Don't know what to do!

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AmberThePony

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Basically, I part loan Amber, so I do nearly all yard chores and all riding, I have also ended up taking on the work for her small companion pony Barbie. They are kept together at the owners house and I have two donkeys at home. Amber and Barbie have lived together for three years and are bonded. On friday the owners went on holiday and I agreed to keep both ponies at my house. So a couple of days before, on the Tuesday, I rode amber over to my house and then just kept her there. The first night she paced around the field and occasionally called, but she settled really well. Then today we collected barbie and brought her home. Her and amber are separated by an electric fence but they both went crazy, bucking and galloping and calling. Tonight I went out to give amber some hay but every time she went over to it to eat Barbie would gallop around so amber went back to her. Then I shut Barbie in the stable in an attempt to calm amber down m, but instead she just called and called. Earlier today I rode amber out to the back field and they were calling to each other loads.This would be fine, but we are hoping to have Amber on a full loan at our house or buy her in the future. I'm now worried that she will associate here with Barbie so she will go crazy If we bring her over and Barbie isn't here. I think we will take Barbie back tomorrow but amber will go berserk when she sees Barbie isn't there. Someone help me please!!
 
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Out of interest, why are they separated by electric fencing? Is this how they are at the owners house? A change of routine can have a very disruptive effect on horses and they are probably quite stressed by the changes.
 
It really would be a bit mean to take Barbie back to her own yard where I presume that she would be on her own? Why didn't you move both ponies together? I also echo the above question - why are they in separate paddocks, is that how they are kept normally? TBH, I think you're lucky that neither of them have broken through the electric fence.

ETA - OK I have just seen your reply, thanks for explaining.

I would imagine that moving them on separate days has contributed to the current situation, plus the fact that they are at a new yard. I would be tempted to put them together in the starvation paddock and then feed the pony that needs more food a hard feed and possibly some hay as required.
 
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She has/would be with sheep back at the yard, they have different grass needs as explained before, I didn't move them together because I wanted to see if I could seperate amber ok as there is the chance of me having her in the future.
My main question is will she now always expect Barbie to be at my house when she comes here?
 
Well I'm hoping the owners will soon realise there is no point in having horses they don't have time for, and will sell /loan them both.
 
That would be ideal. :)

My friend has a mini shetty as a companion for her TB and they have different dietary needs, but she manages them very well and has kept the weight on the TB, while keeping the mini slim and laminitis free. It can be done, but it took her a year to work out the routine for the different grass situations. Plus with a bit of training she can ride the TB and the mini doesn't get upset waiting for his friend.
 
Ok, thanks but unfortunately I only have a week and this is how it works. No offence meant, but you're still kinda avoiding my main question.
 
If you do have Amber without Barbie, yes she would probably get used to it. That isn't the same as guaranteeing that she will be happy with the situation of course. I can't predict how she will react at first, she might be distressed and gallop about, or she may just graze straight away. We have to be careful that we don't inflict a state of 'learned helplessness' on our horses IMO and misread it as contentment. Amber could be genuinely happy with the donkeys and without Barbie, it's hard to know how it will turn out in advance and we can't actually *ask* them how they feel. Horses do have long memories though and will remember old friends that they haven't seen for years.
 
Faracat said:
If you do have Amber without Barbie, yes she would probably get used to it. That isn't the same as guaranteeing that she will be happy with the situation of course. I can't predict how she will react at first, she might be distressed and gallop about, or she may just graze straight away. We have to be careful that we don't inflict a state of 'learned helplessness' on our horses IMO and misread it as contentment. Amber could be genuinely happy with the donkeys and without Barbie, it's hard to know how it will turn out in advance and we can't actually *ask* them how they feel. Horses do have long memories though and will remember old friends that they haven't seen for years.
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Thank you, I understand its difficult for us to know how horses feel, but I am hoping she will settle again without Barbie. The thing is Barbie is older than amber, so it's quite likely she will pass first, then I guess amber would just have to get on with it.
 
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