Separation anxiety

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Muckymummy

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Hi all,

First Post so be kind!!

I have a tb chestnut 21 year old. She's a companion horse who literally a babysitter.

She's in very good health looks about 10. She's previously raced and been a brood mare. Previously she's just been chilling in the field with horses 24 7.

Now though she will be with my new young horses and another horse. Issue is that she loses her mind when you take any horse out of the field even if she can see them. Screams for them paces and tries everything to get them back. Thankfully no one has been injured etc so fine there.

But I'm concerned when I bring the baby into the herd it's going to cause issues teaching the new one that it's OK.

What can I do to eliminate this behaviour?

I no it sounds terrible (please don't judge) but I have considered putting her down rather than putting her through constant stress.
 
As her 'job' is to be a companion I am not sure you can do much to help her, it would be different if it was her you wanted to take out, ride etc but at her age and with her being so dependent on having all of her herd in with her I am not sure how realistic it is to try to change her, you are unlikely to be able to eliminate it although you may be able to gradually improve it by taking one out for literally a minute at a time then building up but that will probably take a long time to do, be extremely hard to manage and the end result may still be that she is only coping not happy with it.

I would not judge you if you did pts as she does not sound happy, will possibly upset your new one and at the end of the day you do keep them for pleasure, having a very needy horse can make it a chore to do anything and you start to resent them, not every horse can live out it's full lifespan, the only other option would be a retirement home where nothing comes and goes regularly.
 
be positive said:
As her 'job' is to be a companion I am not sure you can do much to help her, it would be different if it was her you wanted to take out, ride etc but at her age and with her being so dependent on having all of her herd in with her I am not sure how realistic it is to try to change her, you are unlikely to be able to eliminate it although you may be able to gradually improve it by taking one out for literally a minute at a time then building up but that will probably take a long time to do, be extremely hard to manage and the end result may still be that she is only coping not happy with it.

I would not judge you if you did pts as she does not sound happy, will possibly upset your new one and at the end of the day you do keep them for pleasure, having a very needy horse can make it a chore to do anything and you start to resent them, not every horse can live out it's full lifespan, the only other option would be a retirement home where nothing comes and goes regularly.
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Thanks its really hard to come to terms with as she came very weak and neglected looking. The 2 year old isn't on site yet so I have time and I won't be riding until next year. I have tried to make it better by turning her out last or first 5 mins after but even when she's on her own or one leaves she gets very upset nearly where I could get into a bit of bother
 
be positive said:
As her 'job' is to be a companion I am not sure you can do much to help her, it would be different if it was her you wanted to take out, ride etc but at her age and with her being so dependent on having all of her herd in with her I am not sure how realistic it is to try to change her, you are unlikely to be able to eliminate it although you may be able to gradually improve it by taking one out for literally a minute at a time then building up but that will probably take a long time to do, be extremely hard to manage and the end result may still be that she is only coping not happy with it.

I would not judge you if you did pts as she does not sound happy, will possibly upset your new one and at the end of the day you do keep them for pleasure, having a very needy horse can make it a chore to do anything and you start to resent them, not every horse can live out it's full lifespan, the only other option would be a retirement home where nothing comes and goes regularly.
Click to expand...
have to agree with all of this. I have one that has pretty severe separation anxiety and she is basically not changeable, she has had some deep trauma in her past and I've tried various routes to address it with no improvement. Now i just manage everything to suit her but she's worth that effort to me because she's my competition horse. it's pretty relentless though, always considering how she will cope with a situation. When she retires she will live with my other oldies who are a closed herd. At the moment I have a second horse on the yard just to give her the security of a constant companion. a horse that is really stressed and causing the owner grief too is really hard going. if pts is the best option to avoid further distress then I don't think it's the wrong decision.
 
I have a very similar problem! Older mare (25ish) retired and her main job is being a companion to my gelding.

I’ve had her 8 years and she’s always had anxiety to some degree, at our last yard I managed it and did anything to avoid a melt down (shot myself in the foot a bit there).

Last year we moved yards, gelding went for surgery for a week and since coming back, she’s been a nightmare.

I’ve been working everyday with her to try improve the separation anxiety for months now (she spends 10-15 mins alone in the field before turning out the gelding). There has been some improvement but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel 100% comfortable leaving her alone in the field (she’s worse being left in stable - will threaten to jump and the front legs come over the door!).
I’ve found it really difficult, felt real resentment towards her at times and really puts me off riding my gelding as I’m just worried about her the whole time.

I will add there’s other horses she can see in the field & stable but it’s only him she wants!

I’ve also thought about retirement livery, PTS etc still haven’t come to a decision, very difficult situation.
 
You have my sympathy, I loaned a nice mare to be a companion and although she didn't get as upset as your horse, she was clearly stressed if left on her own in the field so I sent her back. I think it's really difficult to change this particularly in older horses.
 
Yeah to be honest I have vetted people who want her but I didn't like one of them out fields are very open so she can see every movement so unfortunately the liklihood is pts ?
 
Can't you just bring both horses in so she isn't left in the field alone, I have 2 at home and if I left either one out alone they would just gallop about as well.
 
I've tried that if I take any horse even if she's I'm a group she can't cope. Doesn't matter if its out for min or a day she can't cope
 
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