Keeping a horse on it's own

Bryndu

Bryndu

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Hi all...

After some of your thoughts please.

What are your opinions on keeping a horse without company?

The horse has more turn out time than stable time.....does not seem in the least bit bothered to be alone...is not stressy in or out of the stable and appears happy in it's own company....and there is loads of stuff going on all day so the horse is not 'isolated'.

Would you consider getting a companion horse or not?

Many thanks in advance.

Bryndu
 
I wouldn't keep a horse alone personally no matter how settled they appear. They are herd animals which rely on each other in all sorts of ways. I keep my horses at home and have always kept a minimum of 2.
 
for short periods of time (i.e. days) and if there are other grazing animals about and horse not stressed, then fine. Indefinitely then no. I do know of two equines kept on their own locally though, one is 29 and the other 21 and both do actually seem fine (both mares fwiw).


My three can all be left alone and two can be kept alone for a few days at a time with no bother.
 
I'd never keep a horse alone. Even one that seemed happy. I'd be keen to make sure the companion will cope with being alone for short periods though so you don't end up with separation issues.
 
If everything is ok I wouldn't change it. Yes it's nice for them to have company but where does it end? You need one for company. Another one for company for when you take one away, if two are ridden you need another for company of two go out etc etc. You end up with too many horses to cope with and if they get separation anxiety you can potentially have two useless horses and a lot of stress.
 
I knew one that had been on it's own for years and had apparently been happy. Everything went to **** (for want of a better term) when it finally had equine company again. It had the worst separation anxiety I've ever come across and had obviously suffered mentally during its isolation, but had had no choice but to deal with it at that point. Once it had company again though, it was doing everything in it's power to not be alone again.
 
Faracat said:
I knew one that had been on it's own for years and had apparently been happy. Everything went to **** (for want of a better term) when it finally had equine company again. It had the worst separation anxiety I've ever come across and had obviously suffered mentally during its isolation, but had had no choice but to deal with it at that point. Once it had company again though, it was doing everything in it's power to not be alone again.
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This
 
they are herd animals, would never keep one alone. Natural behaviour is for one to keep watch while the other sleeps, so I can't imagine how stressful it must be for one on its own. We kept our mini at home with some goats and she was ok. But then when the yearling moved up with her and she was 100 times happier. And after watching the change in her I would never keep one alone again. They are social animals who belong in a herd of some kind.
 
the girls pony was kept alone when I bought her, she was stabled with others for a week then turned out alone a couple of fields away from anything else-she could see them in the distance and never called the others hacked round her field and she ignored them, she then had a youngster for company and then another mare as well then was on her own again. she never ever made a fuss-it is rare though. when in with others she was always good but rested alone and never groomed-she was thirteen when we bought her and had had a varied life and I would assume generally had company, rara007 could possibly tell us more though about Jools (granby lady julias) past.
she is now on a yard with 3 stallions amongst mares and geldings and is fine there too although she is turned out in her own paddock with other horses over the fence.
 
I used to have my pony at home alone with horses periodically in neighbours adjoining paddock. To all onlookers you would have said she totally coped with it, she never fenced walked, called out or paced. No signs of apparent unhappiness at all. However....I increasingly felt that quite a bit of her spooking may be down to being alone and not ever really relaxing (she rarely used to lay down etc). Anyway, I decided to move her to a local yard and have been absolutely gob smacked at the changes in her since having other horses around her. She has become so chilled and docile, her spooking is half of what it used to be. She changed literally overnight and this is a pony who everyone (experienced horse owners) used to say coped perfectly fine on her own. For me it has changed my feelings about keeping alone now
 
My boy is currently in a paddock on his own, he can see another horse but it is not next door, so they can't touch. To anyone else he would seem perfectly happy and content - he's not stressy, doesn't worry if the other horse does go off, he grazes, sleeps etc. But I've had this horse for a long time, and I know that he would be happier in company. He's a sociably little guy, and has always got on with others. I'm looking to move him if I can find something more suitable, I just feel he deserves better.
OP I'd want to know what the horse was like in company, for comparison.
 
She was always with company when we had her, we bought her in about 1998 from a show jumping yard and she lived with us until about 2005 with mixed mainly 24/7 turnout. Mostly with another section A and Shetland (we still have both!) geldings, but at times dads various hunters and Shetland brood mares. 2002-2005 her field was next to a busy bridlepath. She was always fine to hack alone even when I was 10, the Shetland and section A we have left are quite lone soldiers too, they were a happy trio though :) The Shetland still doesn't really interact with others and the section A is a bit temperamental! When we moved house they lived in the cow barn together before we built stables! She did have a long (6 months) period of box rest but we only had a couple of acres then so the others were never out of sight. Love her! My bedroom is still full of pictures of her :)
 
I have kept two different horses entirely on their own for a number of years at different periods. Both, when taken out to shows or whatever, were utterly unfazed by meeting other horses after so long, and both returned to their solitary fields happily. Both also went to new homes with other horses without issue. One was a stallion and was not ever turned out with other horses, but interacted with his neighbours perfectly well. Both were well adjusted characters.
 
I wouldn't keep one on its own, similarly I wouldn't keep a dog on its own for 22 hours a day (assuming you visit twice a day for an hour). People generally would be up in arms if dog was in isolation. I think horses need to groom, interact and protect each other, a horse over the fence is a start. I do think it's hard to tell if horse is happy or not.
 
I have known 2 that were kept alone and seemed OK, and a third whose whose behaviour improved immensley when it was kept at a livery yard with company, after being by itself for about 18 months.

Of the first two, one was very timid and always hassled by other horses, and the second was a misery guts who hated other horses and would kick them, but there were cattle around for that one. When she moved to a livery yard she was severely kicked twice so had to be kept separate for her own, and other horses' safety.
 
My horse hates other horses. She only tolerates them over an electric fence because the fence will zap her if she tried to attack them.

I've lost count of how many times folk have said oh get her a companion she will be lonely.

I've got 5 others and she doesn't want to live with any of them! She loves people, doesn't mind other animals but absolutely hates other equines.

She never neighs at another horse and if we ride past some she barely looks at them. She does nicker at me but only if I've got food.

Not all horses need or want company.

Persisting with company in her paddock actually made my horse ill.
 
FfionWinnie said:
My horse hates other horses. She only tolerates them over an electric fence because the fence will zap her if she tried to attack them.

I've lost count of how many times folk have said oh get her a companion she will be lonely.

I've got 5 others and she doesn't want to live with any of them! She loves people, doesn't mind other animals but absolutely hates other equines.

She never neighs at another horse and if we ride past some she barely looks at them. She does nicker at me but only if I've got food.

Not all horses need or want company.

Persisting with company in her paddock actually made my horse ill.
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Agree with this. I've had one who hated company, she was far happier alone. It really does depend on the individual horse.
 
On their own is completely different from individual turnout - there seems to be some confusion. The former, on a long term basis, is unacceptable imo. If there aren't facilities/time/money for some form of contact, even if only visual, then horses should not be kept.
 
Crazydancer said:
My boy is currently in a paddock on his own, he can see another horse but it is not next door, so they can't touch. To anyone else he would seem perfectly happy and content - he's not stressy, doesn't worry if the other horse does go off, he grazes, sleeps etc. But I've had this horse for a long time, and I know that he would be happier in company. He's a sociably little guy, and has always got on with others. I'm looking to move him if I can find something more suitable, I just feel he deserves better.
OP I'd want to know what the horse was like in company, for comparison.
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Thanks for your reply,
The horse is absolutely fine with company :)
Bryndy
 
Faracat said:
I knew one that had been on it's own for years and had apparently been happy. Everything went to **** (for want of a better term) when it finally had equine company again. It had the worst separation anxiety I've ever come across and had obviously suffered mentally during its isolation, but had had no choice but to deal with it at that point. Once it had company again though, it was doing everything in it's power to not be alone again.
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I've known one similar to this, horse was kept with owners elderly first pony, when he was sadly PTS horse seemed to cope ok and could see other horses in the next field.
After 6 months or so I moved my there pony to be with him. Horse was very happy to have company but I needed to section my pony off over night for a few weeks as there was too much grass for him. As soon as my pony was sectioned off and we'd walked away, horse crashed through the tape at speed, ears back, mouth gaping, chasing my pony around the field for 30 seconds or so before settling again.
We put him back in, he did it again.
I assume it was frustration and fear of being denied contact with another horse again - we ended up stabling them both over night from then on! It was September so they were due to start coming in soonish anyway fortunately.
It was surprising as the horse had not seemed stressed, but was obviously affected by being alone. He was ok to leave on his own if I wanted to ride on my own, but would start pacing/calling as soon as he saw us coming back up the drive.
 
I knew a horse that hated other horses and couldn't be turned out in the same field as one otherwise they'd be some nasty fights. She was much happier alone.
My horse is kept alone at the moment, she can see another horse but cant touch. We took her up to a busy livery yard a few weeks ago for a ride and she barely battered an eyelid at the others. I would love to get her company at some point but for the moment she's quite comfortable with the sheep and cows. I often see her laid completely stretched out on the floor, fast asleep so i cant say she's on edge.
 
equi said:
If everything is ok I wouldn't change it. Yes it's nice for them to have company but where does it end? You need one for company. Another one for company for when you take one away, if two are ridden you need another for company of two go out etc etc. You end up with too many horses to cope with and if they get separation anxiety you can potentially have two useless horses and a lot of stress.
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It is not just "nice" for them to have company, it is essential IMO. They are herd animals, they should be able to interact as a herd, which might mean individuals grazing apart from the others, from choice. It is more than possibe to teach a horse that you will bring its companion back after a short separation.
 
No I would not keep a horse alone. They are herd animals and have a stronger need for company than say humans. For humans having no interaction with other people would cause immense misery. For a horse it is far worse.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
well of course, but the statement I quoted wasn't about horses.
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No, the statement was that having no interaction with other people would casue humans intense misery. Hence my saying that there is a difference between choosing to e.g. live alone and being sentenced to solitary confinement.
There are very few instances of people who are not in solitary confinement actually having no human interaction whatsoever. There are very few people who do not acquire their food and other necessities through human interaction. Even those who live on theri own and shun human company tend to listen to the radio/TV which is more interaction than solitary horses are afforded.
 
I had mine on his own with a few sheep for company to begin with, then i felt awful ( he didnt seem too bothered) so i bought a wee mare for companionship, she didnt stress when we left the field for hacks/lessons and it worked well...however i do think they need another horse/pony for company, not just sheep/cattle,its just finding the right one that won't freak when you go out!!
 
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