Dealing with a grieving horse

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Any ways to make it easier?
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Jasper is utterly heartbroken at losing Maddie, and I'm scared he's going to get really depressed.
He was let to see her body, and didn't leave her side until he had to be taken away
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Is there any other horse that he can be put in with? That's so sad that he's missing her.....I think you did the right thing letting him see the body though.
 
Well he's with the other 4, but he was the closest to Maddie. He was the only horse we let see her and he had time alone with her too. It definitely helped but he's just not right.
I think if all goes well, we have a new girl coming for him, hopefully he will strike up as close a bond with her that he had with Maddie.
 
Try to keep his routine as normal; keep taking him out for rides and spend time with him. Generally allowing horses to see the body is best as it is finite for them then, but they can still miss something once the horse is no longer in the field with them.

Horses are very resillient and I'm sure with some extra TLC he will be back to his usual self soon.

Sorry to hear about your mare.
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Well none of them are getting ridden at the minute, shoes off and haven't been ridden for a good few months.
They always have a solid routine so it will be kept the same.
Thankyou, i know time is a healer, but at the minute it just seems to be going so slowly
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I have 1st hand experience of this. My mare died last July and Murphy became unwell. His kidney function went sky high, he wouldn't socialise with others in the field, he grew a thick winter coat, developed rainscald, cortisol levels were sky high too and he lost weight and muscle tone drastically. He wouldn't go forward when ridden but wasn't playing up.

Local vets didn't know what was wrong the diagnosis went from tying up, to teeth problems, to worm to liver fluke to cushings...

He eventually went to specialists in Edinburgh (The Dick Vet School) where they put him through every test under the sun...The final diagnosis after 5 months (and £1600) was depression!

So...having gone through all that I would ensure my horse was given time to deal with the death. I would ensure no sudden changes were made to his regime. I also made the mistake (prior to diagnosis) of putting my mares rug onto Murphy so...don't do that. After you think he has had enough time, I would slowly bring him back into work with nothing too mind blowing. Lost of hacking and fun stuff that he enjoys.

I have only just started riding and we are certainly not up to doing our intense schooling sessions just yet.

From a management point of view, make sure he is getting all his feed/nutrients he needs, make sure he has friends and plenty of TLC. Murf did see to pick up when he was paired off with a friend instead of running in a group of 4. So this might help if possible.

The best thing you can do is just give your horse time. Send me a PM if you need to know more or I can help any. Sorry this post is so long.
 
I think you are doing all the right things. When my friends horse lost his fieldmate of 7 years we let him see the body and left them alone for a while, then put a pony in with him. He was not himself for a couple of weeks, but I guess they grieve just like we do.
 
Nothing realy to add about management, but it makes me realise how lucky we were that our old girls went in the order they did. Had Nell gone before Pop I am sure that we would have lost two within weeks of each other, Pop was so reliant on Nell. We got another mare about three weeks after Pop went and she and Nell got on very well from the beginning. We do wonder if that is as they are both Appy's. Nell went on to have another 2 and a half years before being pts at age 33.
 
Hi, sorry to hear about your horse. When Fly died it took Ralph 6 months to get over it, they were best buddies and I had been together for about five years as a real partnership and three years as herd mates before that.

I did not show Ralph Flys body as I was too devistated at his loss, which may be why he took so long to get over it. I kept everything the same and although I was grieving as well, had no restbit from the stables. Ralph took a long time to partner up with another horse and then the horse moved yards, which did not help.

He's now much better albeit being a little bolshy and over protective of me in the field when I go and get him, he chases off any horse that approaches, which is something Fly used to do! So, a little role reversal. But he did not loose weight or go off food, just used to call for Fly.

Your horse will come right, it will just take time, same as us when we are bereaved.
 
Aww what a shame, maybe introduce a new friend for him?
On the subject I have the sweetest story about a dog. Well he was brought up with a cat and they got along very well, but then sadly the cat passed away. As the owners buried their beloved pet the dog sad quietly watching. Then later that nigh he went out into the garden and dug up the cat. He carried it to its bed and lay down beside it. How sweet, just melts my heart
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The owners reburied the cat with out the dog watching and bought a new cat to be his friend.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse.
When i recently lost my mare, all of her field mates had stayed along the fence line - but further along whilst the vet was there etc and she ended up being PTS on one of the heli pads where they could see, my old gelding called out to her as she went down and i have been very worried about him and also the youngster. I know the older one must have seen it before, whereas the youngster hasnt. They pretty much were glued to the spot for a day or two just looking over. To try and get them out of it, they are having stacks of extra carrots, extra buckets of Readigrass (not that they need it) and i am trying to chop and change where they get fed in the field, the older one seems to be coping better but the youngster still isnt right, i've brought her in a few days and just given her extra attention.
i think its a natural process for them and you just have to try and stop them from getting depressed?? (mine are all out 24/7)
All you can do i keep a close eye on them. the field seems so quiet without my beautiful mare in it, and i am dreading introducing another new horse as i just dont know how the others would cope, hence IMO, if your horse already has company, i wouldnt start mixing another in too soon, mind you, maybe it would take their minds off the loss? I guess they are like humans, all react differently.
Hope they all perk up soon.
 
thankyou so much for your help everyone!
His routine will definitely stay the same and he is a happy hacker so in a couple of months, they'll all be back hacking again.
Hopefully, when the new mare comes, this will help him aswell.
 
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