separation anxiety

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lilym

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has anyone else had to deal with this?? i am currentley splitting my two up during the day, the 2 year old has some company next door and the fat mare can come up to her stable for a few hours, tried this last year but the filly went beserk, but this year she is alot more settled just trotting around calling for a few minutes before settling, i am not worried about either of them losing a little weight if they get stressy as the are both fat! but i don't want to split them right up forever as i feel that is a bit unfair on them, i have two paddocks to use at a livery yard, so i tend to graze the girls in together so i can rotate grazing, all i want to do is ease the pair bond a bit so i can bring one in alone without having the other attached like a magnet!! never having done this in nearly 20 years of horse owning am i going the right way about this? i have only ever had groups of horse before........we don't have shared grazing as too many accidents, both horse and human in the past around the gateways....
 
Well, I've got two ponies and keep them at two different places a mile apart. When they are in one place (the place I've rented for 8yrs) and I seperate them, you hardly hear a whisper. Rosie neighs a couple of times and that's it.

But when they're down the road on the decent grazing at the farm (have rented that about 2yrs), they both go mad. Rosie jumps out of whatever field I put her in, and Inks, the Shettie gallops around neighing until he almost drops dead with exhaustion or has been known to dive under the electric fence and follow us! It's exhasperating.

They obviously don't feel secure at this place yet. I have a field shelter with a door on, so have taken to shutting either of them in there, though am sure that Rosie could get over the door if she tried. Its really difficult when your in this situation.

If I'm going to a show, they come up to the old place for the weekend, and if I'm going on a hack I generally take Inks with me which is the safer option.
 
I'm not sure it's so much of a case of pair bonding - but probably more to do with the fact that youngsters just don't like to be on their own. You're lucky that your little filly will stay safely in the field without her mate. We would never leave something that young on it's own.
 
she's not completey on her own, the way the paddocks are set up mean she has company on all sides of her, i wouldn't dump her in the middle of a field totally alone!
but neither can i put up with clinginess, still off to the sales soon for a "project" so that will come in useful for company - well i'm sticking to that excuse!
 
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I wouldn't dump her in the middle of a field totally alone!

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No - I realise she has company on either side of her. She is still being left in a field on her own tho - and as I said the anxiety is more than likely to do with her age than any particular clinginess to your mare.

I can only speak from experience of the youngsters we have at my place, and how they are managed and react in certain circumstances. But obviously what works for us, will not work for others, or indeed be the way in which they wish to manage their horse.

I was just making an observation on the separation issue that's all.
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she's alot better this a.m, i think she has now realised that her friend does come back! i would rather her be out than cooped up in a stable when i take the other one out for the day, thing is when i take her to shows etc, she runs onto the trailer with no thought for her mate at all - perhaps she is jealous because she is not being shown this year!!
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