Horse separation anxiety??

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brontelevett

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Hi,
I was wondering if any of you could offer me some advice. My mare is 25 and lives in a small herd with just two other geldings who are 20. She is very close with one of these geldings and refuses to leave him and be taken out on her own, even though the gelding will leave the yard to go out for hacks by himself. Tonight, all i tried to do was take her into another field slightly away from the others but so that she could see them and she broke away and galloped off back to the others. Because of her age and her mild arthritis, she is only a happy hacker and whilst we go out once a week with the other two horses for a hack I would like to be able to take her out on her own in the future. Anyone ever experienced this or have got any ideas? I am trying just small distances and not for very long and obviously lots of praise and treats as we walk away.
Thanks in advance
 
I have this problem with my 26yr old standard shetland who’s built like a tank and acts like a rhino when separated from her best buddy!

Altho I’ve not got it as bad as you to the point she breaks free and gallops off back to the field it is still a nightmare. I cannot do anything with this pony unless her friend is stood directly next to her!

That was until I tried Globel Herbs SuperCalm. I have a completely different shetland. I was sceptical about this working but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Might not work for every horse but I’d recommend giving it a try to make her a bit more relaxed whilst you work on taking her away from him for short periods.
 
Dancing_Diva said:
I have this problem with my 26yr old standard shetland who’s built like a tank and acts like a rhino when separated from her best buddy!

Altho I’ve not got it as bad as you to the point she breaks free and gallops off back to the field it is still a nightmare. I cannot do anything with this pony unless her friend is stood directly next to her!

That was until I tried Globel Herbs SuperCalm. I have a completely different shetland. I was sceptical about this working but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Might not work for every horse but I’d recommend giving it a try to make her a bit more relaxed whilst you work on taking her away from him for short periods.
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Glad im not the only one that has experienced it! Im nervous to put her on anymore supplements as she already has 3 different ones and shes usually such a relaxed mare. She will graze in a field next to him and not care but as soon as i try to take her somewhere she hates it. Thank you for your advice though, if i cant make any progress I may have to experiment wirh that.
 
What did you intend to do with her in the other field? Turn her out there? Work her there? Or were you literally just passing through on the way to tack up for your hack or something?
 
Just passing through on the way to the stables where the tack is. If I take her out of the field and try to tie her up at the stable she will break free and go back to the field. I cant get her to stand anywhere away from the other 2 horses
 
My horse used to be just like this. Initially everyone advised me to use a bridle or a chiffney and I tried with that before working out that this was just becoming more dangerous as she got more and more desperate.
What worked better was an extension of what you're doing re: treats and working within her comfort zone (a behaviourist friend helped me work out a programme for this) - it took a little while but was very successful overall and what's more the fact that we took our time on it, also helped all her other separation-anxiety related problems including hacking alone, claustrophobia in stable and trailer. I changed tactic and didn't ever make her do anything she didn't want to, just hung out with her in the field, would go and put headcollar on, give carrot, walk off lots of times - sometimes asking her to walk a step or two away from her friends, then giving carrot/scratch and letting her go back to her friends, etc. I would feed her within her comfort zone, i.e. just on the other side of the gate to start with and gradually every day move the bucket a little further towards the yard. If I did want to bring her in to ride her, I'd always bring her with a friend at the same time so she was never alone, and I'd ensure the yard was as 'nice' as possible, e.g. go at quiet times, give a little feed/molasses lick/haynet when she got in as an immediate reward, not leave her standing bored, keep the work nice etc. I felt like the understanding we gained from not 'making' her do things paid dividends overall, though it did take longer and was a bit frustrating when I just had a new horse I wanted to ride initially! It was the right thing to do for her though. good luck!
 
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