Companion's relentless neighing...what to do...?!

catembi

catembi

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I used to have two horses - Summer my ridden horse & Florence the Shetland. Florence used to neigh inconsolably & extremely loudly every time Summer went out of sight, including every 5 seconds all the way around a hack. So I have got Tiffany the New Forest on loan, the idea being that she would be a friend for Florence & stop all the noise. Now Florence isn't so fussed about being left, but TIFFANY screams her head off when I try to do anything with Summer. This morning I was trying to ride on another part of the field, IN SIGHT of the ponies, and Florence was quiet but Tiffany was screaming, which then upset Summer.

It's also quite critical that we don't annoy the neighbours in case they oppose the planning for school & stables. I was going to hay them this morning to shut them up, but I put out a v small amount of hay last night which they hadn't eaten. I don't really want to return Tiffany as it has made way for the loaner to rescue another NF foal, and if I did, I expect that Florence would just take over with the neighing. **sighs** I just want to make the noise stop!
 
The issue you have is that neither are well adjusted confident ponies that are suited to the job you are keeping them for, not much help with your current situation as it will probably require a lot of your time and plenty of patience to get them to adapt to the life you are giving them, I think you either have to give the new one back and find a real companion who is happy left alone, they do exist, or spend time getting her to accept you taking Summer away, which may be a long process, are they all in the same field? having them near but not together may help.
 
I think I agree. If Tiffany isn't doing the job you've loaned her for then you might need to think about sending her back and finding a companion that couldn't care less about the others coming and going. They do exist honestly! :)

Although it is worth bearing in mind that this a new herd and they are still getting to know each other and their new surroundings. I imagine they are all feeling very insecure at the moment so it might well settle down eventually.
 
I have one who can be noisy and it tends to lessen if I take his companion away on a regular basis. Also better if out of sight and hearing - he will still neigh when we leave and return. He does have another horse next door.
 
Yes, I am beginning to think I should have gone the gelding route. Florence is 3 1/2, I've had her since 6 months old & she was absolutely no trouble whatsoever when kept with Trev. 3 mares does not appear to be a recipe for success, or peace & quiet. No more mares, ever again! The End!
 
Our gelding is much worse than the mare :p she doesn't give a toss where he is or what he is doing.

I think having one called Tiffany is the problem :p
 
O/h has said that my horses sound like they should be in Closer magazine...Tiffany, Florence, Summer... They should be in an article about lip fillers or Love Island or something!

(Disclaimer - I named Florence, but it wasn't my fault! Her passport said 'Lamp Park' (?????!!!!!) so she had to be Florence really to keep the connection with her passport name...lady with the lamp...)
 
Yes exactly, PL, that is what Florence did. So then I got Tiffany so she'd have a friend, and now Tiff is doing it instead. Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh...!!!!!!! Maybe I could do some sort of 3-way ride & lead...?
 
be positive said:
The issue you have is that neither are well adjusted confident ponies that are suited to the job you are keeping them for, not much help with your current situation as it will probably require a lot of your time and plenty of patience to get them to adapt to the life you are giving them, I think you either have to give the new one back and find a real companion who is happy left alone, they do exist, or spend time getting her to accept you taking Summer away, which may be a long process, are they all in the same field? having them near but not together may help.
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this
 
Penny Less said:
My loan gelding is the problem ! He screams the place down and does the wall of death round the field when the mare is out of sight.
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have you tried to do anything about it?

I have had 5 different geldings in different combinations over more than 10 years now. all can/could be left alone-a couple could only be left in a stable with hay but most have been fine on their own, in a corral in the field if needs be. But you have to work at it-keep separating them for different amounts of time, get them used to being handled alone/with others. Leave them hungry with some food, buy them a mirror. Its a deal breaker for me, am on my own and I have to be able to leave the companion at least, by himself while I ride and I couldnt put up with a stressed horse shouting its head off or churning up my paddocks although gods know, the exercise doesnt do them any harm!.

All the SA I've seen at its worse has been mare-mare or mare-gelding ime which is why I won't do a mixed group.
 
I have 3 mares, had 4 earlier this year and all fine to take away on own or leave on own.

How long has this pony been given to adjust Cat?
It seems from reading your posts that all the animals have all only recently been moved to your new house and so ponies and dogs not had long to settle in properly yet. Do give them time, a routine and am sure things will improve over the coming weeks. Fresh hay orba small bucket of nuts etc for shouty one when you are leaving should be help but you need to build on it steadily.
 
I have 3 - ride one. One companion couldnt care less, the other does. She will call constantly if we work just in sight in the field but calls once if we hack out. Its like the constant seeing and not seeing is worse? Mine also goes through periods of being worse - at these times i do bribe (hanging veg etc). Shes always going to be a bit stressy but shes come a long way (first two months of new horse arriving were awful but she settled with consistency).
 
(I am a v v bad person and I was kinda hoping that there might be something like a crib collar, but for neighing? Not that I am an advocate of crib collars or the suppressing of natural behaviours, etc etc, but this morning I could quite happily have slapped anti-neighing collars on all three of them...)
 
i find that my mare is ok when the other horse goes out if she is in the stable but in the field she goes bonkers and screams her head off. if you have stables could you put the 2 companions in with some hay while you ride?
 
I'd try separating Summer with a line of electric for a few weeks to give Florence and the new one a chance to bond and settle.

My Gelding is the one who has a paddy when his friend is taken away and separating them really helped.
 
catembi said:
(I am a v v bad person and I was kinda hoping that there might be something like a crib collar, but for neighing? Not that I am an advocate of crib collars or the suppressing of natural behaviours, etc etc, but this morning I could quite happily have slapped anti-neighing collars on all three of them...)
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Book her in for a hobday ;)
 
JulesRules said:
I'd try separating Summer with a line of electric for a few weeks to give Florence and the new one a chance to bond and settle.

My Gelding is the one who has a paddy when his friend is taken away and separating them really helped.
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I think this. Can summer be left alone? I’d be inclined to take her temporarily out of the equation and let the other two bond then reintroduce her, hopefully by then the other two will be happy together.
I once had a gelding described by a pro yard as phycotic (sp!) I eventually got him his own Shetland, shut them solely together for a fortnight then put them back with the others. Mr Hysteria never even looked up when I rode after that.
 
Yeah, I was thinking about Hobdaying the lot of them... Not sure how I'd convince the vet that two unbacked 3 year olds had wind problems that were affecting their fast work!

Tiff & Flo were together in a pony paddock with Summer in a different paddock for a bit.

In the interests of experimentation, last night we tried sticking both of them in a stable together, then when I hacked out we didn't hear a peep out of either of them. Only Summer was shouting, but not as much as usual as she wasn't getting any replies. Then we came back & did some work in my jumping lane & the littlies were still quiet. It was good to have them in the stable as Tiff isn't well handled and with Flo close by, I managed to do stuff without stressing her out. Cut her tail as it was trailing on the floor, picked all feet up, and might actually try picking them out later.

Thank you for all the suggestions & commiserations!
 
My geldings gallop about screaming if left alone so they are stabled when I ride, maybe yours will settle with a bit of time as you have only just moved them it could be the move that's caused the upset, bloody horses they can be a pain sometimes.
 
I find it helps to separate little and often, so that it's no big deal and they realise their friends will always come back. Out of my three that live together - Flower, Six, and Mary - any one can be taken out and it's not a cause for concern. That said, being in a settled herd is probably the biggest boon in our favour. A bit of time and patience and I'm sure your girls will adjust to it too :)
 
Earplugs. And a program of sequential separation gradually extending the time apart and out of sight. Our horses have to be able to work alone (all horses should.....), and so we continually shake up the pairings and separations until all of them can be left alone or together as required. Allowing horses to become so neurotic and stressed is not kind; just because they prefer to be in a herd doesn't mean that they shouldn't be trained to cope when alone. Pandering to a horse's every whim will only result in spoiled, unmanageable and ultimately unhappy horses.
 
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