How do your companions cope when you ride?

katie_southwest

katie_southwest

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Im going to be renting my own field, so will be getting a little companion for my mare :) (yay)
My friend always used to leave her shetland in the stable with some hay while she went for a ride and he wasnt really bothered.
Im convincing myself I need 2 companions to stay together while I ride, but realistically Id only be out for 1-2 hours 3 or 4 times a week :)
I suppose they will get used to being left for a while, with some food :)
 
My mare has 2 companions - only because she produced one as a suprise ;)

The Forrester was a 2 yr old when I started backing Trixie and he used to rush about and whinnie the first few times but we ignored him and he soon settled down. We don't have the option of stables so he had to just get on with it and I made sure the battery was fully charged.

Now there is 2 of them they still shout but don't move from hay :D
 
I have a tiny-fuzzy as companion.
I usually leave her in a tiny paddock while I go out, but she does do a good keep-fit impression as I leave & when I return.
The fences are secure, so I have no worries about leaving her, she just has to make do with her lot. I know that sounds hard, but she's been with me just over a month now & is already working out the 'skool-rools' etc.
If going out for longer than an hour or so, I'd shut her in her stable with hay & water.

However, she is not just in love with Big Fuzzy at 15.2, but also giant-fuzzy who joined us 3 weeks ago. This makes some fun viewing as she is torn between them, but at 33" is rather dwarfed by Giant-fuzzy who is 18hh!!
She lives with Big Fuzzy, but Giant-fuzzy is in the next paddock & she tries to ankle bite him under the fences :D while he slobbers down her neck if he can :D
 
Do the big fuzzy's see the tiny fuzzy as a suitable companion. I think mine would tut and shake their heads and say "thats not a bloody horse ;)" and still twit about waiting for companion to come home!
 
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katie_southwest said:
Awwwwwww I really want 2 , but Im worried about going from 1 to 3 !!! Even though they would help her to eat the grass down.....:)
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Do not go there!!!!!!!!!
Think of feet,teeth,worming,unexpected vets bills etc.

I bought a youngster as a companion. She loves coming in to the stable and have time alone to eat hay without being told off by the older horse. I do shut the top door just in case though!

When I back her(next year) and want to take her out for little hacks and leave HIM...............Well I've got a year to get him used to the idea which is good because no amount of fencing is going to contain him:rolleyes:
 
katie_southwest said:
Awwwwwww I really want 2 , but Im worried about going from 1 to 3 !!! Even though they would help her to eat the grass down.....:)
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Well you say that but shetties and the like have a bit of a problem with helping eat grass down hence I got a slightly bigger and much younger pony who needed the grass so wouldn't get the L word.

I am now having to ride his as he has matured and is now getting a little too rounded !!
 
ours are fine (we only have two, lived together 7ish years.), sometimes one of them can be out all day hunting/competing and the other is absolutely fine at home. We do stable them normally with a hay net, mostly as a just in case measure as we will turn one out if mum or I are at home to keep an eye on and they are normally fine.
 
abitodd said:
Do not go there!!!!!!!!!
Think of feet,teeth,worming,unexpected vets bills etc.

I bought a youngster as a companion. She loves coming in to the stable and have time alone to eat hay without being told off by the older horse. I do shut the top door just in case though!

When I back her(next year) and want to take her out for little hacks and leave HIM...............Well I've got a year to get him used to the idea which is good because no amount of fencing is going to contain him:rolleyes:
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Yes Im just making a list of things that will need doing for the ponies, and I think Ill just stick with one companion, like you say they will be quite happy munching for an hour or 2 while im gone, and a few hours a week is nothing really.
 
Beatrice5 said:
Well you say that but shetties and the like have a bit of a problem with helping eat grass down hence I got a slightly bigger and much younger pony who needed the grass so wouldn't get the L word.

I am now having to ride his as he has matured and is now getting a little too rounded !!
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Yes Im already having visions of the companion riding and leading out with me to burn off some grass calories :)
 
Beatrice5 said:
Do this big fuzzy's see the tiny fuzzy as a suitable companion. I think mine would tut and shake their heads and say "thats no a bloody horse ;)" and still twit about waiting for companion to come home!
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They didnt the 1st day! :D

Big fuzzy rushed off snorting about the tiny-fuzzy-dog-dragon thing :D
Took Big Fuzzy about a day to realise that 'it' was capable of scoffing 'her' carrots :rolleyes::D then decided 'it' was equine after all. I took it steady with them but put them together 2 weeks after tiny fuzzy arrived - the same day that little fuzzy crossed rainbow bridge. All fine, tiny fuzzy kicked 7 bells out of big fuzzies knee caps, repsect was given (makes a change!) and already they are sharing hay piles in the field at night! (BF never did that with LF in the 18 months tthey were together, even tho they adored each other)

When giant fuzzy arrived, he pooped himself & legged it, stood shaking in the corner of the field. Again, it took him around a day or so with 'it' in the next door paddock, to realise that it also shouted like a horse, and scoffed anything.... he now adores it! He's a real twit to leave out in the field if I go out hacking etc, but as long as I shove tiny-fuzzy in a paddock next to him, then he settles happily :)

I just dont subscribe to the 'have to get a companion to the companion' thing , sorry :o
 
When my friends left, as they got their own land i was really worried about my mare getting stressed on her own when I was out on my riding horse. i did not want a shetland as I think that unless you have a small kid or do scurry racing it is a waste to have a usless horse in the field. So I bought her a baby colt. win win i think. She has loved him, bitten him, kicked him, mothered him and even chewed him a little. He has survived and is now nearly ready to back. I do need another riding horse because mine now has ring bone but if not, I could back him and then sell him. He looks to be a nice sort but i still have that option if it does not work out. He is gaining in value rather then loosing value. If you have to have another I'd go for a baby.
 
Well I had 3 and then two and the newbies always run around like headless chickens calling etc but with a pile of food to munch on after a while of being heartbroken they just seem to get over it.

If its a newbie I try to take them out in turns. Short periods to begin with then make it longer. They just get use to it. As long as the other one eventually comes back it becomes normal to them. I usually get someone to keep an eye on newbie just in case it jumps out. So far that has not happened to us. One pony did get quite upset but they did get over it!
 
Couldn't care less
That took about 2 weeks for this to sink in, had to be cruel to be kind at first and just do short 10min hacks, come back, let everyone calm down, rinse and repeat:D
Now i only have to produce a bucket,
Mini companion is very much of a bucket of food>companionship:D
 
The Fuzzy Furry - thats hilarious :)

Yes I will definately need one because Im not going to keep her on her own, but I think Ill just stick to the one.
Im looking into loaning one from a rescue so hopefully I can give one a lovely home and help myself out at the same time :)
 
my small fuzzy stays in the stable with some hay-if i left her in the field she would paw at things:o she's fine in the stable though:cool:
 
Oh I did laugh at the tiny fuzzy scaring other fuzzies and beating them up :D I can picture it like a comic sketch :)

No I agree a companion has a job to do so should get on with it. If I had stables I would be teaching my 2 yr old to be left alone but we have elec fence and hedges and she can jump so I fear her doing something stoooopid hence she is looked after by original companion pony.

I also agree a youngster is growing in value and can be purchased quite cheaply so difinately worth consideration OP - plus would have longer legs for your eventual ride one lead one :D
 
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We have the two ponies at home. I can take one or other out all day to a show/PC thing and leave the other in with hay. OK, I don't know whether they scream the place down when we're away, but when we get back they are pleased to see us, but not sweaty or obviously distressed. I think leaving them out can be more stressful as they would run up and down and I worry about them trying to break through the fence. In fact when one is out and the other is in being tacked up/groomed etc. the one that is out will call even if he can see his field mate.
 
Beatrice5 said:
Oh I did laugh at the tiny fuzzy scaring other fuzzies and beating them up :D I can picture it like a comic sketch :)
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To be fair tho, I think Big Fuzzy was deeply upset about little fuzzy going, so was not really herself that day I put them together :( Tiny also thought she'd 'assert' herself from the off.
Big Fuzzy now is completely back in charge and will not let tiny-fuzzy near a picnic bucket (which they get on my work mornings), not for love-nor-carrots, but has graciously allowed Tiny Fuzzy to share hay when SHE has decided which pile is best to start on :D They are a right double act already.
 
Mine have 20 or so other companions mooching about the place, nobody gives a stuff about the one that goes away for a bit. ;)
 
agree that food in the stable is a good idea - food can make it all seem better. having said that i have 4 horses so that we can take 1 or 2 away and no one is left on their own. my big guy would go crazy if left on his own and do some damage even in a stable but the smaller ones would be ok if food - they enjoy the peace when the bigger guys are away but still always pleased to see them back.
 
On the other side of the fence and to e the negative one, I have had 2 horses together at home and tried 2 different companions recently both from rescue centres and suffered massive seperation anxiety and it was a nightmare. One was old and went through every fence of mine and would trash himself and stable if locked in. Other was young and went through every fence and would trash himself and stable? I bought mirrors, fed them, put grills on doors, went for 10 min rides - everything but get a third horse to help them. Turned going out for a hack into a nightmare, drove me mad and both had to go back because it wasn't fair on them. One actually got worse and would try and go mad even if I was schooling in next field in full view!

However my mare couldn't care Less and quite happy to be left and I have also had another companion who was good. I guess that in my case both rescue ponies came from a big herd environment at the centre and couldn't cope and because I only ever hack out once or twice a week they never really got used it. My mare lives quite happily on her own now (against my better judgement but quite frankly she isn't bothered about being on her own and I am reluctant to go through the process of getting another companion again) So moto of story - triple check that companion will cope and / or be sure you have the time to do any separation gradually and have good electric fencing - just Post and rail is easily pushed through...
 
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