a scene. I was sick of being told that I shouldn't be upset and that gelding the colt would solve everything. I was so pissed I was ready to punch things. No, no it wouldn't. He'll still be three even when gelded. He'd not aggressive or studdy at all right now. He's just a dingbat 3yo. I really don't think his behavior will change all that much when he is gelded. He might calm down a little, but he'll still be a 3yo Arabian. He's gonna be a lot more animated than the drafts/teenaged QHs they're used to. And he's STILL not going to be able to go out in any of the fields with tthe current herd arrangements. Can't go in the old guy pasture, can't go out with Chance, can't go out with Gambler, can't go out with the mares, can't go out with Dauntless and Augustus. So he's STILL screwed! Gelding doesn't solve that problem (he IS going to be gelded shortly regardless). Unless I can get them to rearrange things today, he's moving.
Another thing: Would this make you rule out a potential new barn? I emailed asking for more information/to see if they had openings and asked if they would be willing to feed oats if I supply them (not asking anything off the board, just supply them because I don't like most pelleted feeds). The guy writes me back and tells me that although they'd feed the oats if they *have* to, how horrible oats are for horses and that they've "done the oats thing" and that whatever pelleted feed they use is *so much better* and that if I board there they want me to sign a 6mo lease because they "want our boarders to give us a chance to prove that what we do to care for their horse works. We won't do any different than we do for our own horses and you are free to examine our horses health and condition. It does work and it cuts down on the bad horse-play a lot." *Apparently* Mika plays because he's fed oats. Not because he's THREE.
Edited to clarify the situation at a potential new barn.
Mika's been turned out with a 3yo Belgian, Spike, and a 15yo Percheron, Czar for the past couple months and all was well. Czar largely ignores him and Spike plays stupid colt games with him. Both are aware he's significantly smaller and act accordingly. Spike was pouting in the new pasture they put him in too.
The problems here are that there are several *difficult* horses to deal with in turnout. Chance is a jerk to the other horses. There are *very few* that can go out with him. He nearly ran Jericho, a 2200lb Perch through the fence a few weeks ago and then he started in on the two old guys (he's older too so they got put out together) and the one that ran almost went through a fence and the one that fought back was pretty torn up. He got banished to a dry lot for a while. His owners don't really care what happens with him and they rarely come out to see him. He's now back in a pasture. Mika can't go out with him because I'm pretty sure one of them would get seriously injured. Chance won't back down when he gets crazy hostile like that and I don't know if Mika would. I'm not risking it.
Then there is Gambler. He's a TWH and is an obnoxious brat with other horses. He just starts stuff constantly, but if he gets a mark or two on him from another horse telling him to knock it off, his owner goes bonkers and threatens to move him. So Mika can't go in a pasture with him because I guarantee Mika would put him in his place and Gambler would get scraped up.
MIka can't go out with Dauntless and Augustus because they're aggressive draft crosses that would likely kill him. They're NOT appropriate in their dealings with other horses so can only go out with similarly sized horses.
So now they changed the pastures so that the 3 old guys are in one pasture. A bunch of drafts and Chance are in another. The mares are in another. The geldings that include Gambler are in another and then Dauntless, Augustus and Everly (all same owner) are in the last pasture.
Lets compound this problem with the fact that I work there. So what the hell am I supposed to do? If he can't go out with other horses he will have to be moved. I can take him to my future father in law's place if I do the barn chores (wouldn't be much, they just have 3 other horses) if I need to and most nearby boarding places aren't full right now, but that leaves me without a job AND imposing on my FIL...
Last night I didn't do anything other than catch Mika and put him in his stall. I left shortly after that because all three of the new boarders were there and I didn't want to cause a scene. I was sick of being told that I shouldn't be upset and that gelding the colt would solve everything. I was so pissed I was ready to punch things. No, no it wouldn't. He'll still be three even when gelded. He'd not aggressive or studdy at all right now. He's just a dingbat 3yo. I really don't think his behavior will change all that much when he is gelded. He might calm down a little, but he'll still be a 3yo Arabian. He's gonna be a lot more animated than the drafts/teenaged QHs they're used to. And he's STILL not going to be able to go out in any of the fields with tthe current herd arrangements. Can't go in the old guy pasture, can't go out with Chance, can't go out with Gambler, can't go out with the mares, can't go out with Dauntless and Augustus. So he's STILL screwed! Gelding doesn't solve that problem (he IS going to be gelded shortly regardless). Unless I can get them to rearrange things today, he's moving.
Another thing: Would this make you rule out a potential new barn? I emailed asking for more information/to see if they had openings and asked if they would be willing to feed oats if I supply them (not asking anything off the board, just supply them because I don't like most pelleted feeds). The guy writes me back and tells me that although they'd feed the oats if they *have* to, how horrible oats are for horses and that they've "done the oats thing" and that whatever pelleted feed they use is *so much better* and that if I board there they want me to sign a 6mo lease because they "want our boarders to give us a chance to prove that what we do to care for their horse works. We won't do any different than we do for our own horses and you are free to examine our horses health and condition. It does work and it cuts down on the bad horse-play a lot." *Apparently* Mika plays because he's fed oats. Not because he's THREE.
Edited to clarify the situation at a potential new barn.