Holiday Nerves!

cjwchez

cjwchez

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I'm going on holiday towards the end of the week for the first time in years and I'm flapping about leaving my horses.

(I haven't been abroad since I was a child and I wasn't a horse owner back then.)

They're going to be looked after by a friend who has her own horses and is very experienced so that gives me a lot of reassurance - but I'm still nervous about being so far away from them.

I think receiving daily pictures/videos from my friend of my horses showing they're okay will help a lot.

Does anyone have any advice about travelling abroad and having anxiety due to leaving your animals?
 
Hi
I don’t have any advice but I’m in the same position I’m going on holiday this coming Saturday first time in around 17 years and I’m too stressing about leaving my elderly Shetland and neurological horse 😬 and have a friend looking after them so I will keep a close eye on your post x
 
Laurac13 said:
Hi
I don’t have any advice but I’m in the same position I’m going on holiday this coming Saturday first time in around 17 years and I’m too stressing about leaving my elderly Shetland and neurological horse 😬 and have a friend looking after them so I will keep a close eye on your post x
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ahhh at least I'm not the only one! I'm hoping people will be able to offer some words of wisdom as I don't want to end up having a meltdown either before I set off or when I'm miles away in another country 😣
 
cjwchez said:
I'm going on holiday towards the end of the week for the first time in years and I'm flapping about leaving my horses.

(I haven't been abroad since I was a child and I wasn't a horse owner back then.)

They're going to be looked after by a friend who has her own horses and is very experienced so that gives me a lot of reassurance - but I'm still nervous about being so far away from them.

I think receiving daily pictures/videos from my friend of my horses showing they're okay will help a lot.

Does anyone have any advice about travelling abroad and having anxiety due to leaving your animals?
Click to expand...
I'm a nervous wreck for the few days before I go but once I'm there I'm fine, I just keep in touch every few days.
 
I travel a lot for work (2-3 weeks out of nearly every month), here’s my advice/what gets me through:
- Always leave him with someone I trust fully! Make sure they know vet / farrier numbers. The friend I leave P with, I trust her more than anyone. I’ve paid double livery and moved him to her yard if I’m away for a long stretch.
- Ask for regular pics/videos/messages.
- Make sure my vet/farrier knows they can contact the pony-sitter, and that they both have my abroad number in case of emergencies.
- I write very lengthy very unnecessary messages about what needs doing/any special instructions.
- Make sure I have enough on my credit card for a last min flight home, in case of total emergencies. (Very lucky that our team director - and her boss - are very horsey so would let me leave asap if needed.)
- Also be realistic with myself: if something bad happens, am I really needed on-site, at that moment? I trust friend and vet to make the right decisions (with me on the phone) until I can get home.
- Also silly things like making sure my phone will definitely work abroad / how to get hold of me if WhatsApp/text/phone/email etc don’t work. (My friend has my manager’s number😅 as we always travel together.)

Honestly it’s really hard and I think it’s something you just used to when you do it more. Absolutely critical for me is having someone there that you implicitly trust, and getting regular updates! I don’t get as anxious now, just sad at saying goodbye.
 
I always worry despite knowing they are in safe hands but as you say, daily updates (just a few words) and the odd picture makes me feel better. I confess I went away for 3 days to see my partners elderley and unwell parents but my elderley cat had had a bit of a wobble. My friend had to get her to mieow down the phone to convince me she was ok!
 
As long as you have left your horse/s in good and trusted hands they will actually be fine without you!! Barring emergencies, they just want their feed time to be the same, fresh water and mucked out if that is how they are kept. You might find that you will not be worried once you are actually away!
 
Horses, animals in general, are such a tie aren't they? On the all too infrequent occasions when I have gone away it has taken as much effort to get the beasties looked after as it has to organise the trip (often more!), but once the preparation is done I always get in the car and drive away and don't worry AT ALL from that point onwards. If something happens I have competent people caring for them, there is nothing I can do from wherever I am anyway, so it's time to set down the heavy load of responsibility and ENJOY YOURSELF.

Having said that, I don't go away often, and a big dampener on travelling is the thought of having to sort the animals out - and I don't even have a horse any more!
 
I agree with @Pinkvboots. It’s the thought of leaving that’s the worst but once away I relax. I’m usually more worried about leaving the cats as the horses have their pony friends and that’s all they really care about. Try to enjoy your holiday, they sound like they’re in good hands 😊
 
I’m like this every time I go away, and I spend the car journey sending last minute messages to the animal carers (if it’s 2degrees, put this rug on, and if it then goes up to 10 degrees, change it to that one blah blah), but then as soon as I am at my destination, I breathe a huge sigh of relief and enjoy the holiday! And then after a week or two I’m really bored and ready to get back to them all again!
 
Can't help with the anxiety. I have come back in the past to a very sick horse that three people missed the symptoms of. I'm going for my first abroad holiday in 8 years in just under three weeks. I won't even be in contact for a fair bit of it (in the mountains), so might just leave the credit card with the vet.
 
Next week will be the first time we have gone away since getting pony and our cats. We have definitely put more effort into making sure the cats will be okay than we have actual trip planning!

So I don't have any advice, just commiserations. Our friend and field buddy has promised to keep an eye on her and send photos and videos so I don't lose my mind!
 
I'm actually okay leaving the horse - I have a lot of faith in our YO and the two other liveries who'll be looking after him (we look after each other's horses regularly when we go away for weekends etc).

However leaving the dog is a whole other ballgame - I haven't been away from him for more than two or three days for six years (his entire life!). He's staying with lovely friends who he adores and will be spoilt rotten.

Then I just have to hope that neither of the rabbits repeat the suicide attempt that one made last time our neighbours were caring for them. Neighbours' 11 year old daughter had to bring him inside, wrapped in a blanket, and cuddle him all evening to warm him up (he had a sore tummy so decided to lie out in the rain and Just Die).

So it's definitely not just you!! I agree with others though, once you've been away for 48 hours you'll probably stop worrying.
 
I'm always a nervous wreck before we go away but once I've set off I'm absolutely fine and hardly give them a second thought while I'm actually gone.

I leave a ridiculously detailed instruction sheet with vet and farrier numbers, even though my ponies are very low maintenance natives who are generally living out while I'm away. It just makes me feel better knowing that's there's instructions for any eventuality.
I also don't ask for any photos or updates while I'm gone because then if they dont send one I end up panicking why they haven't sent anything. My brain automatically jumps to thinking the ponies leg must have fallen off so they can't send a photo because then I'll see he's missing a leg. I'm happy to get photos of them while I'm away I just don't want to expect them.

I find taking the cat to the cattery far worse, the ponies lives basically contine as normal but I feel bad for the cat, but again once I've dropped her off I hardly think of her till I go to collect her again.
 
We bought new automatic feeders for the cats, have 2 pet cameras, a pet sitter coming once a day and we will probably ask my mum to call in too and I am still anxious. Definitely more worried about cats than the pony 😭
 
OP I hope you have a lovely holiday. I don't go on holiday as there is no one I trust to do my horses :( We went away for a few days once but came home early because it was nerve wracking leaving horses and dogs we didn't enjoy it.
 
I’m going away this Saturday and am spending the majority of this week organising care for my three…to the detriment of actually properly choosing clothes and sandals to take so I remain under 22kg case weight! I do still go away but leave them with experienced yard owner who has list of information and my authority to bring in vets/farrier if they see fit…once away I forget and enjoy.
 
I get in a bit of a flap about leaving them, and leave far too many instructions for whoevers looking after them, but once I'm on the way - I barely think about them
As long as they've got food, water and an experienced pair of hands looking out for them...they really will be fine!
 
thank you for all of the replies. glad to hear i’m not the only one.

they will be in good hands so I hopefully won’t worry too much about it once I’m abroad.

if i can get back home and see that they’re all absolutely fine i might be up to going away slightly more often instead of leaving it another 15 years 🤣
 
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