Nervous filly just arrived from Ireland.

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SilverFilly

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My filly arrived the other day from Ireland, over a day late as there was a mix up with the transporter she was on for longer and messed around a lot for such a young baby.

She is now here I put her in a small paddock with good grazing and it leads on to a loose box where she can go when the weather is horrible. She will now not be caught, and when I did manage to corral her into the loose box for the vet to see her, when she was in there it took me a while to get a lead rope on her and once I had she didn't want me to touch her. She's very nervous and doesn't want to be handled at all.

I'm looking for some advise and reassurance really...how can I help her settle...will she grow to trust me and how can I help her understand that I'm not a bad guy that's going to put her back on a lorry every time I come near her?

I have all the time in the world for this little filly and I know she's just been through a lot.
 
Do you have an older 'nanny' horse with her who is friendly to humans? When I got my yearling gelding, he didn't trust me at all as he had been ear twitched as a foal (all strangers were treated with mistrust), but he was put in with my old TB who was a total sweetheart towards people and her positiveness towards me definitely helped him.
 
Not sure if this will be possible for you but whenever I have bought a foal I have put him/her in a stable with a suitable companion (in the past this has been another foal, a pony yearling or my friend's miniature horse) who is used to being handled. I leave a foal slip on the newbie. The next morning I lead them out into a field together and then bring them back into the stable at night. Usually the newbie won't be caught for a few days but will follow their new friend. I find it much easier to get them used to being caught and handled in a stable. After a few days the newbie is usually very settled and I can leave the foal slip off. Once the newbie is confident with me catching and handling them I tend to turn them out and then just give them a small feed nice a day.
 
She will come round, leave a headcollar on her and a very short piece of rope.

Do you have another horse she can go out with? She will settle quicker with company and will take the lead from them.
 
if you can get a lend of a mini they can work wonders. any nervy babies i ever ended up with were put in with a bombproof, confident mini. like egs said, they just seem to follow their lead and settle a lot. the other advantage of the minis is that you can still reach over the top of them to get to the other horse!
 
There are no little ones immediately available to me so would have to advertise that I'm looking for one but I think it's a good idea :)

Is there anything else I can do in the meantime? She has a headcollar on and I wouldn't dare touch that right now, she's very head shy bless her. She's just being left to her own devices in her paddock, I go down everyday, feed her talk to her, sit with her but I'm worried about her going too long without being handled
 
Definitely get her another pony/horse for company. It will give her confidence to follow the lead of another and she is probably wondering what shes come to if she only has sheep for company.
 
It really is especially unfair and unkind to keep a youngster without equine company. Do sort out a kind, human friendly companion as quickly as you are able (move heaven and earth to do so). If you can't find a nice pony, see if you can get hold of an ex broodmare of any size.
 
Arzada said:
Sheep cannot provide for equine needs eg companionship, mutual grooming, lookout so that you can safely rest etc etc
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A horse can function perfectly well with non-horse companions. Billy lives with his donkeys and alpacas and very happy.
A lot of horses only have single turn out too.

Op I would put a leather headcollar on, attach a small bit of rope and just visit her everyday with some food and just in general be seen by her so she knows who you are.
She's been taken away from her only known home so is probably just frightened, that would happen no matter how long she spent traveling.
 
Young horses and ponies learn about herd socialisation from others, not from sheep. I have a pony that was kept mostly on his own until he was four and it took at least two years for him to adapt being to being in a group. He was well handled but his world had been a 12x12 box and the showground.
Even the wild ones come round if they have a buddy, to show them the ropes.
 
Don't despair OP, time will sort everything out. I have been exactly where you are now and all of the advice you have been given is relevant, but each horse is an individual and in my case giving a companion didn't help my feral horse at all, he had no interest in a friend and had no interest in me.

I had to herd him into a barn and kept him in the barn for a good while and just sat reading a magazine until curiosity made the horse (11 months old) come a little closer to me. He had no real interest in food and certainly would not put his head in a bucket. It took a long while to get a halter on him. I used an ancient soft leather headcollar with 8 inches or so of old lunge line tied on to it. Gradually I could get hold of it and start to teach him to lead. There is a humorous account of his antics on a thread written by me, 'my next equine project'. I learnt a lot bringing this horse up and yes he had single turn out for a good while for the simple reason of he had to want to be with me and me only. I think he was a good 18 months old before he had a friend in the shape of a broodmare who did a good job of teaching him field manners.

Once they do start to trust you it is a real achievement and incremental steps can be made to further their education. Good luck you will get there.
 
only_me said:
A horse can function perfectly well with non-horse companions. Billy lives with his donkeys and alpacas and very happy.
A lot of horses only have single turn out too.
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Well, most of them appear to 'function perfectly well' until you give them company when they are very different. It's a rare horse that actually wants to be alone . I've only ever owned one, in dozens.


OP I've bought two feral horses. The first took a week to catch (in a barn) and then rapidly progressed to being broken in. The second took a couple of days. It is far too early too worry about your filly, but please get her company ASAP.
 
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ah well done on getting her company so quickly, it will definitely help her settle to have an older confident horse around
 
That's brilliant news. You just need to relax completely now, trust can't be rushed. I would say she hasn't had much handling, that's very common here in Ireland where horses are basically left off to grow up. People often have quite a few and don't do much handling when they're young, so there's nothing the matter she's just not used to people. Good luck with her.
 
We got one in from Ireland who was very similar. She was very scared and confused and would try and kick or bite you if you entered the stable with her. We just took it slowly with her, progressing to being able to go in without being threatened, then to being able to stand next to her, then being able to touch her.
It did take a few weeks but we got there. She is now the friendliest, most loyal person who loves everyone.
So, time and patience and yours will come good as well.
 
Fantastic update. :D

Hopefully she just needs time to come around, but I'm sure that Adorable Alice can give you excellent advice if she needs a bit more persuasion to realise that people are OK.
 
only_me said:
A horse can function perfectly well with non-horse companions. Billy lives with his donkeys and alpacas and very happy.
A lot of horses only have single turn out too.

Op I would put a leather headcollar on, attach a small bit of rope and just visit her everyday with some food and just in general be seen by her so she knows who you are.
She's been taken away from her only known home so is probably just frightened, that would happen no matter how long she spent traveling.
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horses don't cope living on there own especially not youngsters, and I am not convinced they are happy living with other species either.
 
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