Friday, November 13, 2015

24/7 Harvey: Addicted to turnout

Harvey the demon-horse, constantly moving and calling.
You may recall that a week or so ago, Harvey was anxious and stressed in his stall -- so much so that the vet came out. I freaked out, sure that he was colicking, but he was fine. Spent much of the night at the barn, and the next morning, all for nothing.

The good news? I think I might know what's up. 

24/7 is Harv's new thing
The weather has been amazing, and for about two straight months Harv and his buddies have been out 24/7. The first time he was in his stall was the "stressed Harv" night several weeks ago, when I called the vet. This week we had rain on Tuesday, and for the second time in two months, he was in.

Demon Harvey
Again, he freaked out. By the time I got to the barn, he had been spinning in his stall so much that he was on a bare mat. It appeared the shavings were banked against the sides of the stall. I actually called the barn manager to see if they forgot to pull shavings down, even though I KNOW they would not have forgotten. Harv had also not eaten, too busy having high anxiety.

Harvey is addicted to turnout.

Wednesday and Thursday, they were back to 24/7 pasture, but it was so muddy I brought Harv into the barn to clean his legs. He would not stand still and was calling his buddies every 40 seconds. When I turned him out (in total darkness), he was frantic to get back to the pasture. He ran and bucked and slid and generally scared the crap out of me.

I shined my carlights on the pasture and waited for him to calm down. Finally he settled down near the fenceline, and he was noodling with Shiraz when I finally left.


2 comments:

  1. Poor Harvey! Winter is coming so he needs to settle in ASAP and stop stressing you out.

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  2. My horses have been much happier and calmer since I started letting them live out 24/7. Maybe that's what Harvey wants to do. Honestly, I used to worry about them being out in the cold, snow, rain, etc. until I realized they preferred it!

    ReplyDelete

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