Helping a hore to settle..advice please :)

Charlie Bucket

Charlie Bucket

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I have recently moved my 2 horses to a new yard. A lot has changed for them and I know it's bound to be stressful for them. My young gelding has settled in a treat, after the initial :eek: he's now as happy as larry :)

But my little mare just can't settle. We were at the previous yard for 6.5 years, and shes used to living out 24/7, but new yard they must be stabled overnight in winter. So she's moved home, changed routine and has new fieldmates all in a very very short space of time. I thought she would be ok but she's not improving, perhaps even getting worse :(

She's completely gone off her food; she has a full net of haylage in the stable and if it's even a 10th gone in the morning its a miracle. She won't eat her feed (this is whats worrying me most as she is usually food crazy). And everytime I've gone to the field she's just standing, not grazing. She paces round her stable and is just generally very stressy.
I brought her in tonight and her heart was racing, I thought she might be colicking but I kept an eye on her for a couple of hours and it seemed to calm down. I'm going to go back late and if she's any worse I will call the vet.

I'm just wondering if you wise lot know of any supplement/remedy that I could maybe give her to help her deal better with the changes and help her calm down and settle a bit easier. :(
I hate seeing her like this, and at the grand old age of 19 I feel so guilty for having to upheavel her and cause her this stress.

Sorry for waffling and thanks for reading. :) xx
 
Ah bless her. Women eh?? Never happy are we :D

How much time do you spend with her? Where is she in the stable block? How much of her "old stuff" is around?

Some adjust better than others obviously but it seems like there is something else the matter.

My boy does not like being on the end of anything. Stables, fields, he has to be centre of everything or he stresses and jumps. Likes his "things" e.g. I moved a rug he likes to rub his face on once and he went to it to rub and realised it was different and pulled it down and pood on it! He never did this with the other one and once I put it back, same routine. Weird right?

I hope she settles soon.
 
I know, she's always been a stress head but not this badly.

Today is the first day I haven't spent much time with her (I took the week off work when we moved as to be able to do this). I have been grooming her and taken her for a few little hacks out to explore the new surroundings. Most of her old stuff is about; ie same feed bucket/water bucket/haynet etc. She is in the end stable, the barn is open ended so thought she would prefer this as she's a bit claustrophobic. Interesting thought about that though! And she is stabled next to a horse she is now also grazing with.

Its the not eating that is concerning me the most. I'm worried about her colicking. Worry worry worry it never stops does it :(
 
Colic would be my worry too.

Try moving her, sometimes it's the simplest things, sometimes it isn't but you have to start somewhere. Maybe they could swap stables for a while? Or maybe swap with someone else.
 
Is there any particular reason you moved to a yard where she HAS to come in overnight? I would think that it is this which is upsetting her, especially if she is claustrophobic.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Is there any particular reason you moved to a yard where she HAS to come in overnight? I would think that it is this which is upsetting her, especially if she is claustrophobic.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Do you really think I would have moved her into this situation if I had had a choice? :confused:

I am asking for advice on how to help her, not for comments to fuel my guilt even more.
 
Charlie Bucket said:
Thanks for this. Do you really think I would have moved her into this situation if I had had a choice? :confused:

I am asking for advice on how to help her, not for comments to fuel my guilt even more.
Click to expand...
Well if she is truly claustrophobic, the only thing which will help her is putting her back outside.
I know nothing about your circumstances but many people move for their own convenience or better facilities, you may not have done.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Well if she is truly claustrophobic, the only thing which will help her is putting her back outside.
I know nothing about your circumstances but many people move for their own convenience or better facilities, you may not have done.
Click to expand...

I have moved 9 miles further from home than my last yard, because it was the only yard that had ANY decent grazing at all over the winter. I moved from my last yard as I was being bullied by 3 other liveries. I feel AWFUL about the upheaval I have put her through. :(

I am just looking for some advice on how to help her settle. Surely somebody must know of a supplement or something to help with anxiety and new situations. :confused:
 
You did but my advice would really be to put her back out if at all possible (which I realise you cannot do at your current yard). I have had good results with valerian. Although it is likely that if she is very upset that it will only work in the short term - her adrenalin will overcome/get used to it after a while. Otherwise you could ask your vet for sedalin and give her a low dose each night but they are not really supposed to eat while sedated. Would she settle as she came out of mild sedation do you think or would she start to stress again?
 
Is she out with new horses? As an old mare she may well have had a good position in the previous long standing group, but has maybe now been pushed to the bottom. I saw the same thing happen with a friends old mare, she'd always kept her high ranking place cos the herd respected her of old, in a new herd though she was soon sussed out for not being up to it, & was miserable till she moved herds/fields. And I'd try valerian.
 
Actually the OP does not explain the circumstances of the move, only the resultant stress for the mare. Sadly the only things which will work, are putting the mare back out, or coping with a stressed horse until such time as she accepts being stabled. We did have a claustrophobic mare who settled with time, she coped with 'outdoor' stables, but would never have tolerated a barn system, we would never have tried that with her.
 
Thank you for the suggestions, I will try her on valerian.

I'm sorry if my last post was misunderstood - I thought Pearlsasinger meant why hadn't I mentioned that I wanted advice on something I could give her in my OP, which I had.
I am upset that I have had to disrupt her, especially as she is relatively old. But like I said previously, I didnt have a choice. And I have had to do the best I can for both of them in the circumstances I've been given. Both my horses' happiness is paramount to me, hence why I am feeling so guilty and upset that my mare is so unhappy.

The yard I was at when I first bought her, she was stabled at night. She was a little stressed then but got used to it quite quickly. They were outdoor stables.

The yard I have just left had barn stables, and although she was never in overnight (unless on box rest which she was once for 3 days) she came in everyday for 2-3 hours for feed etc, and was always relatively relaxed. I have never known her to be so anxious that she has lost her appetite though, this is what I am most concerned about.

As for the herd, she was second to the top for a long time, until her best friend (herd leader) left and then she seemed to be a bit of a loner, never really with the rest of the herd or show any closeness to a particular horse.

She is now out with my gelding, who I thought she would put in his place but she hasn't. He seems to have adopted the dominant position in the herd. There are two other geldings in the field, and my gelding seems to protect my mare. She doesn't seem too perturbed by this though, they seem to have become quite close.

I'm sorry for waffling on, and for being crabby in some of my replies. I'm just stressed :(
She has had alot of changes lately, perhaps she will settle naturally on her own.
I just hope she gets her appetite back sharpish.
 
Why does the OP have to share their personal circumstances with everyone in order to get some advice?

Sorry OP, I have never had a similar problem so can't really offer any useful suggestions, just wanted to say hope she settles soon as I know how worried I would be in similar circumstances.

I guess if it was me I would just try to spend as much time with her as possible, and maybe try hiding some carrots or other goodies in her Haynet. If it went on without any improvement I would definitely speak to my vet.
 
My older mare doesn't settle in a stable after a long period of box rest. She'll only settle if she decides to stay in, which is only in the worst of winter. And is otherwise as chilled as they come, so for her to stress I reason it must really bother her. You probably won't like this advice op, but I'd move back to the 24/7 turnout yard if she didn't settle soon. A few bullies would be told where to go or ignored if it was the only place offering 24/7 turnout within range.
Not sure where anybody has asked op to explain personal circumstances?
 
My saddle fitter is a lady called
Ginni, she has a website which is www.thepainfreehorse.co.uk
I only have needed to use her in the capacity of saddle fitting for saddle exchange but she seems very knowledgable, not only with native ponies but also just generally putting my very scared youngster at ease for his first fitting. On her website she details that she can supply all sorts of herbal remedies for things, it might not help but just a thought xx
 
I think my old horse was claustrophobic as when I moved her to a stable in a barn she wouldn't settle and then started kicking the walls. I eventually moved her to an end stable (our barn has open ends and she was much happier so I think you have picked the best spot for your mare as she will probably get worse if she is moved to the middle. Sorry no helpful advice I just hope she settles soon x
 
Oh dear what a shame, and what a worry for you. Am wondering if you can use a local network of horse people, to see if you can find a better solution where the mare can have a bit more freedom - or even have a bigger shed, where she can share with a companion?
I once had a very stressy mare, that would ony settle with something actually in the shed with her - clearly a conventional horse box is not adequate - is there anyone near you who does barn type stabling for youngsters, or has a large foaling box? Seems a field, with a field shelter would suit her most - but can understand that is not always easy to find. Clearly at 19 years old this mare - has found what suits her best, and is struggling to adapt to change - but given time she might? But tough for you if she is not eating et al.
 
Bless you, I've just moved to a wonderful yard from a not very nice one. My mare had a lot to deal with as we had only just moved to old yard. Anyway, I brought her a tub of global herbs stay calm? Think that's what it's called to take the edge off. She's totally chilled now and happy at get new home. I spent a lot of time with her, feeding tip bits, walking in hand round yard nice and steady. She soon settled. But like u I was worried sick. Sorry if I'm not much help, but you've done the right thing. It will get better xx
 
Hi, I've not read all the replies and not sure if it's been mentioned but is there anyway of moving her next to the stable that your gelding is in? Maybe having him next to her might settle, this worked when I moved my two (gelding and mare) and my gelding seemed to settle a bit better knowing and seeing his friend was next to him and content to eat etc. sorry about your situation, you can't help but worry!!! How everything works out!!
 
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