Keeping a pony alone (briefly)

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lonelyhorse

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I am taking on a pony for a friend in the next few weeks, as she is moving abroad. The pony is currently at livery turned out with other horses/ponies. I have just moved to a house with land, and have finally got the place fenced/water sorted etc.

The plan was for two ponies to be there already when she arrived, but for various complicated reasons this will not be possible. So at the moment it's looking like said pony will have to be there alone for 1-2 weeks before the other ponies arrive. There is no way she can stay at the current yard longer as her space will be filled by another livery immediately.

She would have sheep in the field on one side of her, and the neighbour's two donkeys to the other side (she could touch noses over the fence). Do you think this would be cruel for a pony that has only ever been kept in company before? My other option would be to try and find emergency space at a livery somewhere, but I wondered if this would just be more upheaval for her (and potentially quite expensive!) plus they would probably want to isolate her anyway to start with, which sort of defeats the point. What would you do?
 
If she were totally alone definitely no. But as she has company on either side and can interact with other animals I don't see the problem - as long as she can see them at all times.
 
Try her and see. If she can't cope you may need to think again; but she may cope fine, especially with other animals she can see and interact with. You might want to be alert to the risk of her jumping or breaking the fencing if she does become frantic for closer company. It might also be worth putting out feelers locally so see if you can find a companion to borrow for a couple of weeks? Depends on where you live - but borrowing something for a bit is cheaper and easier than emergency livery space!
 
I think you'll find that the pony will be far more accepting of being kept alone than you're worrying about, especially as it's for such a short time.

For one; it's a completely new place for her; she has moved there so it's all new to her anyway, it's not like she's been left totally alone at her old place when I could see her being stressed about thinking she's been abandoned. Two, if she has other animals either side of her, it gives her the chance to learn about her new lodgings alone without the pressure of making herself accepted into the herd which is always a stressful time for them. When the others arrive, they will be moving into 'her field' so will need to adapt to her behaviour rather than she adapt to theirs.

As long as your fencing is up to scratch then I wouldn't be too bothered at all other than the obvious 'new horse syndrome'.
 
Reading the title I would have said a definite NO, but as you describe that she will be near sheep and donkeys that she can see, hear and potentially touch, then I would think that should be fine in principle - you'll just have to see how the pony reacts.

I'd suggest though that you have some well documented and tested back up plans agreed with the owner just in case it turns into a nightmare. You don't want to be left with a welfare / potential vet problem if the pony cannot cope.
 
Maesfen said:
I think you'll find that the pony will be far more accepting of being kept alone than you're worrying about, especially as it's for such a short time.

For one; it's a completely new place for her; she has moved there so it's all new to her anyway, it's not like she's been left totally alone at her old place when I could see her being stressed about thinking she's been abandoned. Two, if she has other animals either side of her, it gives her the chance to learn about her new lodgings alone without the pressure of making herself accepted into the herd which is always a stressful time for them. When the others arrive, they will be moving into 'her field' so will need to adapt to her behaviour rather than she adapt to theirs.

As long as your fencing is up to scratch then I wouldn't be too bothered at all other than the obvious 'new horse syndrome'.
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This.
Slightly different situation for me but; had my old pony pts not long back and was worried to death as to how my other horse would cope on his own, as no other possible scenario. As it turned out - he neighed twice, galloped round field twice, then settled and grazed - and not a peep since. He's always pleased to seem me, but quite happy on his own. I then, a few months later, had another horse on loan, he accepted her no probs, and when I take her out of field he whickers when we go, then grazes happily, where as before he'd been alone he'd get very uptight and gallop around when another horse was removed. They do cope better than you think. Might even help prevent any possible separation problems in the future?
 
Thanks for all your advice. Have managed to find an old friend who keeps shetlands and doesn't mind 'lending' me a couple temporarily if needs be, so should work out OK! Thanks.
 
In a similar situation to you, I had one with separation anxiety on her own for about a month with no other livestock in sight (except when the neighbours had their mini Shetlands out next door). She was actually pretty fine with it except for the odd bit of pacing on a few days. Clearly not ideal, but there are far worse things you can do for a horse. Her unwillingness to be on her own returned about 2 days after her new companion moved in.
 
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