Single horse kept alone

DD

DD

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 August 2015
Messages
2,306
Location
Albion
Visit site
I feel so sorry for them, they are herd animals and need company preferably another horse or a flock of sheep if that isn't possible. I also feel sorry for horses keep isolated from each other in turnout paddocks where they cannot mutually groom or interact with others. I have 2 horses one goes into the lush grass field for a few hours each day but they can see each other and are always together at night in the sparse paddock. I'm pretty sue its illegal to keep a single herd animal in some countries eg Switzerland as is the trimming of the necessary whiskers and inner ear protection. Time British law caught up with these enlightened countries.
 
Cortez said:
Most stallions are kept on their own, and whilst I would always for preference have horses kept together, sometimes this isn't possible. I have one (a gelding) that prefers being on his own and will attack other horses.
Click to expand...

So do I. He has had friends who he appeared to like, until he didn’t and proceeded to hurt them.

The op’s blanket comment simply doesn’t work for some horses.
 
I also have one who forms close attachments with other horses in stables etc but then proceeds to kick seven bells out of them if she gets into a paddock with them.

Ideally I would like to always have horses out with company, but they haven't all read the manual.
 
I'm another that has had one and know one and knew another that hated other horses.

I really dislike the increasing trend of single horse paddocks, but I wouldn't comment on any one individual case unless I knew the circumstances.

.
 
My horse used to have a field companion who he groomed with.

He's now in with other field mates who he does not groom with or seem to be fussed with at all. He is content stabled alone.

I think he would be quite happy in a paddock alone, although I would always like him to be able to see others if at all possible.
 
I've got one who is turned out on his own, for his own safety. Hes ancient, and he's a bit of a gobby old bugger over the fence with the others, but terrified if another horse goes in with him. He couldn't care less if no=one is out in his eyeline - he just wants to eat, and windsuck on the fence. The only time he gets upset is if he gets left out too long when he thinks it's dinner time!
The gremlins occasionally end up in his paddock, and he takes himself as far away from them as possible!
A couple of the mares would be perfectly happy turned out alone too, but they don't get the option, as I prefer them in groups, so that I can rest sections
 
There are always exceptions to the rule but, in general, I support that horses are herd animals and shouldn’t be kept alone and the vast majority are happier with company.

These days it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find yards that manage competing horses with group turnout. My competing horses have been on individual turnout for god knows how long, albeit in paddocks next to others. I make a point of ensuring they get a planned holiday with shoes off and herd. They have all loved that time out.
 
My ex racer when I got him was told he was dangerous with other horses, pinned them down and attacked them! I wanted to try and find a friend for him as felt bad as not a fan of individual turnout. Put him with a Welsh D and although it wasn’t world war 3, they were constantly mucking around kicking biting each other to the point my lad was coming in covered in scabs , cuts all over his body and legs. One day came in with a huge kick on the front of his face just missing his eye! Decided for his own safety when we moved to new yard to have him on his own. He is next to horses in every direction and seems a happy chap! My old girl is out in huge mixed herd and she loves it!
 
There is no doubt that most horses do best and are happiest with company. Some can be difficult to find the right field mate or herd set up for though & there may not always be other options to try, hence it is safer for some horses to live alone.

Herd dynamics are fascinating. Some horses will go to dangerous lengths to prove their dominance and this can be downright miserable for those lower down the pecking order and their owners who will be worried about injuries and ripped rugs. Having owned a very dominant horse myself in the past who would be absolutely brutal to any newcomer to the herd you also feel awful about their behaviour and there is nothing you can do about it. He was absolutely fine with other horses hacking, in the arena or in the next stable but introduce another horse into his herd and he turned into a monster.
 
We talk of horses as being herd animals - which they are - but in the true sense of the word a herd would be a much bigger grouping and roam over much larger distances. There would be a place in the herd for the leader, the bossy mare and all the other levels including the village idiot on the fringe. Generally we can't replicate those numbers or space in the way we keep horses in this country so we just have to do the best we can - and if the bossy one is just not safe with others then they have to have company at a distance.
 
Trouper said:
We talk of horses as being herd animals - which they are - but in the true sense of the word a herd would be a much bigger grouping and roam over much larger distances. There would be a place in the herd for the leader, the bossy mare and all the other levels including the village idiot on the fringe. Generally we can't replicate those numbers or space in the way we keep horses in this country so we just have to do the best we can - and if the bossy one is just not safe with others then they have to have company at a distance.
Click to expand...

I have the village idiot :)
 
DD said:
I feel so sorry for them, they are herd animals and need company preferably another horse or a flock of sheep if that isn't possible. I also feel sorry for horses keep isolated from each other in turnout paddocks where they cannot mutually groom or interact with others. I have 2 horses one goes into the lush grass field for a few hours each day but they can see each other and are always together at night in the sparse paddock. I'm pretty sue its illegal to keep a single herd animal in some countries eg Switzerland as is the trimming of the necessary whiskers and inner ear protection. Time British law caught up with these enlightened countries.
Click to expand...

I keep my horses how they need to be kept, ie the village idiot whom gets beaten up because he cannot read other horses body language is on his own for his own safety, good doers get kept in a fatties group and if they are normal they go in a mixed age and sex herd..

I have kept horses in mixed groups, single sex groups and individual turn out. As a multi horse owner you look at what is needed, all mine have different rugs, feed, exercise and routine slightly varies depending on their needs. Yes in an ideal world all mine would eat the same, be rugged the same and in the same fields, life would be so much simpler for me and finding a livery yard to suit would be so much simpler as I would know that none of mine would end up being the last one out or i could rent a field, but for the horses i have or those that I have had, it would not have suited the horses, so mine get what they need when they need it.
 
I once bought a lovely mare that had spent most of her life travelling around the Uk and Ireland pulling a bow top with her owner who repaired leather harness and bridles etc. at various yards along the way. Some older members might even remember him.

He retired her at 12 when he returned home to Ireland and I bought her...she had bred 3 foals along the way and they had run beside her as he travelled.
So the only equine company she ever had was her own foals that were obviously taken off her as they matured.

For about 2 years I could not keep her with other horses - she would run and barge for the gate as you tried to turn her out or just jump out to graze quietly by herself. For sometime she was in a paddock alongside a bridleway to try and ignite her interest in other horses as they rode by - she would not even flick an ear as they rode by.

Eventually she did somewhat begrudgingly accept being with others but she was always very much the lead horse, her word was law and more often than not she grazed a long way form the rest of them. I guess she was just so conditioned that she preferred the solitary way of life.
 
My horse was a complete nob with other horses when i got him and ended up stood on his own. In the end a bloke with a group of 5 clydesdales took pity on him and after well over a year of looking over the fence at them he got his chance.
He was immediately sent to coventry by the group. Over the course of a few months he learnt from them what was acceptable behaviour.
He was an old man by then and had a good few years of herd life before he was pts.
It was the absolute making of him.
 
luckyoldme said:
My horse was a complete nob with other horses when i got him and ended up stood on his own. In the end a bloke with a group of 5 clydesdales took pity on him and after well over a year of looking over the fence at them he got his chance.
He was immediately sent to coventry by the group. Over the course of a few months he learnt from them what was acceptable behaviour.
He was an old man by then and had a good few years of herd life before he was pts.
It was the absolute making of him.
Click to expand...

I would love my idiot to do this, but he just gets hurt too much, the once I watched him be double barrelled so hard I hear the thwack and how he had not got a broken leg I still to this day do not know. I did have him x rayed and it showed a mark on the periosteum. That was the last day he went out in company.
 
My retirees live out together in a 3, but that dynamic is changing as the one that is in foal is now at the bottom of the pecking order. I think she'll be happy to have her own space soon.
 
There's a balance to be had as ever. I very nearly gave up on Granny horse having company after she got 3 sound beatings (including on resulting in her having to have her vulva stitched!) from 3 different horses, not to mention the previous massive unmanageable over-attachment to one of the geldings! Fortunately The Beast came along and they got on. The Beast lived by herself most of last year. She was ok. But she's much happier now in her little herd even though MrT doesn't let her share his hay.

But I can 100% understand that some horses end up living on their own. I think as long as they have other horses around it's ok. Sub-optimal. But ok.
 
Gingerwitch said:
I would love my idiot to do this, but he just gets hurt too much, the once I watched him be double barrelled so hard I hear the thwack and how he had not got a broken leg I still to this day do not know. I did have him x rayed and it showed a mark on the periosteum. That was the last day he went out in company.
Click to expand...

Ouch, gosh. Glad he was OK - not surprised you don't take the risk anymore.

I have one that is absolutely clueless with other horses - she's a bit of a loner and cannot read body language to save her life, and has been bullied in the past because of it. Fortunately my herd are reasonably sedate and so although she is occasionally victim to a few snarky looks and threats, no one is actually inclined to do her any harm. If I were ever to put her on livery though, I'd insist on individual turnout (with other horses close by, of course). One of my geldings, on the other hand, would be as miserable as sin with that set up - he spent about a month alone many years ago after the sad & sudden death of his fieldmate, and since then he has had serious separation anxiety. There were other horses on the other side of post-and-rail at the time, but it wasn't enough for him.

PapaverFollis said:
There's a balance to be had as ever. I very nearly gave up on Granny horse having company after she got 3 sound beatings (including on resulting in her having to have her vulva stitched!) from 3 different horses, not to mention the previous massive unmanageable over-attachment to one of the geldings!
Click to expand...

Poor horse. Your horses have the best nicknames (actual names?!) though :D
 
Things change as horses age. My 3 youngsters lived together happily for years, happily sharing hay, resting together and no pecking order. Two are now rising 9 and one rising 7. The dynamics have totally changed and none of them are safe together anymore.

Dim Tim thinks he can batter his sister and will try, however his sister just bides her time and then chases him into a corner and given the chance will kick his lights out. I separated them 2 years ago. Dim Tim now gallops at the fence line and threatens her if she is next door because he knows she can't reach him.

I kept two mares together for years, all peaceful until last August when they fell out and one tried to kill the other, very nearly successfully. Herds work if they are running extensive acreage with plenty of hiding spots, but few horses can be kept like that without all the health issues from adlib grazing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top