From: Carlos
Hi Jessica!
Once again, thank you very much for the all of the wonderful advise
you
give us.
I need some help with the following:
I brought home a rescued mare last Sunday and I had to place her
in a stall that is next to a yearling that has a pretty bothersome habit:
he chews other horses' hair off, I mean, the hair in their mane and tail.
This new mare seems to have kept him off her hair pretty well, but I have
another mare that is not as good at it as the new mare is.
Is he going through a phase or is it something that he has
to be taught not to do? In your answer to Kathy's "mouthy foal" question,
you mentioned that horse should never be hit on his head or face. Could
you
expand on this a little bit more, please?
Thank you.
Carlos
Your yearling may be going through a phase, but this behaviour is still a serious problem, for two reasons. One: the loss of tail and mane can be really horrible for a horse in fly-season, leaving it defenseless against biting insects. Two: the consumption of tail and mane hair can be really horrible for the horse that eats the hair -- it can form a sort of "hairball" and cause colic.
As the saying is, "been there, done that." One of my own horses was a tail-eating yearling, and ate half of another horse's very luxuriant tail.
The result: a yearling that turned two years old in the veterinary clinic, undergoing very lengthy (and expensive) colic surgery! All three of the vets involved came out at one time or another and said "It's a HAIRBALL!" in various shocked tones -- but apparently it's not all that uncommon. Horsehair is very tough stuff, and tail hair doesn't digest.
I'd attack this problem on two fronts: the yearling's diet, and the mane and tail flavour. ;-)
Diet: be sure that your yearling has plenty of hay available at all times. Grass or mixed hay should be fine -- talk to your vet about this -- but he needs roughage, and ENOUGH roughage to keep his digestive system, and his mouth, busy. Also, talk to your vet about the colt's diet in general, because there's always the possibility that he is missing a vitamin or mineral or two, and your vet may be able to recommend a supplement that's formulated for your area of the country, or that he thinks is particularly appropriate for other reasons.
Mane and tail flavour: Straight Arrow used to make some nasty spray-on liquid that really did work to stop horses eating each other's manes and tails. I don't know whether this is still available; however, there are products on the market that claim to have this effect, including some that are basically hot red pepper and water. You can make your own -- it's really just a matter of finding something that the colt doesn't like. I've found that shampoo works nicely; you can rub shampoo (not apple or peach flavour, though, one of the more medcine-y smelling horse shampoos) into the horse's mane and tail and let it dry; it seems to be sufficiently disgusting to discourage a second taste, and it's not as irritating as pepper or hot sauce to the poor horse that has to wear it!
This colt is probably ready to go out with the other boys in the geldings' pasture; that move alone may solve the problem, as he'll be busy playing boy games instead of having time to stand about and chew mares' tails. ;-)
Jessica
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