Is it unfair/detrimental........

M

mickey

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..........to your horse to move yards a lot?

I moved yards quite a bit when I first had my horse for a number of reasons;

- Changes to my requirements - I.e. sometimes I needed to save money and go DIY, other times work commitments necessitated full livery

- Difficulties with arrangements - I.e. one yard where YO constantly stole from me, another yard where I hated the atmosphere as didn't get on with YO

Looking back, I feel quite guilty, as I think it must have affected my horse.........
 
In nature, horses' environments would change...they would meet new horses...and explore new areas.
I wouldn't worry too much.
S
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I think it is yes - I only moved Amy once, and that was to a yard that could accomodate her being in foal.

I am thinking of moving Thumper next year back to my old yard, but am very hesitant about it. He took a long time to settle in when I first got him - was very bullied.

A lot of yards do not have a good system of introducing horses - just chucking the new ones in the field, and letting them get on with it. Hugely stressful for all concerned.
 
I've moved by mare four times in five years and she's not been bothered by it - I think it depends on the horse and the handler tbh. Some horses prob wouldn't be bothered but their owner is stressed so they get stressed as well.
 
When I moved yards I was a complete stress, and thought Flint who was stressy would be the same, but he walked into the new stable on a new yard and ate his hay, the move did him good and he settled better there than anywhere else. I wouldnt say it would effect them long term unless there was a strong reason for them to be stressed or worried, how many times do you take them to places they do not know? Parks, shows etc.
 
I think shil is right that horses move tarrain and meet new horses in the wild, but they do tend to travel to do this with their herd. Moving without another horse they know there can be stressful, but handled well and if you spend a bit of extra time with them (you being the constant figure), they will settle. My mare has been on 5 different yards over 4 years. We have been on our present yard 18 months, but we were also there before (I learned the hard way that there is more to happiness on a yard than a really good arena). They don't forget places or horses, so she settled back in here very quickly and is very content. I have never known her to be as happy and relaxed as she is now and I think that is to do with stability with a good herd and a good routine. I just began taking her out to trainers and shows a year ago. Intially, she seemed a little unhappy about this, but after arriving back home a few times, she started to take it in her stride. (not necassaily about the stability, but maybe). One yard we moved onto seemed very nice, with no real problems, but she clearly hated it and didn't want to stay there!! She was eating, but dropped weight drastically over 3 weeks. She became bad tempered, trying to bite and played-up in the school. All of this was totally out of character. I followed my instincts and moved her back onto a previous yard and she was instantly her old lovely self!

So I guess what I'm saying is, its certainly not always a bad idea to move a horse even when apparantly everything seems okay for them, but bare in mind that they do have opinions and feelings about it for better or worse!
 
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