keeping horses on their own

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charmaine

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I keep my loan horse at home with no other horses for company as I don't have another one, he does however have over 100 sheep grazing with him. He used to have horses for company in his previous home but seems perfectly settled on his own to me.

Anyone else keep a horse at home with no other horses and do they seem happy?
 
I kept a horse on her own for a year. She seemed perfectly happy, until she spotted another horse and then she would go bonkers, which made hacking a bit of a problem. If you went to a show, she would explode for 10 minutes then be fine. I knew another lady, who's horse was kept alone and he behaved in much the same way.

After a year, we moved and my Dad got a horse, so the problem was resolved.

I keep my current horse with a Shetland for company, so there is just the two of them. I wouldn't keep a horse on its own again, I don't think it is fair on them.
 
My two horses are on a yard but i also have an older mare who i rode before i went to uni. She is now retired at my parents house and lives by herself. She is very happy and has a fantastic luxury lifestyle being spoilt rotten by my mum!! she did have a companion for awhile but seemed to hate him, spending most of her time in the corner by herself!! Now she moseys about as she pleases. The farm next to us has donkeys which sometimes go in the next field and she'll sometimes go and chat with them.

It wouldnt suit all horses (my other 2 would hate it) but i think shes very happy. I've had her 15 years so i'd know if she wasnt in a second.
 
Some horses are perfectly fine, whereas others are quite unhappy so it really depends on the individual horse. I have known horses which were perfectly happy on their own, with no problems on hacks/shows, lose the plot with a companion and get very attached, which is weird!
 
I have two horses one is with a trainer at the moment, my mare has been on her own for she seems ok my other horse (gelding) is allways upset if left on his own, so Im sure it depends on the horse ,they are better and happyer with company, herd animal and all that...
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My mare lived very happily by herself when I first had her many, many years ago. Horses are all different and many seem quite happy alone, although in an ideal world it is nicer for them to have company.

To be honest I had more trouble when I had two as the second one quickly became over-attached to the mare and it was difficult to get him to leave her and he hated being left alone. You really need at least 3 to avoid the risk of this happening, but obviously this isn't always practical!

At the end of the day if he seems ok he probably is!
 
I kept my mare on her own for about a year, and she seemed happy enough. She isn't a big fan of other horses, anywat though - preferring to ignore them and do her own thing. I've now moved her to a livery yard with my other horse and she is turned out with a pony mare. She does actually seem to like this other mare and they do graze together which is nice. I think if you can keep them in company it is better, but if you can't, some horses are ok with it and some aren't. You said there are sheep there though, so at least there is some company.
 
I keep my cob on his own (with 10 sheep and 2 cows for company!) and he seems perfectly happy. He never even nothers to look up if horses hack by on the road and when we go out to shows or rallies he isn't at all bothered by the other horses - doesn't get silly and loads straight away, so he obviously isn't too bothered about leaving them all behind! Also, when we pass antoher horse out hacking he passes by without a second glance. Before I got him he was kept with other horses but now he seems to be fine on his own.
 
Mine is on his own but does have the neighbours horses to talk to over the hedge...not that he bothers with them.
He is quite happy doing what he is best at...eating! The hunt go past throughout the winter and he does not lift his head and is not bothered by anyone riding by either.
He does like a good scratch though and I regularly have to do this in replace of what another horse would do. He wickers at me and I know he wants a scratch and then he moves around me until I have the right spot! But he is and always has been a happy chappy in his field and stable alone.
 
There is a horse near us who I feel v v sorry for, he is on his own in a big field. He used to have a pal but she was sold. i do not know why the owners keep this horse, he's a lovely big welsh thing who his lady owner used to hack out so he'd easily suit a happy hacker as that's all she was.

They do check on him daily but i just think, what a waste of horse. As far as I know there is nothing physically wrong with him so i really think she should find him another home. He has been put with a neighbours horse but apparently they went franctic when separated (the other horse in question is a driving pony and although kept on his own too, he too has sheep and at least gets to go out!).

I feel like saying to her (the owner) that why she doesn't just loan him out or put him in another field with more horses as the land he's on is not owned by his owners anyway. It's difficult isn't it, you don't want to stick your nose in but i feel horses should have companionship.
 
I keep my pony at home, on his own. He had other horses with his last owner. But now he just has goats. We are able to do everything, hacking out and going to shows. Other horses don't seem to get him worked up at all. He just seems to enjoy it. To be honest I thinks he prefers to be on his own as he likes all the attention and food to be directed at him. When I went to PC camp this year he would have a right strop at other ponies if they came a metre of his food.
But I do think it does depend on the idividual as have known other ponies to get really worked up.
 
This issue is pretty close to my heart! We moved house four years ago, and Ellie was kept at my friend's place just a mile away. Neither of us were overly settled there, and two years later we were able to put our own stables up and have her at home again. This meant that she was kept completely alone, barely even seeing other horses let alone being physically with them. She was perfectly happy for the whole of the first year - we had no issues at all, and if anything the bond between me and Ellie blossomed. At the beginning of this year, however, she started showing signs that she may be wanting company. I dont know for sure that this was her problem - no one will ever know - but she suddenly became unwilling to stay out in the field on her own, and would get herself really, really stressed galloping up and down. Once brought in she was fine, but there were obviously demons in the field (demons which, I suspect, may have mysteriously vanished had she had a buddy to hide behind!
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) Anyway, I argued big time with myself, telling myself that she was fine, that many people keep horses alone (I argued on here, too
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) and that we could carry on for years the way we were, and that she would not yearn for company.

Our neighbours (distant, about half a mile down the track) recently passed on one of their horses, leaving their other pony alone in her field. She quickly took to jumping the fence(s) and galloping all the way up here, just to stand and sniff noses with Ellie over the gate. I think it was seeing both her and Ellie's reactions to one another after being kept alone for so long that made me really stop and think - humans are great providers of back scratches, but nothing can really compare to another horse! Things have now changed here for us, and we are about to move, meaning that Ellie will go to a livery yard. I am actually excited for her - I think it will be lovely for her to finally have some company again, and although I would keep a horse on its own if I had to, I dont think it should be a decision taken lightly, for they are herd animals after all!
 
I think all horses need at least one horse/equine pal. Horses that have been on their own for a long time will be or appear 'happy' on their own and may find it hard to socialise initially if they are mixed but they, I feel anyway, seem much more content when they can be horses and be part of a herd. My pony, when I got him had been kept on his own (save for some pigs in a neighbouring allotment!) and was happy in his own company (or appeared to be) However, since being with us he has been part of a heard - he is top dog but he just seems so much more content and less stressy.

I just like horses to be horses as much as possible and I think we should feel more privileged and appreciate our horses more for what they allow us to do and take to the activities we ask them to.
 
This is my biggest problem with horse keeping! Makes me really cross and I have no qualms about upsetting others over it - I would and have said the exact same thing to peoples faces.

No, I don't keep my horses on their own, as I think it's a horrifically cruel thing to do to such a sociable species.

I also don't think any horses on it's own is 'happy', just coping. There are the rare horse that find others stressful, but only because some idiot somewhere has totally messed up their socialisation and made the poor animal a social misfit - by keeping it on it's own for long periods of time
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Given time and sensible introductions, they will eventually intergrate and be much happier.

I can't understand the mentality that thinks keeping a very sociable animal on it's own is ok
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Solitary confinement is one of the worse punishments humans are allowed, legally, to inflict on other humans, yet owners seem to think that keeping horses, an even more social creature, on their own is fine. (even desirable!). Can they not imagine just how lonely it must be?

I know plenty of people who claim their horse is 'happy' on it's own, until they evntually give it company. Then, miraculously, the horses is much better behaved and 'seems happier'. Sadly they don't seem to make the connection that maybe the horse therefore wasn't 'happy' on it's own.
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I mean, what did they expect their horse to do to show it wasn't 'happy' on it's own? There is only so much running about and screaming they can do. Of COURSE they are eventually going to stop panicing and start grazing -if they didn't, they'd die. Some people think it's nice that the horse is so attatched to them (worse one I ever heard was keeping the horse on it's own so it 'though I was it's world'
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- being alone for those other 22hrs a day was perfectly fine though, poor bugger ) - well, they would be, if you're the only friend it ever sees! Then they were suprised that the horse was so obsessed in others it sometimes met - did that not tell them maybe they would like an equine friend? No, apparently not
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I won't keep a horse if I couldn't give it company. I see company as an essenstial no different from feeding and rugging (if nessesary) and being able to afford to have their feet looked after, pay for vet bills and worm them. If I can't afford to do that, I don't have a horse. No different from providing company. In fact, I DID sell a horse because I couldn't afford to provide it with company - I couldn't afford to keep him on livery but was offered a rather nice field to use for free, meaning I could have just about afforded him. However, the field wasn't really big enough for two horses so he'd have had to live on his own. I sold him - I'm not willing to inflict that on a horse.

Rant over!
 
Horses are herd animals so obviously they prefer the security of having their herd with them but iv herd a couple of storys of horses being fine with cattle as a substitute herd...id be careful about sheep tho the horse down da road from us used to torment the ones with him,they eventually got a donkey as a companion instead after he killed a lamb..
 
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