My new horse isn't settling in. Is this normal?

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charliep

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Hi,

My new horse arrived Friday eve. He has been in the same home before for many years with his companion and is now away from his companion. however, he has loads of other horses at the livery yard where his is now. Despite this, he gets very stressed when any of the horses get brought in from the field for grooming, riding etc. even if there are still horses left in the field! He canters up and down the fence crying for them. If there are still some ponies out when I bring him in at night he goes bananas in the stable and cries out to them. I know he has only been with me for a few days, but is this normal for a new horse? He is eating, pooing, drinking etc. But he seems to get himself really worked up. Will he ever settle?? There is no way I could ride him yet, I think he would just bolt for home! I can't really regulate when the other ponies come in either as they aren't mine, so he is just going to have to get used to it. It it is awful seeing him so strung out though.
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Any suggestions?
Thanks x
 
Yeah, sounds pretty normal. It can take a long time for them to settle in a new place with new people, partticually if they have been in their previous home for a long time. Just take your time with him and be patient, he will come round.
 
Yes, completely!

Horses for courses again I am afraid. Some settle straight away, others may take up to year to really settle.

Best thing you can do is give him a good routine.x
 
yes, mine was the same for a couple of months. she caused havoc at first including breaking through a gate and running across the arena at one point because she thought her new stable neighbour was being taken away. thank goodness she has now gone back to being the nice calm mare that i saw in her previous home. i put her on a calming supplement for a few weeks after this incident to help reduce her anxiety. it just takes abit of time for them to work out where they fit into the new herd and to get to know their new routine, all the best with him
cool.gif
 
I got my new horse (and her foal) just under 4 weeks ago and although she seemed fairly unphased by the move (esp with foal at foot) it did effect her and in the first week or so she was quite bargy and more worrying she started biting at me quite nastily! - something her previous owner told me she had never done. All that has stopped now and she has settled into a good routine and i feel i am getting to know and trust her, i guess they all show the stress in different ways but things will certainly settle down in time, im sure of that.

All the best with your new horse, let us know how your getting on,

Ang x
 
It's perfectly normal for horses to take some time to settle in a new home.

Try and establish a routine with him, which will really help.
 
Routine, routine, routine and keep things as calm as possible.

It took my mare a good month to stop trying to jump out of her stable lol and 12 months to really settle.

Try not to worry.
 
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