Advice for a friend please.

[Black_Horse_White]

She has a 5yr old mare who is very clingy to the 2 mares she grazes with. My friend has only owned her for about 8 weeks. When one of the mares are brought in she jumps the fence to follow her. When the other one is still out with her. She can see other horses too so is not on her own. The problem is the lady who owns the other 2 brings hers in quite early so she also brings my friends in too. There is no where else to put her as she is worried she will just keep escaping. She even neighs for her mates when being ridden in the school.

 

[Mabel98]

My 5 year old mare was like that when i first got her. She ran around like a loony whenever a horse went out her field even though she still had company. I nearly bought a companion for her. She is fine now though, your friend probably needs to give her more time to settle. The only option if poss is to move her and buy a companion horse if she keeps jumping out?

 

[canteron]

This is an interesting post to me, because it reminded me of my younster used to do this when he was young! She is still very new so it is not unusual that she is a little unconfident about being left on her own - I reckon it takes at least 6 months for a horse to really settle.

Your friend will know her horse the best, but you could try the following or similar ...

For example, take the other horses in and then give her a lovely small feed (something with carrots and apples) in the field, before bringing her in. (You could do this 2 or 3 times in a day to get her used to the idea she doesn't automatically come in with the others.)

You could try bringing the others in - then putting them out again a few times with increasinly long periods before you put them out (obviously you would have to be in the field holding on to her, you could even walk her around the field at first to concentrate her mind while they go in/come out again).

and anything else you can do to make her more comfortable with being on her own by using small time period at first and building up the time gaps.

However, as she gets more settled and confident in her new surroundings she should get easier it just takes a little bit of time and consistency in the beginning.

Good luck

 

[Black_Horse_White]

Thanks i will pass on your advice. It is early days and apart from this she is perfect. The problem she has is the lady who owns the other 2 brings hers in very early and my friend would like hers to stay out. She can be very fresh with little turn out.

 

[soloequestrian]

My mare was like that when I first bought her (15 years ago!) - she latched on to one particular mare in her field and would get very upset if the mare left. It just gradually wore off as she grew up and got more settled. They always seem less bothered by being taken away themselves, rather than their pal being taken away. Perhaps she could practice this in the mornings - put her mare out with the horse she's not so attached to before the other one goes out.