Leaving horse out in the field alone

It depends on the horse as to whether they 'cope' some do, but it's not an ideal situation. I've had to do it short term once due to circumstances, the horse in question was good, but I still didn't like doing it
 
One of mine is fine, the other isn't too fond of being alone but we are building up his 'alone' time more and more

I know that some horses lose the plot when left alone but separation anxiety is something I find personally very annoying in any animal and try to gradually train against (that's not to say I am not patient with a distressed animal before someone bites my head off!)
 
Mine lives out by herself, she went from a yard with lots of horses to a big empty farm. Obv she didn't like at first but she had to get used to it. There are some other horses in the field next to her now but they all come in at night. I have never seen her bothered by this at all and I'm glad because I've seen some horses that have a fit over their friend not being next door and it just seems crazy to me that they never learned to be alone for 5 mins without getting themselves in a right state\getting injured. In an ideal world they would all be in herds 24\7 but they don't have a natural life as our pets and have to adapt to what we do and our circumstances.
 
My big boy's fine if he's out by himself of a night after being in during the day but can see his friends in their stables across the fields. He wasn't too happy yesterday though when all his friends left him to go out on a hack and he was the only horse left on the yard, so couldn't see anyone! But he just walked around and called a bit. A few cuddles and twenty minutes later he was fine and back to stuffing his face.

My 12.2hh at 27 will run round screaming and straight through fences no matter what the time of day is or what distractions you provide

Completely depends on the horse I think.
 
WelshD said:
I know that some horses lose the plot when left alone but separation anxiety is something I find personally very annoying in any animal and try to gradually train against (that's not to say I am not patient with a distressed animal before someone bites my head off!)
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^^this. I have three geldings, they get on great but are all pretty independent of each other. I have them at home so they have to be biddable and comfortable enough to be left at times.
 
Thanks everyone. Horse in question is fine alone normally but I'm not sure what would happen if he is in the field and we take everyone away?

He won't be stabled at all and its a case of leave him out alone or force him to stable where he panics to the point of injury. I don't have another horse that can stay out with him and can't afford to buy another so it's leave him alone or sell him.
 
You can/should train any horse to be at least amenable to being on its own. Ours are working horses and they have to be able to work alone; never had one yet that didn't learn to cope.
 
I would let my big horse stay out and bring my little ones in when I needed too. He lived out 24/7 (had a stable tho)
 
Cortez said:
You can/should train any horse to be at least amenable to being on its own. Ours are working horses and they have to be able to work alone; never had one yet that didn't learn to cope.
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I agree, with the one exception of my shetland, who ALWAYS finds a way out of the damn field if he's left alone - even if it means slithering under the fence-wire and swimming a river. We make sure he's either left with a friend or taken out on the ride. It's just too embarassing otherwise, and leaving them in a field hogg-tied is not the done thing, apparently. :/
 
Cortez said:
You can/should train any horse to be at least amenable to being on its own. Ours are working horses and they have to be able to work alone; never had one yet that didn't learn to cope.
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I would add, teach them at a young age, it saves a lot of hassle later on.
 
I agree that it depends very much on the horse - it's not something I've ever done until recently. I'm looking after a friends horse over the summer and she specifically asked that he was left out 24/7, even though she was aware that he would be alone as the others come in overnight. He can see the stable block from the fields but can't see the other horses as they face the wrong way. I felt terrible doing it the first night and stayed up all night staring out of the window to make sure he was ok, he trotted about for about 5 minutes and then settled to graze and hasn't been at all fussed since, he's settled in his routine and just continues to eat while everyone else comes in. So it is possible, but some horses just will not handle being alone - I could never do that with my mare as she would completely lose her mind and would end up hurtling through fences trying to get to the others - but she is an extreme case of separation anxiety! If your only choices are to try your horse alone overnight or sell him, I'd certainly try it, but be around to keep an eye on him in case he does panic. I've found with most of the boys that a bucket of something tasty can act as a nice distraction - may be worth feeding him just after the others come in, could take his mind of it. Let us know how it goes x
 
Cortez said:
You can/should train any horse to be at least amenable to being on its own. Ours are working horses and they have to be able to work alone; never had one yet that didn't learn to cope.
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Every single pony/horse I've had has been fine either kept on its own or with others.

Yes of course it is preferable for horses, as herd animals, to be with their own kind, but my first pony was turned out in a 60 acre space with a herd of cows, and he was fine with it - think he thought he was a cow actually!

My two are field-mates, and love each other to bits, but if one of them is taken out the field the other doesn't go ballistic.
 
Depends on the horse, we are in the process of swapping the geldings into a new field with far too much grass, some have already done it where my and another liveries fatties have stayed behind in the grazed down field for as long as possible. Hers also competes regularly so needs to stay trim and comes in during the day leaving mine alone and he doesn't care one jot.
 
some horses cope fine. sometimes they get a bit upset when others are taken in so you could walk him in when the others come in, give him about 5 or 10 mins, just hold him or tie him up if he panics in the stable, then take him back to the field....we have one on our yard who is fine if she is turned out completely alone so everyone thought she would be ok when the horses in the next field were bought in. she wasn't, she tried to jump the gate and ended up with front feet one side and back feet other side. luckily the gate had a rounded end and with a few strong farmers they managed to edge her along till she slipped off the end. she has ended up with quite a few cuts but thankfully nothing more serious. she is still ok to go out first on her own but her owner(understandably) wants her bought in before the others
 
It totally depends on the horse, my boy can cope with some things but not with others. He can be taken away from other horses (well now he can, couldnt at first) but still reacts badly when horses are taken away from him. Hes better in the field as he will run round a bit and call, then settle down to graze but very alert, but he cant be left in the stable when his herd is taken away from him and hes alone, he will either jump out or injure himself bashing his legs on the door and trying to rear over the walls. He will also weave so badly he will bash his head on the doorframes.
 
I think it depends on horse but there's definately a certain amount of training you can do to help improve alone time! My two are out with one other, however they regularly get left alone for short hacks etc and sometimes alone over night due to circumstance, they can however see others over the lane but even a week of all being left to it starts a bit of calling and pacing but luckily once off the yard I've been told whoever is left settles quickly :)

It's a useful thing to teach, building up slowly even if it's just bringing in for a groom. It's equally annoying when they won't stand nicely on the yard alone 😄
 
Mine is happy out on his own, but I do feel he is a bit lonely, he quite likes mutual grooming and now can't do this. However, he did have to go out on separate fields right away from the main herd for a few weeks one summer. He was fine to begin with but I could tell after a few weeks he was getting a bit stressed. More recently he had to be alone when the only other horse on the yard went training for two weeks and he coped fine. I wouldn't however, be happy with him being completely alone ie no horses anywhere in sight for any long period of time.
 
My friends horse goes out on his own and is fine. He is regularly seen lying down snoozing and is very relaxed in the field. I would never put him out with mine as he is very aggressive in the field with other horses and we are at a small yard so no other options

My sisters horse and mine are inseparable and its a complete nightmare. Her horse had to be on box rest for the past 8 days and mine had to stay in too, he wouldn't go out with any others, v stressful
 
At the moment mine is on his own during the day and in a herd at night due to needing to restrict his grass intake and get him off grass when the sugars are highest (he goes in a bare paddock with haylage during day). He prefers this to being stabled on his own. He can see other horses in the surrounding fields and there's normally one in the next paddock he can touch noses with over the fence. Wouldn't want to do it 24/7 and he doesn't like it if he can't see any other horses at all but for this purpose it works quite well
 
All mine will go out alone, in a group or in a pair .
All but one is happy to stabled alone .
I can't tolerate horses that won't be stabled, won't go in the field and be left while you ride the others etc etc .
They just have to get on with life .
 
You need to teach them the life skill. It's no different to other life skills. See what happens when the other leave, and if he's upset, return them after a short time. They are often better if the horses are completely out of sight and earshot: if his behaviour is being reinforced by being able to hear the others, it will take far longer to improve.
They all vary : I once had an old TB who stayed put in his paddock when the other two in there escaped (tree down on the fence). He was happier at home thanks very much!
All of mine are OK to be left alone. One would carry on like a pork chop when we left but I am reliably informed by the family he shut up after about 5 minutes. Bit like kids at daycare. But I'm a bit brutal - anything that is being left alone for the first time is put in a secure round yard where they can't get out or hurt themselves, and left to HTFU.
 
Really enjoyed this thread, I'm really struggling with this issue at the mo. My horse has his own paddock and has two ponies in the next door paddock during the day but they come in at night due to being VERY good doers. I want my very big TB to be out as much as possible this time of year for medical and mental reasons but the guilt I feel when the ponies come in is terrible, though he seems fine and just wanders off to graze I have convinced myself he looks sad. The ponies often don't go out till mid morning so I think he spends too much time alone. He seems ok but my gut says he needs a companion for mutual grooming and general "horsing" about. Im thinking of looking into getting him a companion horse from a rescue centre as a field buddy for him, some actually state that they would make fab companions to riding horses as are fine on their own (mine would always have the ponies next door though), least then I'd have peace of mind in the evenings and I have given a rescue pony a good loving home ( I'm lucky to have a spare stable for winter and enough grazing for a small companion) though I do worry maybe I'm making a rod!! 😖
 
One of mine is out at the moment on his own as his companion is on box rest. We commented tonight how relaxed he seemed. I have also done it the other way round when he was on box rest with an abscess in his foot.
 
WelshD said:
I know that some horses lose the plot when left alone but separation anxiety is something I find personally very annoying in any animal and try to gradually train against (that's not to say I am not patient with a distressed animal before someone bites my head off!)
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Totally agree. I can leave all mine alone if I need to, I would never keep one alone long term 'cause I think that's unfair but there are times when they have to be alone, be that while the others are ridden or taken to a show, box rest, etc.
 
Cortez said:
You can/should train any horse to be at least amenable to being on its own. Ours are working horses and they have to be able to work alone; never had one yet that didn't learn to cope.
Click to expand...

they are not alone when they are working, they have whoever is working them, I never understand the 'my horse wont hack out alone' (not from you) as people need to work on the bond and trust between horse and human-the horse is not alone.
my mare will go out in the field alone fine but is not keen (although will cope) with being left in the field without a horse or human on her own
 
My horse use to be turned out with three others all day, but was out alone at night when her usual night buddy left. She would fence walk for a couple of minutes and call, but then would go about eating and strolling about as usual. Although I think the calling was more the fact that she knew the routine was horses in, then she gets fed! I felt awful to start with, but actually she had company for 10-14 hours a day (24/7 in summer), and she was better living out than in.

I don't think you can necessarily expect all horses to cope immediately with being left alone. Some will be fine with it and others won't, depending on their age, character and previous routines. But I do think it is a good habit to teach all horses, that occasionally they will be left alone and they just have to deal with it. Separation anxiety is a real pain in the butt if not.
 
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