Could he be lonely?

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hunterboylance+sarah

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I have had my horse for 6 months on the 25th of this month. All his previous owners have had multiple horses around him whereas here he is own his own. In his field he has a few of the old orphan lambs with him, but in his stable he is alone. He is always at his door, and looks very sorry for himself :(.
Any ideas what i can do to make him more at home and for him to relax a bit more?
Much appreciated.
 
Sorry, but horses NEED equine company. If you can't afford a tiny pony then you shouldn't own a horse. It is cruelty to expect one to live on its own.
 
I'm not sure what other sort of practical ideas you're after, tbh. Horses are hers animals, he's on his own and appears sad/lonely and not 'relaxed', logically so. He needs company.

If you can't afford a companion, could someone share your land? How big is it?
 
Where do you keep the horse? Would be a possibility to advertise for a field share so that someone and their horse shares the yard with you?
 
If you can't afford a companion and don't keep at a yard with other horses why buy a horse?
A small shetland or similar costs very little to buy and keep. Horses are herd animals and no matter what any one says they shouldn't be kept alone.
 
I would say definitely.. so a companion would be your only option really, whether full size or miniature, tho some horses from experience can get alot out of a companion goat - many available for rescue, tho equally goats should not be single goat households either..hmmm this could end up getting expensive!In the immediate future he might benefit from a horse safe stick on roll of mirror in his box that he can make eyes at & blow kisses too, but no substitute for the real thing..ETA I would only recommend a goat tho as an addition to a companion horse, to enable one horse to be ridden out etc without the other going bonkers. if you can't afford a companion horse, get a livery in, or put yours somewhere on diy...or put him on loan to someone who can offer him his basic needs-the companionship of his own kind
 
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Wagtail said:
Sorry, but horses NEED equine company. If you can't afford a tiny pony then you shouldn't own a horse. It is cruelty to expect one to live on its own.
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I agree but if it really is impossible a stable mirror may help, my friend uses one and her mare is now ok to be left while she rides her other horse, which used to stress her completely, she stands and talks to her reflection looking totally relaxed.
 
The other alternative of course is put him into livery but that might be as expensive as a companion pony. In that case the only other option would be to find someone to share your land.
 
Dizzydancer said:
A small shetland or similar costs very little to buy and keep.
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vaccs, hoof trimming and teeth rasp are the same price regardless of size, vets fees can rack up whatever the size of the pony, if you get one make sure you can afford it, why dont you advertise to take a sharer or diy livery on to keep a small pony at the same yard? it brings money in and you have another pair of eyes/ears to help out when needed
 
Could you advertise for someone to livery at your place? Or for someone to keep a retired or young horse there for free in return for them paying for their horses up keep and your horse having a free friend?
 
Dizzydancer said:
That's true and i presumed, possibly wrongly, obvious. I was thinking more feed wise cheaper to feed and hardy little things.
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not always obvious, i wish it was:)

my friend bought a mini about 3yrs ago and it has been really difficult to find yards that will take her, due to fencing issues mainly. So her biggest expense has been fencing to keep her in, adjusting stable doors has been another one that she did not budget for, and it has been difficult to keep the weight off the mini and still have her as a companion where the others can see her, obviously a lot of this depends on your setup
 
Jools1234 said:
vaccs, hoof trimming and teeth rasp are the same price regardless of size, vets fees can rack up whatever the size of the pony, if you get one make sure you can afford it, why dont you advertise to take a sharer or diy livery on to keep a small pony at the same yard? it brings money in and you have another pair of eyes/ears to help out when needed
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Agree with costs for 2nd animal (whatever the size) and has already been said, then there is the turnout issues as small ponies can get under/through horse fencing and also require a 'smaller' diet too, so would prob need own paddock adjacent to keep figure trim and pony suitably contained. (I have to do this with Tiny Fuzzy most of the year, so she is on her own but is companion over the fence unless she is wearing grazing muzzle).

Offering livery to someone is prob a better suggestion for you? As long as your horse copes with them going out when he is left alone......
 
As already said, horses need company. A companion really needs to have similar dietary requirement to your own horse, so if you have a poor doer a shetland might not be a good choice. Which leaves you the option of buying a suitable companion, taking on a livery yourself, moving to a livery yard, or if none of those are an option then sorry, don't have a horse.
 
We recently had a new horse at the yard I help at. He'd been kept on his own for a few months beforehand. To say he was happy to have other horses for company would be an understatement. Even though he was being pushed about and investigated and kicked by the mare :eek: he was so happy. On his second day the owner confidently stated that he'd be ok on his own in the yard if the others were returned to the field. Poor horse panicked and tried to follow his new friends and did not calm down until he was put back with the others.

As others have already said, keeping a horse on it's own is not good.
 
Check out http://www.bluecross.org.uk/2584/Adopt-ahorseorpony.html

They often have good doer native types for loan or horses that are companion only (they will help with costs I think). My understanding is you can give them back if things don't work out or you list your grazing etc. I would do a google search to see if any other rehoming places near you do this kind if scheme, I'm sure the RSPCA also do it.
 
Companions do not need to cost the earth, especially if you could get one from a charity org.

We had a shetland as a companion and the only costs he incurred were feet trimmed every few mnths, worming and vaccs. He rarely needed hard feed or hay, and left him out in the field overnight if the other horse needed stabling.

We just muzzled him if there was too much grass, so could always be in with the other horse.

We were lucky though as he didn't mind being left on his own if the other one was ridden, and respected electic fencing.

He was a poppet and still miss him now....
 
Trasam- that's not at all unusual, its separation anxiety. Having been kept alone they tend to adopt the approach that there is no way they want to be alone again, unlike horses who haven't experienced solitude & have no reason to have extreme reactions if introduced slowly to relatively short periods of being alone. I have one that spent from a few mnths old to 1 in solitude, & when she first met my mare who adopted her, she became glued to her. First few mnths she would panic if my mare went more than a few feet away, & it took a while to get her to accept any form of physical barrier between them such as standing my mare one side of the field gate.
 
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