Do some horses suffer stress when moving yard?

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Dovorian

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As title really - I have just put my horse on assisted DIY livery as he is now the only one I have. Previously he was one of 5 on our own yard, but for a variety of reasons I have cut right down and given up the yard. Horse is now horrid to handle, wants to charge off anywhere and everywhere without logic. Will not be in a stable without a companion, will not tie up, shouts and turns around if hacked out alone. And this was my patent safety 'retirement hack'. ....

Feed is cut right down so that is ruled out, he is very insecure and although there are other about it is impossible to ensure that he has a companion all the time. I'm actually just beginning to tip towards the giving up point as we have been unable to resolve this total change from dope on a rope to damned difficult!

Any suggestions welcome please.
 
Moving is hugely stressful. Horses are herd animals with territory and he's lost his herd and his territory in one fell swoop. Others will be able to advise better than me on dealing with his behaviour, but give him some time.

Paula
 
How long has he been at the new yard? Just give him time, I reckon. My horse, whom I got last august, came from a stud farm as a redundant (now gelded) stallion - he took ages to adjust - all sorts of stuff - being rugged, being ridden, being hacked out, traffic, being brushed - it took him a good 9 months to settle!
 
Suggestion - patience, kindness and a rigid routine. His world has been torn apart and he's in a strange place with strange people and strange horses. Some handle it better than others, yours seems to be suffering at the moment. But he WILL come good again, just give him time.
 
I think they do, some just find it exciting like being at a comp but aren't unsettled, some barely notice & some need a few weeks. I'd just give him a bit of time.
 
Mine gets very stressed for 2-3mths when he moves yard. Never used to, but does these days. Total change of character. If I sold him the new people would think I'd doped him for the try-out.
 
It can go both ways.

Mine on her last yard seemed happy enough and then we had a very bad night, with someone who wouldn't be walking if I ever got my hands on her.

I moved the horse as soon as I could load her back home and literally saw her breathe a sigh of relief.

As everyone else says, give him time to settle in the new herd, territory, people etc and he'll be alright. It's bad enough moving a horse in or out of a herd in their normal field for some horses let alone having his whole world turned upside down right now.

Pan
 
Of course! Your horse has had everything he knows taken away from him and is now in a strange environment with strange horses he doesn't recognise and he won't understand what's going on. Most horses get unsettled or have a personality change when they move yards/"homes", but some cope with it better than others.
When my mare arrived she was a complete lunatic, dangerous, bargy, clingy - trying to jump out the stable if any horse was taken from the yard, even if it was still in sight, throwing herself to the ground when I left her etc - was seriously wondering what they'd drugged her with as she'd been fizzy when I tried her but this was a whole new extreme - but after about 4 months she's beginning to settle and I'm starting to see her true sweet nature. The barging has stopped, she's less clingy than she was and is a little more down to earth (don't think she'll ever be completely down ;))

I'd really focus on his routine for now, make sure he knows what he's doing and when - try and keep to the same times as it was before if possible. Spend more time with him as you're the only face he knows and he'll take comfort in being around you, and make sure you don't put too much pressure on him for now - just give it a little time and you'll have your chilled horse back :) x
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
Giving mine extra exercise helps to burn off his stress and keep the bad behaviour under control.
Click to expand...

I don't think being stressed can be classsed as bad behaviour.

I moved home with my two mares 3 times in 15 years. Each time they were both together and kept at home with the same routine. One mare just got stuck into her food and was right at home, but the other mare would go off her food for weeks, try and bolt out of her stable and generally behave like your boy. It would take a couple of months, but she would eventually settle.

Apart from you, there is nothing familiar for your boy and he is obviously missing his old herd and calling for them. Give him time to bond with his new herd and he'll return to his old self.
 
When I moved my cob I also purchased his best friend who he had been with with 6/7 years, part of a herd where cob had been leader for that length of time and my brat pony it had been his home for almost 12 + years.

Moving them together helped them a lot but even my very laid back cob wasn't quite himself for a good 2 months. Not stressed but both of them were quite needy and attached to me and each other. Once they had 2 months in a paddock with one other horse, I then moved them in with the main herd.

It took longer than I thought it would but once they had adapted to their new home and new faces, they settled into their new herd quickly (and cob became leader again!:rolleyes:)
 
We moved just over a month ago, and I have to say he has got worse rather than better. Routine is pretty good, the variable is when the yard does him as they generally turn out later than I do. Before moving I did put everyone into separate paddocks fot the last month so that they could start to adapt, the others bar one have all been fine in their new homes/routines. The only other problem pony is a wb mare, who was quite sensitive anyway but at least she is safe to handle unlike my one horse traction engine!

Friend/instructor coming at the weekend, although he thinks he will just get me going again for the ridden work.. ha ha have I got a treat for him!

Has anyone found a calmer helpful or probiotic?
 
My boy gets very stressed and becomes difficult to handle, bargy, calling all the time, wont relax etc. Ive been using NAF Magic and it makes a huge difference. Within a day or two on the calmer he is back to normal.
 
Yes absolutely they get stressed.

My gelding turned into a complete *rse when I moved yards after over 4 years at previous yard. He was turned out with a mare and two geldings and became obsessed with the mare -he was also stabled in an indoor barn next to her. He was a total pig to ride and I couldn't put him in the grooming box as he would go bananas. If I had just bought him I would have thought I had been done (funny he settled well when I first bought him).

First for me was to move him to a geldings only paddock and separate him so he wasn't directly stabled next to the mare. I cut out all sweetfeed, soaked hay only no haylage and put him on Magic. Also had YO school him a bit.

Although he became much more manageable it took around 6 months but he never really settled there and neither did I. A year on and I moved him again as things didn't work out at the other yard - his new yard he settled almost right away and has never really been a problem (apart fromm his normal shenanigans :D). Obviously the second move wasn't such a shock to him as I don't think he had the same herd attachments as he was out with a grumpy horse he didn't gel with.
 
Yes they do especially if the yard and routine is very different from what he has been used to and if he has lived in the same place with the same routine for a long time.

If you have kept him at home in a small group mainly handled by you then moving to a bigger yard and being handled by strangers might be a bit of a culture shock for him.

My pony never settled on the first yard I had him on - too busy, herd was very big sometimes as many as 40 and always changing, moved yards to where he was in a group of 10 instead of 40 and he settled straight away. He found it very stressful in the large herd as he was trying to herd everyone and keep then under his control, in the smaller herd this was not a problem so he is relaxed. At first yard he refused to stable so lived out - jumped out of stable or tried to break the door down if he had a grill up, at new yard he is quite happy to come in and relax in his stable though he lives out.
 
Any tips on reducing the potential stress before a move? I'm moving my pair in a week or so to another small diy yard about 2 miles from where they currently are. It is almost on one of our usual hacking routes & I have taken them into the new yard once already. They are in a field on their own with horses on one side & this will be the same in the new yard, likewise they are stabled next to each other at night. Sad though it may sound, I am planning on taking any clean bedding from their old stables & laying it in the new ones so it will smell familiar!! ;) Their routines shouldn't really change, is there anything more I can do?
 
Look at it from the horse's pov.
For years, he has lived in one place with a settled herd. You dealt with them all, in the same order, at the same time, every day. He could see you going about your daily business, even if you weren't actually doing anything with the horses.
Now he only sees you once a day, strangers deal with him sometimes, at different times. He doesn't know what happened to his herd, the horses he is out with come and go at different times, he doesn't know what is happening from one minute to the next.
Of course the poor soul is stressed!
When we've moved ours we've always moved them as a herd. Earlier this summer we put our 3 onto a neighbour's land within a couple of minutes walk from our yard. We brought them back every evening for a small feed. Every evening the draft horse, who has been with us 18 months, was reluctant to leave the yard. It can take them a long time to settle into a new routine.
 
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