New yard- how long to settle

[Identityincrisis]

I know it's an individual thing but as per title!

I moved yards on the 1st of this month due to moving house, so old yard is no longer an option. My lovely, quiet, chilled Arab has turned into a crazed lunatic on this new yard. He has settled into the herd beautifully but when he comes into his stable he is so stressed, it's awful to see. He has always come in on a night so I've been keeping him in that routine but no other horses in my 'block' stay in (although I don't see it making much difference when one does stay in the odd night)

In his old yard he was in a block of 3 and often in on his own and he was so settled! But there was zero through traffic whereas in this stable he is on the front where there is a paddock, the car park and everyone goes passed his stable to go to the various fields, so a LOT of stimulation.

How long do i give it for him to settle before looking for a new yard? I worry I change yards and it makes him worse due to another move so soon

 

[Carrottom]

Although I think it takes months to get to know a new horse I would hope they settle into a new yard in a few weeks.
Are the other horses on your block likely to change to in overnight? If so I would wait and see if that helps. If not I would see what I could change to help him settle.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Can you try different stables on the same yard. My angloarab was always better if she got a quiet corner stable. On one yard she literally insisted on the best stable on the yard. ? She got it too because by that point she had completely got the YO wrapped around her little hoof... she did not like her stable on the last yard sadly she did settle eventually (couple of weeks of being in overnight?) but only with consistent company. She was OK when left alone until anyone walked past. And people walked past a lot as it was in the middle of the yard.

She was definitely one for either liking or disliking a stable or a field and not much to be done to convince her otherwise!

 

[Auslander]

Even if he was fine on his own at the last yard, I think he probably needs company while he settles in at the new one. Everything is very new for him, so he's going to be a bit emotional anyway. I suspect being in at night on his own has just tipped him over the edge.
6 months down the line, he'll probably be fine on his own again, but at the moment, it sounds like he needs his hand held

 

[Identityincrisis]

Thanks for the feedback. I had thought about leaving him out at night to see if being with the herd more would help while he's still new but then I thought perhaps the normal routine would help.

I have considered an alternative stable in a quieter part of the yard, i may have to lobby someone ?

The horses have to be in overnight by end of October so hopefully that will help, but I think until he gets consistent company i may have to leave him out.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would just leave him out with the others I can understand him not being settled if his alone at a new place, it's only a few weeks at the end of the day and I would rather a horse be happy than stick to a routine.

 

[milliepops]

Even if he was fine on his own at the last yard, I think he probably needs company while he settles in at the new one. Everything is very new for him, so he's going to be a bit emotional anyway. I suspect being in at night on his own has just tipped him over the edge.
6 months down the line, he'll probably be fine on his own again, but at the moment, it sounds like he needs his hand held

agree with this.
Mine tend to settle into new places quite fast, but these days I'm always moving two friends together, so they just have the new environment to deal with and still have each other as comfort blankets. I don't think I'd try and keep a horse in by itself in a new place, I would try and stick with what everyone else is doing until he's found his feet properly.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Leave him out. I took a very stressy TB mare from a very quiet yard to a different quite busy yard to a stable where she saw a lot of passers by and she was fabulous, changed girl.

I think it makes a huge difference if they prefer quiet/busy. Mine couldn’t care less if he’s on the yard alone, but another can’t cope at all.

 

[Caol Ila]

My horse has transformed developing arbitrary disilikes of stables/yards/fields into a finely honed art. If she doesn't settle within a day or two of moving to a new place, she ain't gonna settle, ever. And you will be as miserable as stressed as she is until you do something to remedy the situation.

When we first moved to my old yard, the place was divided into small blocks with two to three horses per block, and one block of outdoor stables with about half a dozen horses. Mine went into one of the small blocks. This horse had *never* had attachment problems and you could bring her in whenever to ride, but in this place, she became a raging lunatic if in without her stable buddy. It sucked. But they were building an American-style barn, and I held off moving her because I thought the problem would go away when the horses were under one roof. It did, sort of. Enough. But she was at the quietest end of the barn, which wasn't ideal. She likes activity. At the current yard, there are always lots of people, lots of horses, a view into the riding scbool and indoor arena, and she is super chilled.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

As others have said I think you just need a new routine that works with the set up that’s at your new yard. I would try that first before considering moving and probably give at least 3 months to be reasonably settled. Having said that when I moved my older horse to one yard he became a nightmare becoming very attached to a mare he was out with and stabled next to. Although he eventually settled ok I never felt he was happy as he doesn’t really like horses looking into his stable and he was in an indoor barn with railings between stables. When I moved him a year later he settled right away and never looked back.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Thanks for the feedback. I had thought about leaving him out at night to see if being with the herd more would help while he's still new but then I thought perhaps the normal routine would help.

I have considered an alternative stable in a quieter part of the yard, i may have to lobby someone ?

The horses have to be in overnight by end of October so hopefully that will help, but I think until he gets consistent company i may have to leave him out.

I don't understand this 'keep him in the normal routine' approach (not just yours, anybody's).
Everything else in the horse's life has changed; why would he appreciate being taken away from the new companions that he is just getting to know, to spend a night feeling vulnerable in a strange place on his own, only to have to go back to the field and try to re-establish his place in the herd?
Leave him out, stop disrupting his settling into the herd. When they all come in overnight, I would expect him to be more settled.

 

[shamrock2021]

3 months