Seperation help Please

vicm2509

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7 March 2006
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I am asking for advice on behalf of a friend (the owner of Fancy)

Recently all the horses on our yard went out 24/7. Firn has been in all winter and is now out with the others. Now Firn will not leave friends Section A Fancy alone. Both are mares. She treats it like a foal, follows it everywhere, if any other horse comes near Fancy then Firn will stand inbetween them. She gives Fancy little nudges and things as a mare would do to her foal.

Fancy was brought out of the field last week and Firn went mad, she jumped the gate. Firn was put in her stable and started going so crazy she had to be sedated. Once the sedation wore off the only option was to put her back in the field with Fancy.

Friend is now wanting to work Fancy. She was recently broken, then came down with strangles and is now fit and well and ready to further her education. BUT there is no way she can even bring her out the field as Firn goes crazy. If they are brought out together they are fine, but what can the owner of Firn do as when friend is working Fancy then Firn will not tolerate being stabled. Plus it will be a bit of a pain having to bring both horses in together every time as owners are not down at the same time, and owner of Fancy is only 15 and is ill so bringing one horse is on her own is hard enough, never mind having to cope with this.

Firn is not normally like this, shes been on the yard for a while and was not like this last year. She has however been stabled all winter with no turnout at all due to very bad mud fever.

All our mares and geldings are together in a huge huge field. I do not think there is an option to have a seperate field as we have mares and foals in one, and are having to use the spare field as and isolation field as we currently have strangles on the yard.

Does anyone have any idea at all as to how to solve this situation?
 

sarahgill

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3 May 2007
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An expensive but perhaps the only quick option is to move the horse to another yard just for a week or so to break the bond. We weaned our foal and put it in with our little youngster and they became more attached than mare and foal, the youngster has been sent away for a couple of weeks as I am doing exams but both seem perfectly happy to be without each other.

Alternatively you could concentrate on taking Firn out for walks on her own or working her more regularly so she gets used to being out of the comany of her friend again.

It is such a difficult situation, if the strangles eases it would be easier to put them in a seperate field but obviously you cant?

Hope it works out some how
 
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