Moved to a new yard, horse totally stressed out please help

[Ziggy_]

Well, when i went to hand in my notice on thursday (giving me 2 weeks to sort myself out) my ever lovely boss sacked me and threw me off the yard on the spot. i had to hack my horse to the nearest diy yard, luckily i know the owner and although the yard is far from ideal for us at least she's not homeless.

i turned her out this morning and she settled right in with the herd, had a good run round as shes been stabled almost 24/7 since november, then i left her grazing happily.

returned to the yard about 4.30 and brought her in and thats when she went loopy. she was rearing and climbing the walls in her stable frantically neighing to the others. she sweated up until all her veins were showing, i got her out and walked her round the school for a bit where she could see the other horses. she seemed to settle down so i put her away again and she carried on going mad.

now i am wondering if she would be better off left out, i am so upset at seeing her stressed out. of the other horses one lives out and is totally unfazed by the others coming in/going out, the other 2 come in but their owners may be up any time from 4pm to 7pm. this time 2 days ago i had a relaxed, happy horse who i could do anything with, now i can't even get in the stable with her, i am on a diy yard with no help and she is a big strong horse!

the worst thing is i'm still trying to find another yard which suits us better so we'll be moving again before long, i feel so terrible putting her through this.

well done if anyones got this far!

 

[Shilasdair]

Leave her out...she'll calm down...and it's spring!
As for your employer - they still have to pay you for the two weeks notice period under employment law....it would be worth checking out your rights as her behaviour is not acceptable.
S

 

[dun_in]

Oh dear!

She obviously can't cope without company so perhaps you should leave her out unless you can gaurantee that you can catch after the others/at the same time, and turn her out before/at the same time so that she always has company on the yard. Otherwise you may have to stay with her to hold her hoof.

Just make sure that there's no chance that she will be left alone in the field at any time or she could cause more damage if she panics.

Good luck.

 

[lilpinkdonkey4]

Id just leave her out and try again tomorrow. I recently moved my mare from a yard where she was stabled pretty much 24/7 and the 1st day she was psycho with the t/out. she just needed to get it out her system. I took her in the evening so she went straight into a stable so when she was turned out in the mornng she tried to kill the person!

Give her a bit of time, did you try bringing her in when the other horses are in? maybe try again tomorrow, also perhaps lead her in in a bridle on a lunge line and dont forget to wear your hat! Honestly im sure she will settle, its a big change for a horse especially if they like their routine!

 

[Peanot]

I have recently moved my mare and I can really relate to what you are going through. She was quite settled at the old place but I moved her due to better facilities. The new stable is in a big open yard and I fetched her in about 4pm at the old place. But the new place, everyone fetched in later so I fetched her in about 6pm but it is a busy yard and comes to life at 6pm and this unsettled her. She became hard to catch, 3 times in one week and she had never done this before in the 6 yrs I have had her. The last straw was when we`d been there 3 weeks and she had a really stressful time in her stable. She could see her field mate through the back window and this stressed her out big time. She was trotting round the stable, rearing at the window, striking the walls with her front feet and working herself up. This really stressed me out watching her and feeling so guilty for moving her. Luckily I have another horse there and she is in a barn type stable, so I swapped them over that night there and then at 8pm. My mare immediately settled and has been fine in there for the last 6 days. Obviously the hustle and bustle upset her and the fact that she couldnt touch or sniff any other horses upset her, but in the newer stable, she could touch the horse next door. I thought that if that hadn`t of worked, I was gonna turn her out all night as there are already about 8 horses out at night, one being in her field. My mare is a little stressy anyhow but not to that state. She seemed fine for the first week or so. I put her on a calmer but the swap into the other stable has done her the world of good.
I do really sympathise with you on this and if I were you, try to work out what was different about her stable, was it in a barn, or in an open yard? As my mare was originally in a barn at my old yard. Some horses prefer to see everything, some prefer the quiet.
I am saying this as it will help when you find her somewhere else as you say that you are looking.
Until you find somewhere, I would turn her out in a thick rug for the night, then change it in the morning.