6 Responses

1. My horses are turned out. They are better where they can move away from the sound but don’t panic and run. Otherwise my recently deceased Arabian was anxious in her stall and would spin and pace. Acepromazine didn’t seem to help. It’s usually the squealing fireworks that caused the most problems, particularly when my idiot neighbors would aim them over my horse pastures. The popping, starburst ones sound more like the gunfire they hear from hunters nearby.

2. I live in a rural area surrounded by cattle ranches and hay farms, the nearest fireworks displays are at least 10 miles away. They are not an issue for our livestock. (however my dog is sensative to the racket, even as far away as it is, and so I have built her a “bunker” with her little bed at the center of it so the noise is muffled)

3. I end up standing outside with my three in a one-acre paddock to keep them calm. If I walk away, they start trotting around nervously again, but as long as I am standing out there with them, I guess they expect me to take care of any danger and they just hang out with me.

4. I train them way beforehand – I play recorded sounds of fireworks (phone, tablet + speakers) while they are consuming their feed, first quietly and from a distance, then closer / louder, from many directions at once. Likewise, I expose them gradually to other sudden loud bangs & other noises, flashes of light etc. Foals learn at the side of mothers who’d already been prepared.

5. Our horses stay out in their individual runs, and the fireworks have never bothered them.

6. My guys are okay with the fireworks as long as they are at least a few hundred feet away. Hasn’t been an issue for 12 years.