For those of you that keep your horses on their own..

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FreddiesGal

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do you feel guilty? Last night after introducing a 5th member to our yards little "herd", my boy got kicked and is now sporting quite a large cut just above his hock. The offending horse was a gelding who was protecting and defending his territory, A.K.A - the mares in the next door field. After numerous squeals, rears and kicks I decided to take Fred out, cold hose his leg for 5 minutes, apply some anti septic cream, and put him in his original field on his own. He had only been introduced to the 4 others for a few days before we introduced the gelding that kicked him. Yes I am more than aware that horses will be horses and unfortinately kicking and all the rest needs to take place for them to sort out the pecking order, but I decided a broken leg is all I need right now. Anyway I am feeling slighty horrible for putting him back on his own - how many of you keep yours on their own?
 
I kept my mare on her own for months until she settled with her new friends, they were a fence apart were kept stabled next to each other and could only be put in the same field after about 4 months! I didn't feel guilty as the horses could still interact over the fence should they want to, but got some peace from squabbling and also saved their legs! when they were introduced they were all booted up and had rugs on to protect from kicks, they had a bit of a bucking session but nothing like the first time they were put together and have been out happily ever since
 
Ive just bought a new forest stallion who I intend to get him gelded but he is at home and am desperate for another horse so he is not alone. Even if they are not in same paddock and can just see each other would make me feel less bad. I have to have a gelding cause the stables are next to each other. I have only had him a week and he is doing better than I could ever imagine and does not seem to even notice he is the only horse. Even so I feel really bad and the hunt is on to get another ASAP
 
My little Sec A is now on his own and he is absolutely fine. He can see other ponies all round him though so is not isolated.

I do feel a little sad that he doesn't have a friend to groom / play with but I really don't want another horse / pony having managed to reduce to just him for the first time in 25 yrs.
 
As a child our pony was kept alone for years. She had a couple of goats for company and when she saw other horses out hacking never seemed interested at all. Personally I don't think id keep one totally alone now but it worked with my mare. I suppose it depends on the horse, my horse now would not cope being alone at all.
 
I share a tail chewer and he always used to be alone it was horrid he was really unhappy.
Luckily an owner took pity on him and has let him go out with her arab and he is so much happier it takes his stressy edge off ;) We have been putting washing up liquid on her arabs tails and touch wood it seems to have stop the tail chewing!
Saying that i think it just depends on the horse.
 
Our tb is on his own with horses next to him as he and his play mate didn't get the idea of boundaries:rolleyes: they are now in single paddocks next to each other on their own and are fine.
 
I keep 2 of mine on their own. 1 is on a competition yard and everything goes out on its own to avoid injury but she can see horses in the fields next door. She is not bothered about being on her own and I suspect enjoys not having to share her grass with anyone ;) I also have a shetland pony at home that is on its own and cannot see any other horses...is it bothered no!! She often has cows in the field next door and I think she sees them as her mates :)
 
If there's an unavoidable reason for the horses sake, rather than the owners, & they can interact over the fence then I suppose its acceptable. It's not ideal but on rare occasions I accept some horses need to be. I wouldn't do it for my sake though. I have a pony who spent from 3months to one without so much as a sheep in sight. Although well adjusted the wrong situation can/will spark it temporarily. She's fight rather than flight & has slightly abnormal herd behavior on occasion. All because some stupid selfish moron put their convenience above her basic needs.
Op- any chance you could put yours & the aggressive gelding out as a pair away from the mares while you supervise?
 
I keep mine with an electric fence between them. They can talk to each other over the fence and are completely happy with the arrangement. Saves a fortune in injuries and damaged rugs. The older 2 are a pair of grumpy old men so they seem to prefer their own space actually.
 
Mine is sadly on his own. Not ideal but he's on a starvation paddock so needs a little field very bare. He does have horses on the other side of the fence but they don't really touch each other but I still think he would be happier with another to play with as he's only 4 and I feel he will loose out on learning boundaries etc
 
Personally I don't think its an issue as long as they can sniff another one over the fence. My mare was much happier on her own, she used to get quite aggressive to other horses and owners if anyone tried to take a horse out of the field but never stressed about being alone.

My last two horses have both been kept on individual turnout as well and I think its often better on a livery yard. No kicking, no rug ripping and no worries that other liveries don't have the same standards about worming.
 
My horse has to be kept on his own as he harasses the other horses that he goes out with, the final straw was when he jumped on top of his friend who was mid roll! :o
So the YO has given him his own paddock, however he has another horse next door who he can have a sniff with as well as quite a few horses in sight. It's not that bad, at first he wasn't impressed however he has settled now and it is nice not to have to worry about him coming in with kicks or bites! :D
 
We have individual or pair turnout at my yard. My horse has always been kept with at least one other and when my daughter bought a new horse a couple of years ago they were kept together. My horse is a total wimp and will get bullied in most situations so I was quite happy to have found another horse he was happy to be with. However, this all changed when my daughter got a new horse who was very dominant and caused several minor injuries to my boy when introduced to each other. The decision was made to keep them in the same paddock but separated by electric fence so they could still interact over the fence and were stabled next to each other. After about 3 months my horse, who previously couldn't have cared less if he had company or not, decided he wanted to be with his new buddy and kept jumping/trashing the fence to get to him so we put them together and they are now fine. I never felt guilty about separating them as I was more concerned about potential injuries.
 
My lad is pretty aggressive towards other horses and does not even tolerate them out hacking. I have found this out the hard way and even his previous owners kept him separate on the yard with hay...although they never gave a reason for this.
He is kept on his own and has been for many years now. He is perfectly happy, comes and goes as he pleases, always has his head down eating.
He has never gave me any reason for concern that he is lonely. He comes to me for his scratches twice a day - he learnt very early on that if he stood in front of me and whickered, I would get the scratching brush out and spend some time scratching him. We have a routine now and I know when he wants a scratch. I stand and scratch and he moves himself about so that I get to the right itchy area! He is very clever in that respect.
It depends on the horse and situation really, but my lad is content in his routine of being on his own eating all day!
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. He can see other horses and is hacked out reguarly with other horses so it's not as if he never see's any, so even though I'd rather be be sharing with something it's not as if he never interacts with other horses.

Littlelegs - when I said it would be all I need right now, I meant I couldn't deal with the heartbreak of a fractured/broken leg. I have always requested he be kept with others at previous yards.
 
Mine is on his own, and I felt bad for so long, until I saw how indifferent he is at shows, sharing a field , and really could not care less about other equines :( makes me sad but he is happy on his own
 
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