Keeping Horses On Their Own

tonitot

tonitot

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I posted about 15 minutes ago about Henry being sold and as that post was long enough already without adding a question I decided to just post again..

Once Henry has gone, Ethel will be alone as the other ponies that were there moved to the yard next door a few weeks ago. I was also going to move to that yard but now there isn't enough room so I have to stay where I am. I have searched everywhere I can think of and cannot find a yard within walking distance from me (I don't drive yet) with DIY livery or even just grass livery. So Ethel will have to stay on her own, I'm pretty sure she'll be okay after a while, but will probably do the usual pacing and calling for a while first. When Henry has been taken I will stay at the yard until I have to leave for work to make sure she is okay and will be straight back down there after work to check on her. The owner of the yard lives on site so I can ask them to keep an eye on her too.

My question is, shall I seperate them gradually, keeping them apart for longer periods of time so she gets used to being on her own, or will she be okay to just have him taken away and then left to "get over it" as such. I want to do anything to cause her as little stress as possible. If anyone has any ideas please let me know

PS, this isn't going to be a long term situation, only until I pass my driving test and can move her to a yard further away or until I move back home and move her to the yard my friends at.
 
Ah poor Ethel! My mare was worse when she was separated from her field mate but could still see her! Such as if the mare escaped and was grazing around the outside of the fields or they rode in the school near the field my mare would pace and call but if they went out riding and couldn't see her she was fine! She had horses around her but still pined for her field mate. They sold the horse eventually and my mare was less stressed and able to be left alone! She has since become a more dominant
Mare to her current field companion lol x
 
when my mare was alone ,not planned she cried and called for a few days and nights but then calmed but it was more of a resigned sad acceptance.if possible i would try and have a companion even a sheep or goat.we ended up with a minature just so she had a friend.i have had a horse kept alone and some do happily but its not ideal
 
No I don't know anyone with a pony I can borrow who would pay the livery, which is why I sold Henry :(

Chesnut Mare, its such a shame your yard so too far away, I would have moved her there! But I'm sure she'll cope on her own
 
debsflo said:
when my mare was alone ,not planned she cried and called for a few days and nights but then calmed but it was more of a resigned sad acceptance.if possible i would try and have a companion even a sheep or goat.we ended up with a minature just so she had a friend.i have had a horse kept alone and some do happily but its not ideal
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There are sheep there at the moment, but they're due to go on the 20 something of this month. There were also two goats but they have gone too. Thing with goats is Ethel knows she is much bigger than them and will go for them if they try to steal her food, one of the ones there before tried to have a nibble of her hay and she lunged at it, striking out with her front legs and teeth out, narrowly missing cracking the goat on the back of the head and nearly giving me a heart attack!! She wont go for me though, I can take her food, just not anything smaller than her so getting a goat would worry me, although if she does struggle it may have to be a solution.
 
Dobby said:
Could you have a look for a companion horse being advertised or something? I think it's really important for horses to have a companion.
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No, I can't afford to have another horse, if I could then Henry wouldn't have been sold. I have so much to pay for that I can't pay the livery for another horse easily. If circumstances change and I can afford another one, then I will get one without hesitation, but at the moment its not an option :(
 
could you advertise for someone who perhaps wants grass livery/retirement livery, so they could pay the livery, but your mare would have a companion??
 
Maisy said:
could you advertise for someone who perhaps wants grass livery/retirement livery, so they could pay the livery, but your mare would have a companion??
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thats a good idea, only problem I can see is that it wouldn't be long term which might not appeal to some people
 
Gosh this is a difficult dilemma. We had a horse here once who went for sheep; it was awful, he did the same thing, tried to paw the poor creature over the back of the head - ever since I've been really terrified of turning out horses with sheep. People often don't believe you when you tell what happened! I think maybe sometimes horses regard anything else smaller in the field than them, as a threat. The horse I've got now is OK though which makes life a lot easier as I don't have any other horses here. I've got space for DIY's, but everyone's doing it, or the bottom's gone out of the market, or something, coz I've not filled the space with another horse.

I keep my boy on my own, for now, until someone comes along. I simply can't afford to keep two, plus wouldn't have the time anyway to do two. The important thing , I would suggest, if you're keeping a horse solo, is to keep them interested and give them plenty of "activity" during the day. Mine is kept near a fairly busy country road, so gets buses, people walking, other horses going past regularly, farmer on quad bike, cows in field next door, etc etc. The worst thing you can do is just stick them in a field somewhere quiet in the hope they'll get over it. They won't, they need a lot of stimulus, especially in the first few days.

I'm lucky to have my own place at home, so can pop out and see how my boy's doing regularly through the day, plus mainly work from home, so its easy for me. Some horses can deal with being alone - others can't, and you won't know until you've actually done it.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Gosh this is a difficult dilemma. We had a horse here once who went for sheep; it was awful, he did the same thing, tried to paw the poor creature over the back of the head - ever since I've been really terrified of turning out horses with sheep. People often don't believe you when you tell what happened! I think maybe sometimes horses regard anything else smaller in the field than them, as a threat. The horse I've got now is OK though which makes life a lot easier as I don't have any other horses here. I've got space for DIY's, but everyone's doing it, or the bottom's gone out of the market, or something, coz I've not filled the space with another horse.

I keep my boy on my own, for now, until someone comes along. I simply can't afford to keep two, plus wouldn't have the time anyway to do two. The important thing , I would suggest, if you're keeping a horse solo, is to keep them interested and give them plenty of "activity" during the day. Mine is kept near a fairly busy country road, so gets buses, people walking, other horses going past regularly, farmer on quad bike, cows in field next door, etc etc. The worst thing you can do is just stick them in a field somewhere quiet in the hope they'll get over it. They won't, they need a lot of stimulus, especially in the first few days.

I'm lucky to have my own place at home, so can pop out and see how my boy's doing regularly through the day, plus mainly work from home, so its easy for me. Some horses can deal with being alone - others can't, and you won't know until you've actually done it.
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Thanks for the information, I'm glad I'm not the only person with a goat/sheep killing horse!! I'm lucky as I live just two minutes up the road from where she is kept and can do plently with her to keep her entertained. She will come in at night once Henry has gone so will have her haynet and dinner to stay happy with and will have the sheep for a few days after for some company. We have a footpath running down the side of the field and often have people, horses, tractors and cars coming past, she can also see the fillies at work in their field when they are turned out during the day.
 
She may be sad for a bit but I find they settle quite quickly and are often more affectionate with you when on their own.. I always wean my foals and keep in single paddocks to start with, otherwise you end up with a horse incapable of being on its own.

When I was younger I had very little money and only one horse, therefore it had to live alone, she never minded and you don't get all the clinging. Good luck:)
 
I kept my pony out by himself over the winter due to various issues namely that I was heavily pregnant and therefore not riding and all the yards within reasonable driving distance of me were either collosally expensive or had no turn out. I was offered free use of a field so decided to use that before either moving him to a livery yard or loaning him out in the Spring (depending on how baby went)

It did not suit him very well. He did a fair bit of cantering about, calling for the first few days but did settle eventually. However, he got progressively more tricky to catch and generally 'flighty' in the field. He got quite jumpy to handle as well. He is a very very sensitive, anxious pony and I think he really needed the reassurance of a companion. Fortunately this was only a short term thing and he is currently on loan to someone with a couple of other horses and has gone back to his usual self.

I think it depends on the horse though to some extent as I kept my childhood pony by himself in a field (didn't really know any better in those days) and he was absolutely fine and never seemed remotely bothered. I think if it is a temporary situation, your horse will just have to cope. Good luck with your driving test!
 
Thanks SouthWestWhippet, she's never been on her own before, but I think she will be okay, she's quite independant and tbh doesnt really pay much attention to Henry anyway lol. If he walks up to her she ignores him or walks off, I often go to the yard and find them at opposite sides of the field happily grazing alone. Hopefully she'll be okay, thanks for the luck, I'm gonna need it!! :)
 
What about advertising for another horse to stay for a while?

I'll be honest, I really don't like keeping horses on their own but I know how tough it is sometimes.
 
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