Horse won't be alone!

[Beanyowner]

Hey all,

Didn't know where to put this so slung it on here. Basically Benson has moved to his part loan home where there is him and a small pony called Ben. Benson and Ben have become pretty attached and follow each other round everywhere. Thing is when the little girl goes to take Ben out for a ride and leaves Benson behind he throws a complete mental!! Now as some of you know, Benson is a big heavy weight cob so quite a substantial load of horse....now in his desperation to go with Ben he managed to break out of the field shelter, jump som electric fences and then haul his fat self over a large wooden 5 bar gate!!!!!! He jumped it pretty cleanly aparently (think I need to start jumping him more now!! lol!!).

So my question to you guys is....anyone know of anyway I can get Benson to be a bit less needy...I have no problem with them being attached but throwing himself over gates and charging off into the woods to find his friend is a little excessive! I've tried feeding him and walking him around etc...any ideas?? I am debating on whether to find a way to shut him in the field shelter with some sort of high level gate or something...I dunno! Bloody neurotic cob!!

Beany*

 

[LankyDoodle]

Hmmm, like I said in an earlier post, I had a similar but not such extreme problem with my cob, George. His pair bond died 13 days ago, though. I used to shut him in his stable and he'd go mad but was relatively safe in there. Left in the field he'd have torn it up, broken free, crashed through the fence etc.

 

[damsel]

Have you got a stable? I have got a mare and gelding who were so attached that everytime i took her out he would run through the fencing and get in a panic. i started by bringing him in on his own for half an hour and i stood there with him. then i made it a bit longer until he would stable all night just to break their bond a little bit and then eventually i put him on his own but they could still touch eachother. Luckily ive got another gelding so he is in with him and the mares are in another pen next to them. he just needs to learn that the horse will come back and that the bond is a bit too much. not quite sure what to do if you can't use a stable.

 

[Beanyowner]

Not got a stable but we have a field shelter which we have fitted some bars across so we can shut him in...but he managed to remove the top one when he had a tantrum yesterday. I know what you mean though...am sure he'd been fine once he gets used to the fact that Ben will wander off on his own and Benson will have to stay behind its just that learning period I have to deal with. Pain in the rear though!

Am thinking about perhaps putting an actual gate on the shelter so its more secure for him to stay in...he can throw himself around all he likes in there as long as he doesn't try and jump it!

 

[damsel]

Yeah that sounds like a good idea just stay with him and get the other person to take the horse away for 5mins and see how he reacts with you there and just do it a bit longer each time but if he really panics bring the other horse back.