A dilemma

[Bosrebel]

I'm looking for opinions on what to do......

I keep my mare and my youngster (not related) with one other horse, in an isolated place, no other horses can be seen or kept near here. Its the perfect place though, right on the forest, no roadwork, no bitching etc etc etc.... so moving from here is not an option.

Now my 16 month old youngster has separation issues,(not surprisingly) which means i cannot ride when the other girl is riding, so if i get there and she is out, i have to wait until she gets back, which is not always convieniant, as i have to ride when i get the time. Plus this winter, she will be taking her horse home the night before she goes hunting to stable it, which will add to the restriction in riding. I simply cannot afford to risk leaving him on his own, the last time we tried he broke the field fence down and how he didnt hurt himself is beyond me, plus the hassle of having to fix the fence before we can put any of the horses back in, which was a nightmare in itself.

Also there is the son and husband who have expressed their interest in riding out with me, and although i could borrow my friends horse, again we cannot leave yearling alone.

We still have another 2 years before we can ride the baby, and so i'm beginning to wonder wether i should let him go and buy a more suitable mount for the family. I've never felt so tied before. I have been looking for a place like this all my life it seems and i'm not about to give it up, but now i'm so restricted as to when i can ride, and i'm beginning to look at him as a weight around my neck...

Having said that we are attached to him and the heart strings and the sadness of selling is not looking attractive either.

The field owner is not wanting anymore horses on the place either.

Anyone got any words of wisdom??

 

[hatters]

Personally I would sell the youngster, and get something suitable for your family to enjoy with you - riding is meant to be fun!

If you really don't want to sell the youngster, how about a field companion to keep the youngster company? But they you will be stuck with another horse you can't ride.

 

[Nickijem]

Ooh tricky one. The ideal situation would be that your youngster gets over his separation anxiety. This can be done but takes a lot of time and patience.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Jackie_L]

You could do what i did! The story of how my companions companion!

Started with 2 horses, 1 i ride and 1 companion. Companion not happy when left alone - got him 2 goats as company he was terrified of them and wouldn't come out the field! But the goats are sweet so they had to stay. He got used to them eventually but not as friends. Along comes companions companion - a miniture shetland all seems happy at the mo.
Mini Shet really cheap to feed and easy to do and is sooooo cute.

I did think of trying a stable mirror so that might help you if you've got stables??

As my friends will tell you that would've been too sensible for me!!!!!!

 

[Tia]

If you have stables then stable the youngster when you go out riding. I think that no matter what you do, someone will have to get this yearling over these issues.

 

[sarahgill]

Yes get a mini shetland!!! they are so cute and a have bags of character will keep your youngster entertained and as your mare goes out more he'l will start to settle, I have a ex-racer with seperation issues and now we have moved the mare and foal in with the racer and the hunter, she has seriously calmed down and will go away on her own as well as being left in the field with her mates!

 

[Bosrebel]

Hi
Yes well getting another would all be too easy.. i dont have a bottomless pocket and cannot really afford 3 horses, as lovely as it would be.....

We dont have stables, so no help there..

We are on 11 acres, so a small pony would have to be kept in a smaller paddock other wise i'll be dealing with laminitis as well..., plus we cannot put up any electric fencing due to the pikeys nicking the last lot, stakes and tape as well as the energiser!

 

[Donkeymad]

Seems to me you have two choices, neither of which will be easy.
1/ You spend the time working on the separation issue
2/ You sell the youngster

If both are too hard then you may simply have to put up with the situation.
Sorry, but keeping horses comes with having to make hard choices. I hope you can come up with a happy solution.

 

[happihorse]

If you sell the youngerster, will your mare be happy to be left at the yard alone while the other horse is away for 24 hours?

How about getting another (carefully chosen) livery there? Would it be suitable for a retired horse, so it would stay at the yard permanently?

Ultimately you will have to get the yearling over the seperation issues, but a lot of horses hate being left completely on their own.

Good luck.

 

[Grumpy Herbert]

I would try really hard to work on the separation issue, as a horse that will be left alone happily is an absolute godsend! If you can get over that it'll make life so much easier all round. Can you separate them off at either end of the paddock for short times to begin? Then maybe take your horse out for a few minutes and put it back, extending the time each time you do it? It would be a real shame to sell a known quantity and have to buy an unknown one.