Being sold - from the horse's pov

Yes, horses should have time to settle and shouldn't be expected to be saits in a new home. However, we take all ours away on holiday at least once, if not twice every year and they all cope with being in a new place and ridden on the first(and every subsequent!) day, infact they seem to love it and we expect them to behave themselves for us to go out hacking, on the beach ect or wherever we have taken them away to.
 
Not quite the same, but when I left my partner my biggest worry was how the horses would cope being split up, they had lived together for 8 years. All equines concerned were distinctly quiet. Circumstances dictated they are now living together again, and they became themselves a gain very quickly! They do get very attached to there companions, especially if they are out together 24/7 over a long period of time, and teething troubles are to be expected.
 
Forgot to say my pony goes off on loan reguarlaly, and settles straight away, never any drama at all. So it really is a case of different strokes for different folks.
 
Firstly, I have this suspition that Flame_ comes under the very experianced horseperson catagory and probably doesn't even realise how good they are at making a new horse at ease. ;)

Secondly, I suspect that Firewell is one too.

If I'm wrong then you're both just lucky sods who've never met/bought a super sensitive, reactive, low confidence mare like my chestnut. :p I can't even go on holiday because she's such a Nutty Mc Nut Nut and wont let the 'wrong' person catch her. She freaked out when I moved her and took months to settle, but then the new yard had cows in the next field along and the last one didn't. However once she settled I could tack up while someone welded or used an angle grinder in front of her stable with sparks going past her nose. She just doesn't like moving home.
 
When I moved my horse to a new yard after 5 years of owning him he completely changed character. If I hadn't had him already for 5 years and had only just bought him I would have thought I had bought a nutter. Moving really upset him - he is very much into other horses and I think moving him from his established group made him very anxious and clingy.

He became obsessed with a mare he was turned out with and I couldn't do anything with him in the grooming box he would scream and carry on and spin around. If I was riding and he saw her go past he would throw his toys out and actually really frightened me. Separation to geldings only turnout helped but he never really settled there. Prior to moving I had done pretty much a bit of everything with him so it wasn't that I couldn't normally deal with him. He does have a quirky WB streak though as some things fry his brain for no apparent reason even though in the main he comes across as bone idle.

I think this does show however that some horses don't cope with change as well as others and it's not always to do with a new owner that doesn't know what they are doing or that when the horse is settled that he will not return to his normal self. I guess though maybe this is the difference between a horse suitable for a complete novice and one that needs a more experienced person to keep them on the right track.
 
Even though my mare was a nutter when I first got her, when we moved here she settled straight away as though she had always lived here. But then she moved with me, and with a companion that I bought a few months before the move. So she was happy. When I first got her she had come statright from her breeder and was six years old. She had never been anywhere away from her Mum! So it was no wonder she took a long time to settle.
 
I think there are a few trains of thought going on here. Firstly, do horses adapt easily to a strange environment? Secondly, is the transition easier for them if there is someone they know/a companion moving with them? Thirdly, any change seems to be more difficult for horses who have been in one or two long term homes over many years? And more accepted by those who are used to moving around? Fourth, are different equine personalities affected more or less by change and is their behaviour down to 'personality' or the way they are treated by people?

Lots of different factors seem to apply in each post on this thread. If only horses could talk! ;)
 
When I moved my pony i observed the strangest behaviour ive ever seen- she was very stressed and upon trying to turn her out in a paddock- she crouched down bent on all four joints and was neighing and snorting staring at me, she then waved all of her legs and was literally trying to scream to me that it was all wrong and her best friend had gone! she had always been kept alone and it was very upsetting as the other horses at the new yard had developed a herd- (although she was being turned out alone this day) she had gassy colic later on too -but a few months forward and she is the firm boss of the yard and is in paradise with her new herd. I felt awful moving her and also quite in disbelief at what I was seeing!
 
myhorsefred said:
Ok, different side of the coin here - a genuine, well natured horse doesn't turn into a fire breathing monster, which will kick you, bite you, buck you off overnight, or over the course of two weeks. Some people sell nasty horses because they can't manage or tolerate them.

People lie when they sell horses. period.
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Not everyone does though :rolleyes:

I took my sweet natured pony to a new yard. She seemed to settle on the yard quickly and was lovely to handle but then I rode her - she bucked me off the first day - something she's NEVER done. She turned into a speed demon and it took a lot of work to get her settled and relaxed.

Next time I moved her, she went out to the paddock and head down, started grazing. No problems from day 1 riding either. Things changed, and horses moved paddocks frequently. My pony started to change. It was little things - they moved horses so she couldn't see them - so she jumped out - so that she could be with them.
When I was in the paddock, she started rearing, she took off and started to ping round the paddock. No-one believed me so I took my phone out to video her. She raced away and went over the gate. :( The pony told me as clearly as she could that she was no longer settled.

Moved to a new yard and she never looked back - although I got her a friend so I would never be in that position again. They both moved recently and you'd never know they hadn't been there for years.

Being sold/moving yards can be stressful on the horse BUT given the right situation/atmosphere, it can be better for them. :) Hopefully, mine are going no-where for a LONG time.

Some people MAY sell nasty horses, but a horse can change character through the stress of the move.


Tormenta said:
I think there are a few trains of thought going on here. Firstly, do horses adapt easily to a strange environment? Depends on the horse - Mine do though but is it because they have each other = familiar?Secondly, is the transition easier for them if there is someone they know/a companion moving with them? This didn't work well for us for our first move but it wasn't a yard she was really relaxed on anywayThirdly, any change seems to be more difficult for horses who have been in one or two long term homes over many years? And more accepted by those who are used to moving around? Mine had been moved a lot before I got her, so perhaps that was why she was so unsettled? Moved to much in a short life? Got used to it by the next move and felt more secure with me by then? Fourth, are different equine personalities affected more or less by change and is their behaviour down to 'personality' or the way they are treated by people?
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Some interesting questions here, and I think a part of it is the equine's personality, but also down to where they've moved - the type of yard etc. and also how they're treated will play a large part I believe.
 
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