wood chewing

[CailinBainne]

not cribbing or windsucking - just chewing...

I've 2 ponies that live out 24/7, native Irish ponies - one goes mental if he's brought in for any length of time and the other won't be parted from him and we've only 1 stable so they're rugged and have a hardstanding area and a field shelter at night.

They're hardly in work - just the odd hack so aren't fed concentrates at all - just haynets morning and overnight and soaked sugarbeet at teatime.

The cob is systematically gnawing the field shelter to bits. We've covered all exposed edges in old plastic guttering and metal strips. I even put a log in the shelter for him to gnaw on which helped a bit, and painted creosote-substitute and liquid poo on other wood edges (yum)

Question is - by leaving the log in, am I just encouraging him to gnaw ? Dunno how much he swallows as there's always loads of chewings on the ground. The smaller one copies him now...

Or are they part beaver ?

Thanks

forgot to say - they get Equivite vitamin and mineral in with their beet feed too

I have a chewer and it's a nightmare - my lovely fenced yard looked awful after a few months. Jeyes fluid is better than the creosote stuff - cover yourself well before you spray otherwise you'll smell like an unblocked drain for days, it really gets into things! Dhorse sidled up to the fence but didn't even try and take a bite as the smell was so horrible - you will need to keep applying though. I also tried making a paste with chilli powder but of course it gets washed off, but if he's eating inside it might work....

I don't know but you just reminded me of the day I tasted cribbox (thinking, how awful can it be?). Is that an option?

I don't have any answers,but dpony bites the fence when she is tied up.She too,lives out as she won't be stabled and the last 2 nights she has ignored her tea,but has been chewing the gate and low hanging branches.I think it's in protest at her field mate going in at night,although the cob in the next field and she seem to have developed a friendship and as soon as Millie goes in,dpony goes to stand next to him and studiously ignores me.

Alameda! I have done that too! I had to walk the whole way round Ingatestone tack store with my tongue shrivelled to a raisin!
Maybe try giving a big red salt block and some boredom breaker type things?

hahahaha it's nasty isn't it?

I much prefer the sedalin gel stuff, aka: how to fall asleep in charge of two springer spaniels and two children in a storm near your pie stall!

you are bonkers!

Want a nice new forest pony?

Oooh! Gelding/mare? Age?

Mare 12. She's going up for sale/loan in the spring, she needs some lovely 1-1 and lots of exercise. :-)

Look over on BooksInBeds Looking for a pony thread.

Can she jump? How big is she? Can she live out (although not sure we have 24/7 grazing for mares in winter so should be asking 'could she live in'!)?

Am asking on behalf of 13yo

ah ok, will look there

cheers

We've put up one of those big natural salt licks from the Himalayas. Sort of orangey in colour and they have a hole with a rope through it. Try hanging it up in the field shelter because if they like it they will gnaw that instead (and they do last quite a long time).

nice one... I'll look for one.

The poo paint seems to have deterred them a little bit. Was going to make my own cribbox with pureed red chillis (I grew a lot) in some vaseline/similar grease base. I did leave the log in in the end