Separation anxiety, how to deal with it?

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rcm_73

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Just wondering if anyone has any tried and tested methods to deal with this! Moved yards 5 weeks ago to a smaller yard than the previous one and our two mares, my TB and daughter's Highland are in a paddock together. They have a gelding in a seperate paddock next to them and two other pony mares in paddocks the other side of the gelding. The trouble is if we take one out without the other they start neighing to one another and the one that is out starts napping badly for the other while the one left behind gallops about like a lunatic. The pony actually took off with my daughter last week and galloped all the way back to our other mare whilst broncing my daughter off in the process. Just wondering if I split the paddock in two and separate them would this make them less dependant on one another or make them worse? I can't add a 3rd horse as there isn't anyone to share with (they all want separate paddocks) and I don't currently have a stable I can shut one in as they are still being built! My TB is the dominant one in the field and is also the most anxious one out of the two and now it's becoming a bit of a pain as the pony won't settle and my daughter's losing her bottle with it. Would be happy to hear how people have dealt with similar situations without the use of a stable or many other horses around for company..
 
Ours has a strong bond with the horse he shares with. If we're working within hearing distance of this horse (who screams and shouts) he misbehaves badly. Thankfully we have a yard we can take him to about a mile away, so if anything needs doing he's taken there and worked/ bathed / have feet done etc. They'll all be coming in in the autumn anyway, so i'm just doing as little as possible with him atm (a kind of holiday) until they can be brought in and seaparated, and he can get his head round not having his friend with him.
 
I had exactly the same problem. The only way my gelding has got over it is doing the same routine every day, bringing in from field, grooming, working and then going back out. The first fews times was a nightmare - he was calling constantly and very on his toes. I just ignored the behaviour and carried on regardless - they need to see you as a leader just as much as the chum they have left in the field. The other gelding in the field has also settled as he knows he won't be left for too long. It sometimes helps to put them into different fields - but this probably couldn't be an option for you?

5 weeks is still early days. Mine took a good 3 months to really settle.

Good luck
 
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