Separation anxiety....

[L&M]

I have owned my new horse for 5 mnths now and he is really great - handsome enough to show, has lovely paces, jumps well, manners to burn, safe to hack etc etc. He is kept in a field with our other horse but there are also horses adjacent in other paddocks. He is a 6 yr old connemara.

However his separation anxiety is terrible. The issues are:

- he can't stand on the yard alone for more than a matter of a few mins before he starts fretting/pawing the ground (putting a net out is no comfort).

- he physically shakes if I put him in a stable on his own and rears up at the door (again I have tried a mirror/food etc as a distraction).

- he will load alone, but once on board crashes about/mini rears and sweats buckets to the extent I am frightened off the damage he may do to himself or my lorry.

Weirdly he will hack alone and can also tolerate being left in the field alone for short periods, as long as he can see other horses.

I am really at the end of my tether and am even considering selling him because of this behaviour. It is also hugely frustrating as he is sweetness and light when stabled/travelled with our other horse, but there are times when he has got to do things on his own. Equally when I take the other horse anywhere the connemara will have to be left alone, and his current issues are stopping me doing anything with the other one.

I have been seperating the horses every day for short periods but with little sucess. Today I have also moved him into a separate paddock from our other horse in an attempt to break the bond and get him to rely on me more, but long term haven't got the space to do that, and don't see it as a natural way of keeping horses. Unfortunately the way the yard and land is set up he cannot be in a herd.

I have thought about a calmer but tbh have always thought they were a waste of money, of maybe getting some help from a NH person?

Yours in desparation........

 

[Kelly1982]

The only way I have ever cured this is by moving yards!!

My mare had it as a youngster, smashed the back of the stable out 3 times, couldn't tie up as she would break free etc. I moved to a bigger yard and everyone was in such different routines that she just learnt to wait for me. Now I can leave her on her own anywhere and u won't know she is there!!

My gelding however I have not managed to cure (had him a year) although he is 10 times better. Only frets now if he is stabled alone. I had to move him to an end stable so only my mare was next to him (he used to get attached to horses stabled next to him) and my two get turned out and brought in together. The biggest thing that's helped is work!! The more confident he got in his work the better his anxiety became. I guess it's just going to be consistency. My gelding is a sucker for routine and that's helped a lot too.

I would still give yours a bit more time. 5 months isn't very long. Especially if he was in his old home a long time

 

[DabDab]

My mare had it as a youngster, smashed the back of the stable out 3 times, couldn't tie up as she would break free etc. I moved to a bigger yard and everyone was in such different routines that she just learnt to wait for me. Now I can leave her on her own anywhere and u won't know she is there!!

Keeping a horse on a different routine to others, and preferably having a few different routines within a yard is the only thing I've found that really works. Things like being fed at a slightly different time and being bought in/out an hour before or after others, just seems to stop them relying on the other horses' movements. It is a really hard thing to deal with and crack if it is severe though - I really feel for you, but your horse is still young and definitely sounds worth the effort

 

[L&M]

Thanks Kelly1982. We keep the horses at home so although moving yard is a good suggestion, would be a bit of an extreme option....!(the other horses he can see are our neighbours horses)

Dabdab - I absolutely agree and if he was on livery then would follow your advice. However as they are at home they are turned out/brought in together, especially come winter, so would be very difficult to have different routines, but will maybe look at how I could adapt the way we do things.

He has moved home twice in 2 yrs - he came over from ireland as a 4 yr old, then sold on as a 5 yr old so possibly this is where the issues may stem from. Also in his last home he was predominately hunted and always travelled/excercised with other horses, so again has never had to be on his own. The yard also had several horses so was never stabled alone and turned out in a herd.

I could stable our neighbours pony with him if needed, but that won't solve the issue of travelling alone, so really need to work out a way teach him that being alone is ok.

 

[Caol Ila]

Keeping a horse on a different routine to others, and preferably having a few different routines within a yard is the only thing I've found that really works. Things like being fed at a slightly different time and being bought in/out an hour before or after others, just seems to stop them relying on the other horses' movements. It is a really hard thing to deal with and crack if it is severe though - I really feel for you, but your horse is still young and definitely sounds worth the effort

Except when it doesn't. Keeping my horse on a yard where different horses were on different routines gave my horse separation anxiety. The horse had been on a number of yards where everyone had the same daily routine (turned out and fed at the same time... doesn't so much matter when they were ridden) and I never had any bother with her. For well over a decade. Then we were on a yard where everyone was on their own routine, and holy sh**t, my horse developed horrid separation anxiety. When she didn't settle, I moved her to a yard where everyone was on the same schedule and after a while, her brain returned and the separation anxiety went away. Thank God. So conversely, maybe everyone on the same routine will help!

 

[DabDab]

Except when it doesn't. Keeping my horse on a yard where different horses were on different routines gave my horse separation anxiety. The horse had been on a number of yards where everyone had the same daily routine (turned out and fed at the same time... doesn't so much matter when they were ridden) and I never had any bother with her. For well over a decade. Then we were on a yard where everyone was on their own routine, and holy sh**t, my horse developed horrid separation anxiety. When she didn't settle, I moved her to a yard where everyone was on the same schedule and after a while, her brain returned and the separation anxiety went away. Thank God. So conversely, maybe everyone on the same routine will help!

Sorry - I didn't make it clear, I was predominately talking about young horses, not horses that have been used to being on the same routine to everything else on the yard for years. In the scenario I (fairly poorly) describe the horse still has a strong routine to rely on and all the other horses' routines are also constant, not a situation of constant change.