Horses settling in

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IfWishes

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Lots is said on here about horses settling into new homes. So I can't help but wonder about how high level competition horses who jet all over the world and then perform successfully, manage to do so without an adjustment period.

I imagine they are frequently separated from friends and familiar surroundings, the only constant being their grooms and rider. Some even have to go into quarantine. How do they cope? I also wonder how much turnout and "being a horse" time they get (again said to be very important for their well being) or are they considered to valuable to risk hurting themselves in a field?

Apologies in advance if these are stupid questions. I've loved horses from afar all my life, rode and leased a bit in my youth, but otherwise am really very ignorant.
 
I think there are a few things from my eventing experience
1) The competition horses are stabled with others but not kept in an established herd with them like many leisure horses- so when they go away to shows etc, they are still stabled surrounded by horses and less likely to miss specific individuals
2) They get used to it like horses get used to lots of unnatural things that we put them through given time
3) If you go to big eventing shows you will see grooms hand grazing horses for hours if they are used to turnout at home. Its not the same but at least they are grazing and moving.

On the turnout, at the competition yard where I keep mine there are a few established pairs all the time but the rest are out alone but can groom etc over the fence, and on their holidays with shoes off they go out together. They alternate day time or night time out, some don't settle as well over night if they are somewhat indoctrinated to stable life. The solo turnout is more due to wearing back shoes and the potential for injury than anything else.
My retired horses at home are in a barefoot herd

I'm not advocating this as right or wrong just explaining how it is done in an international event yard that I know well.
 
Thank you for your reply. I had assumed "they get used to it" would be part of the answer, and am happy to know about the hours of hand grazing.
 
Over the years I have taken my horse away from home to competitions, on holiday and to camps. He has always coped really well. The important thing is that although he was in a different place his 'people' have reminded the same. The way he is handled/ridden has reminded the same. I think this makes a huge difference.
When a horse goes to a new home everything changes, the location, the routine, different forage and different people/horses. It takes them much longer to adjust to this.
 
Thank you, that makes perfect sense and obviously his "people" know him well to understand how to support him if he is feeling insecure.
 
The life of a "professional" horse is very different to that of a leisure horse. They have to cope with basically what amounts to constant change for most of their competing lives, yet somehow they do manage to cope with it, mainly because I guess as "First Frost" has said, the "people" who deal with them remain (hopefully) constant so as to minimise disruption and change of routine. This is why you hear it said that a good Head Lad & Travelling Head Lad are like gold nuggets as a horse can win or lose if things aren't right.

At my yard, we had a lovely RoR horse (gelding) come to us a few months back. Livery had bought him "unseen", but she'd seen vid's of him being ridden by a teenaged girl, and he seemed chilled enough. She knew the people at the yard he'd come from, so it wasn't quite like buying a pig in a poke.

Our herd here at the farm is all mares in the field where he was put, and he was the only "boy". Sadly he just did not settle. He was just one big stress-pot basically. Every time a mare went out of the field (for a hack or whatever) he would pace; his behaviour began deteriorating and it got to the stage that he was frightening his owner when she was riding him (in company, with another mare from the same herd). It then got to the stage where even walking-out in hand became impossible because of his behaviour. Even me walking across the field with a headcollar to bring my horse in, stressed him up - he was pacing the fence-line & neighing about it. The owner decided to sell him, and produced a very comprehensive and very honest advert. She said that if he did not sell, the only other alternative would be PTS. It was obvious that living in a field-full of mares was just way too much for him. All of us have been around horses for about the 50yrs mark, and none of us had ever experienced anything quite like this before!

Thankfully someone did come forward: they had a little unbacked mare they didn't really want to have to back, and they were happy to take this horse on, and do a swap. It wasn't a huge distance away, so it was do-able. Such a relief! Apparently he is doing well in his new home, which is significantly more "routine" than our yard here.
 
Another thing to consider is that they don't go from life of leisure to international jet-setter overight. You can be on either side of the fence as to whether it's right that horses get familiar with the professional horse lifestyle, but each one has probably started out with minor adjustments - day shows locally, then further afield, and so on.
If the horse isn't coping, then it probably won't be moved on to the next 'level' because bluntly there's no point shipping them around the country/world if they're not going to stand a chance of being successful, it's too much of an investment. So ultimately, the ones that handle it are more likely to be doing it. The ones that don't, will get diverted to another life.
It begs the question. If we're breeding from 'successful' horses, are the offspring genetically more likely to adapt to the proferssional lifestyle? So ultimately are we creating a modern performance horse that is suited to a lifestyle that looks utterly unnatural from the outside? And will those that then don't 'make it' as a professional due to lack of talent be comfortable living as a 'normal horse'?!
 
I think it’s part of the package for a top competition horse - they have to be talented but also have the temperament to cope with it. They then become the lines that are bred from, so it becomes inherent.
Having said that though, if it’s something that’s introduced gradually from a young age and just part of life for them, they do become accustomed to it.

And in my experience with most horses, as long as there are other horses with them, even if they’ve never met before, they seem ok. It’s being left on their own they really dislike.
 
First Frost said:
Over the years I have taken my horse away from home to competitions, on holiday and to camps. He has always coped really well. The important thing is that although he was in a different place his 'people' have reminded the same. The way he is handled/ridden has reminded the same. I think this makes a huge difference.
When a horse goes to a new home everything changes, the location, the routine, different forage and different people/horses. It takes them much longer to adjust to this.
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I agree and must admit had only recently started to think like this. It's like us bring kidnapped and taken to a new home.

I've never had any of the horses I've bought display any worries when moving from what they knew to me, admittedly three were newly imported from Holland/Belgium so had not been anywhere established for long, the other four had been in established homes a bit longer.

I must admit i always start as I mean to go on so the very next day they've arrived with me they have been ridden. Some of them have stayed away at shows but like you say if you are their constant they don't care.

I arrived with my beloved Bailey one year at Milton Keynes 3 day event when a storm was overhead. The horses were going wild in their temporary stables with the tarps flapping about and some refused to walk into their stables. I walked Bailey in with a net which I tied up and he just munched on it totally oblivious. But then I guess I knew he would so transferred that calm over to him. I was a different person then, younger and carefree and stress hadn't entered my vocabulary. And I guess they trust you. It broke my heart when Rommy was pts at Liverpool hospital. I was going to accompany the nurse into the put down box with Rommy. He was being led by her and he balked at the entrance. I said that I'd take him and I led him in, he trustingly followed me. Its not anything I've ever really forgotten or ever will. Felt like I'd betrayed his trust.

Routine is everything though so I guess with new horses its the way to start.

Going back to a certain dealer who gives out horse trials to people, I am not really sure if that is any different to having your new horse. I expect its exactly the same. They don't know they might have to go back. It's unlikely they would have been returned by a previous person I'd have thought. It doesn't work for me although I've been tempted before now to use this dealer.
 
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Thank you both @vhf and @Jellymoon you have both given me the answers I was looking for. At least one aspect of horse welfare appears to be sorted. Now, as a pure spectator, there are many other areas that need attention. How do some horses even lift their heads with the amount of hardware attached to their bridles?
 
IfWishes said:
Thank you both @vhf and @Jellymoon you have both given me the answers I was looking for. At least one aspect of horse welfare appears to be sorted. Now, as a pure spectator, there are many other areas that need attention. How do some horses even lift their heads with the amount of hardware attached to their bridles?
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Ah yes, that’s a whole other welfare argument. Probably a similar thing though, tbh: over the centuries breeders breeding from horses that tolerate being ridden. And then if tack is introduced carefully from a young age, it just becomes the norm for them. Like a dog on a lead I guess.
Lots of scope for abuse with equipment though, as you can imagine.
 
I think though, here on this forum, you will find most owners don’t take their horses for granted and do everything possible to make their lives as comfortable and stress free as possible.

After all, you’ve got a group of people who are so in love with their horses, and horses in general, that they are willing to give up their free time to chat to a load of strangers about everything to do with horse care and training!! And often, the heartache of dealing with issues and how to overcome them and make their lives better.
 
Yes, this is one of the reasons I enjoy HHO so much. There are many different ideas and approaches to horse issues, but the aim is to have give them their best lives and have a happy, willing partner to enjoy the journey
Many, many thanks to all who have taken the time to reply and humour this ignorant old fa***
 
On that, I loved the photo of Charlotte & Carl's horses grooming each other after the 1st vet inspection at the Beijing Olympics. Being from the same yard they I assume they knew each other and it must have been nice to have a familiar equine face during the flights & competition.
IfWishes said:
Lots is said on here about horses settling into new homes. So I can't help but wonder about how high level competition horses who jet all over the world and then perform successfully, manage to do so without an adjustment period.

I imagine they are frequently separated from friends and familiar surroundings, the only constant being their grooms and rider. Some even have to go into quarantine. How do they cope? I also wonder how much turnout and "being a horse" time they get (again said to be very important for their well being) or are they considered to valuable to risk hurting themselves in a field?

Apologies in advance if these are stupid questions. I've loved horses from afar all my life, rode and leased a bit in my youth, but otherwise am really very ignorant.
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There is a photo from the Tokyo Olympics, I think, of Carl & CDJ's horses grooming each other after the vet inspection. I thought it was lovely that as they came from the same yard obviously knew, and liked each other, and had an equine friend as well as their human handlers to fly round the world with and all the associated stress.

I sometimes wonder if top horses who see each other at competitions again and again, eg team GB horse stables together, develop "competition friends", so they sort of are with familiar horses. Just not the home gang.

I had a horse who had an absolute bff we used to run into out and about. Luckily neither were nappy, but at any opportunity would sidle over to each other to stand together.
They'd never lived together just stood next to each other and hacked next to each other in a larger group once before deciding that they were besties. Thankfully I got in with his bbf's owner otherwise it could have been awkward 😅
 
I think it’s also important to realise that some of these competition horses are really quite stressed, but are handled by people competent enough to manage their ‘quirks’. I groomed for Grand Prix SJ and top level eventers as well as racehorses in UK and NZ, as well as hunter jumpers in Canada and the US who did vast amounts of travelling, and there were definitely ulcer signs and emotional stress and behavioural issues across the board which were just taken as quirks that top level horses have. I’d like to think that many years have passed now and we are all better educated, but it’s still easy see extremely stressed horses, they are just managed by people skilled enough to not be deterred by the behaviours.

In terms of one of your other questions about turnout, the hunter jumpers got none whilst away, but at one show we hired part of a polo ground so that they had use of an arena to let them loose in occasionally (individually). The eventers in NZ lived out 24/7 at home so we would often ‘camp’ at a fellow equestrians based near whatever the venue was, so that the horses could be lobbed out in a field overnight in pairs or as a group, which was lovely, but otherwise it was hand grazing for hours as someone else said. I was lucky that the racehorses I groomed for also lived out in groups (all young flat horses) on hills, and just came in for morning lots and some hay before going back out. One was a winner of the Australian Oaks so these weren’t bottom end horses either.
 
Thank you for that @BBP2 . Elsewhere it has been said that they get used to it, but clearly some don't. I'm in awe of those horses who continue to compete and succeed at the highest levels, in spite of less than optimal living conditions.

Credit must also be given to their carers, it can't be an easy job.
 
I can only speak from my own experience, and I certainly wouldn’t call myself a “high-level rider” by any stretch, but over the years my horses have attended plenty of stay-away shows.

At home, they have their friends and a familiar routine. Some have a field buddy, while others are kept individually depending on their needs. Ironically, the ones who share often seem more attached to the horse in the next paddock over the fence...sometimes I wonder why I bother making sure they have a friend at all! Still, because they regularly go out for training and competitions, they’ve become comfortable being away from their herd and don’t fret when they travel.

I often compare it to leaving your dog at home when you go to work in that once they trust you’ll return, they don’t worry. My horses know they’ll be back with their herd and in their “safe space” at the end of the day, so they’re happy to spend a few hours alone, though always glad to see their friends again. I’m quite deliberate about keeping them confident in their own company though, I make sure I hack alone once or twice a week, or go schooling XC alone if we’ve been doing a lot with company, to make sure they don’t get too clingy.

At stay-away shows, they usually settle quickly. They’re never quite as relaxed as at home, and while they may look calm on the outside, I’m sure there’s a bit of internal stress. Still, they cope well. They have horses all around them and a familiar show routine, they know they jump a few classes, stay a couple of days, then head home, and they seem to understand the pattern. So yes they 'cope' or rather 'put up with it' I guess. I hand-graze them a fair bit, but they’re also ridden a lot each day, so they’re usually tired and pretty happy to rest in the temporary stables. Once home, they get at least three days in the field to unwind, sometimes more if the show was very intense.

The biggest constant in their lives is me. I’m not naive enough to think I’m their “best friend” in a sentimental sense, but I do believe horses take comfort in having a reliable presence. I feed them every day, I’m there for training, and I’m there at shows. They’ve learned that whenever I’m around, nothing bad happens to them, and that familiarity gives them a sense of security.

This is also why bringing home a new horse can be so unsettling for them in comparison I think. I think of it as being shoved in a car and suddenly dropped off in a foreign country - you don’t know anyone, the rules are different, and nobody speaks your language. A new rider or handler might have a completely different way of doing things, you'd learned the 'rules' at your old place but now it is all different. Their voice is different, the way they move is different, their energy is different, the way they ask you to do things is different. They don't know that you like to get off the lorry in a certain way, they don't know that you're a bit scared of the surcingles on your rug jingling so you like to sniff them first before it's put on, they don't give you that little scratch halfway up the left side of your neck which helps you relax when you feel a bit stressed.

Horses are creatures of habit and thrive on routine. All those small rituals, many of which we don’t even realise we’re doing, are what make them feel safe, wherever they are. They know what to expect, and in turn, they feel secure.
 
BBP2 said:
I think it’s also important to realise that some of these competition horses are really quite stressed, but are handled by people competent enough to manage their ‘quirks’. I groomed for Grand Prix SJ and top level eventers as well as racehorses in UK and NZ, as well as hunter jumpers in Canada and the US who did vast amounts of travelling, and there were definitely ulcer signs and emotional stress and behavioural issues across the board which were just taken as quirks that top level horses have. I’d like to think that many years have passed now and we are all better educated, but it’s still easy see extremely stressed horses, they are just managed by people skilled enough to not be deterred by the behaviours.

In terms of one of your other questions about turnout, the hunter jumpers got none whilst away, but at one show we hired part of a polo ground so that they had use of an arena to let them loose in occasionally (individually). The eventers in NZ lived out 24/7 at home so we would often ‘camp’ at a fellow equestrians based near whatever the venue was, so that the horses could be lobbed out in a field overnight in pairs or as a group, which was lovely, but otherwise it was hand grazing for hours as someone else said. I was lucky that the racehorses I groomed for also lived out in groups (all young flat horses) on hills, and just came in for morning lots and some hay before going back out. One was a winner of the Australian Oaks so these weren’t bottom end horses either.
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There was a post on FB recently that highlighted exactly how stressed and unhappy some top horses are - Laura Kraut talking about her mare who hates all other horses and people, "but were used to her quirks" 😒

Some have a good or some balance of competition and living out, but many don't.
Not helped by competitions happening all year now with international travel, there is no real winter or summer off. Except for some racehorses.
 
I do think some personalities deal better than others. My littlest cob would suit the lifestyle of international jet setter - she comes off the lorry in new places, rubs her hooves together, flicks her forelock and struts her stuff.
 
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