Mare suddenly grumpy in stable

[Deliaskis]

Hi, just posting for thoughts of more experienced horse/pony owners.

We've had DD's Welsh C for almost a year and whilst she is feisty and spirited (and young, not quite 7), she is also lovely and affectionate and has always been very gentle in the stable.

This last week however, this has changed quite suddenly. We took her away for a weekend for a little trail riding an hour or so away and she had two nights in a holiday stable, and since we've been back she has been really grumpy in her stable.

Behaviours include turning rear end, light nipping, ears back, tail swishing etc. and she has had a go at kicking DD in one of these moments.

What is odd is that ridden she is fine, and on the ground outside stable she is fine. If we tie her on the yard for grooming she seems happy for us to do all the usual jobs, all over her, but in the stable if we touch anywhere near her rear end she seems really unhappy.

We loaded her and took her to a show yesterday and she was perfect, can stand behind her, have other ponies behind her, comes for a nuzzle and a snuggle etc. The unhappy behaviour is just in her stable.

Nothing has changed about the environment, she is still stabled next to her friends, and there has been no change in any other way, bedding, feed etc.

Any ideas what this could be? As we've not had her a year yet, we have possibly not seen the full range of her behaviour with e.g. season change, weather, losing coat etc. but this is the first thing that has utterly baffled us.

Any thoughts?

Did you take her away for a full weekend? She might be a bit unsettled.
How often is she getting turned out and for how long?

Yes two nights away.....on straw not shavings there and hay not haylage, she didn't seem bothered at the time but maybe she was. She is turned out for about 7 hours every day, and behaves no differently when going out/coming in.

Maybe she is just still unsettled from the weekend.

Did anyone else have access to her when she was away? Were other horses passing by close enough to be arsey at her?

It sounds as though something maybe happened while she was away while stabled and she is now anxious about being confined. It could be she got cast or something, or a horse threatened her over the door or even someone did something not very nice to her.

I'd maybe make her stable as nice a place to be as possible. So a lickit or swede hung up, nice deep bed, plenty of hay. Or turn her out for as long as possible. Be really calm and quiet when you go in, maybe leave a fieldsafe headcollar on overnight so you can catch her over the stable door. She might just be really happy to be home and guarding her safe place a bit.

Thanks for replying....I had thought about some of the things you said, and in the interim, it seems to have resolved itself and she is back to her sassy but usual self! I think on balance it could have been a combination of things that all added up to grumpiness...having been away and unsettled and got back, I think she had a bit of a sore bum from zooming around on the weekend, she also had a couple of bites I found, and is losing her coat so will be itchy. She was just all round feeling irritable I think.

I'm hoping nothing actually bad happened whilst away, it seems unlikely given where we were and the setting, but it could have been just different sounds/movements in the night etc. that gave her a fright.

She seems normal now though, so hooray for that.