How long did it take for your horse to settle in a new yard?

First two, about 5 mins! They had a 3 hour journey from old yard, were turned straight out and settled in right away. They live out though and were already field buddies so that probably helped.

Our next horse came alone and was in a field next door for the first day which he was a little stressed by. As soon as he was in with the others he was fine though (after the initial scuffles to sort out his position - near the bottom initially!).

They'll all be moving again this summer - although only an hour away. I'm fairly confident they'll settle just as quickly in their new home. *touches wood*

I think it's more unsettling if they're stabled as that becomes their space so to go somewhere completely new must be weird. For ours, living out - grass is grass! :)
 
Probably not quite the same situation but when I bought my new horse he was totally unsettled for the best part of a month and very difficult to handle and stressy. He is only now seeming alot better about 6 weeks into having him. Previous horses have taken anything from no time to 3 months!
 
Every one has been different. The latest, a pony mare, behaved as though she had never lived anywhere else after the first couple of days and because she is so relaxed she has a good effect on the others who seem to be even more chilled than ever. When we introduced my TBx to the Appaloosa, we put them into adjoining fields and they just stood together with the fence between them, so after a couple of hours we put them in together. Others have taken longer to settle into the herd and some have taken many months to feel really 'at home' with us. You could even say years for one or two!
 
I had a gelding that I moved when he was 25. It wasn't far, I hacked to the new yard but he was very unsettled for about three months.

When he was 30 I moved him again, and was absolutely in bits about it as I thought it would stress him out so much, but I had no choice. The difference that time was that I also had a mare, so he had a horse he already knew moving with him. I would say that they both took about 24 hours to settle in!

I moved my then 8yr old mare to a neighbouring farm a few yrs ago, and I swear she didn't even know she'd left home!
 
mine took a couple of months. he was terrified of our donkey and stayed as far away from him as possible. even to the point where i cudnt lead him out the field if the donkey was by the gate. he jst went into panic mode everytime. poor eli didnt hve a clue what was going on. he kept trying to go and make friends with Ben, and Ben would take off at 90MPH!!!! He even put himself through an electric fence in his attmepts to get away.
 
i moved on saturday to a new yard and it took them all of 5 seconds to put there head down and eat grass im so proud of my 5 babys even the yearling took it all in his stride and boxed perfectly
 
It depends what you mean by "new yard" If it's a horse you have owned for some time and you're just switching yards, then usually they settle as the routine/people are the same for the horse but if it's a new horse arriving then it depends upon the horse's nature etc.
Kate x
 
Cleo is another arrive, stand up straight, have a little snort, then decide it's all okay and look for food. The next day it's like she has already been there forever.
 
Around 48 hours!

We'd both been very unhappy at our old yard and we moved to another - from a working farm to a proper yard. Previously she'd been forced into being herd leader, a role I realise now she didn't want, because she'd started getting a bit naughty at times, but from the first day out with her new herd she was back to her old self - an absolute joy to handle, and very chilled nearly all the time (well, you can't expect 100% good from a mare, can you?!).

I got a bit upset because when I saw off for a few mornings, I had to suffer watching the alpha mare drive her out so she was all alone in a corner of the field, but at least she wasn't being bullied. By the end of the week she'd found her place, and seems quite pally with this mare these days, though she has a nice boyfriend who she spends most of her spare time with. :D

I realise now that she doesn't like responsibility and would rather let the others get on with it while she does her own thing.
 
G settled pretty quickly when I bought her on a fairly busy yard, took longer on a quiet yard (a few weeks), and then no time at all on another pretty busy yard.

Milly... well this is her 45 minutes after arriving home on Saturday...

31465_580136202250_200900908_34667109_2030163_n.jpg
 
Top