Severe Separation Anxiety

[Char14]

My 18 year old 16.2hh Dutch Warmblood gelding has severe separation anxiety. I moved him from Essex to Newcastle due to university. He was never in a herd before, always separate paddocks and I wish he had stayed this way as now he is an anxious wreck being on his own. I moved him to a different yard for facilities reasons but now I am moving again tomorrow to another yard where he will put in his own paddock yet can still see horses as he has become dangerous to handle. He was so out of control one day last week the vet had to sedate him as he was going to do himself an injury. He needs to get his independence back and build that bond with me again to trust me for his safety not another horse. My question is am I doing the right thing by moving him? Thank you in advance.

 

[YoungNag22]

Sorry to hear your having troubles! Your definitely doing the right thing moving him to what he was comfortable with before he became anxious with separation. For some horses especially those who are older, the stress of a change of environment can really play havoc with their brain. Just try to manage another move as best as possible and if you are worried about injury etc a small dose of sedalin may help just to keep him a little more calm.

I have 2 horses, 1 24year old TB X Morgan (rescue from Blue X) and 1 6 year old TB ex racer. I have owned my 24 year old for 8 years and he is an absolute saint most of the time. However about 5 months ago I moved both of them to another yard as my 6 year old was getting injured in the herd most days. I moved them to the most lovely, quiet, serene yard you could ever wish for - however it has completely blown my old boys brain and he is severly attached to my 6 year old now due to being turned out together along and stabled together. He goes mad in their field whenever I take my 6 year old out despite having horses both sides of him and also gets really upset in the stable if I take my youngster out riding. Its a total nightmare and really taking its toll on all of us.

After worrying every day about him for the past 5 months I have talked with the YO extensively about my options and the best thing for my horses and decided to split them up permanently (field & stable). My yard have a retirement option which is a huge double paddock and constant access to an open barn so 24/7 turnout, no more changes for him, 2 older horses with him calm as anything, great grazing and living out (with the access to the barn too). I have decided this for him because of the no further changes, such as moving fields, in and out of the stable and horses coming and going and he can see his days out in retirement.

My youngster is moving stable to the bottom of the yard where it is quiet and will be going out with 4 other geldings.

If I didn't have the retirement option for my old boy - I would have instantly been looking for other yards/grazing as the separation anxiety has become a HUGE issue and makes me very sad to see him get so anxious. I wish I hadn't left it as long as I have but felt I needed to give him chance to settle in.

Your doing the right thing - just try to manage further changes to your boys environment as best as you can. Maybe give your vet a call as they may be able to recommend you a calmer or as I said earlier small doses of sedalin.

Good luck!