Strangest thing.....

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Moomin1

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Sad story in a way but also enlightening and thought provoking.

I have had my mare for nearly 3 years now and she has always had severe separation anxiety when in the field. If another horse was even taken out of the gate and moved a few feet she would lather up and gallop about for hours.

Long and short of it - over the past 6 months all of her 3 friends have died one by one and she is now alone since yesterday. I prepared for the worst and thought she would be hysterical. She had seen all of the horses pts and removed.

Eerily, she has been as calm as anything on her own. She is calling and moving about, but no galloping, sweating up, or even looking panicked. This is the first time ever I have seen her alone with no other horse in the eye shot or vicinity to keep her calm, yet she is strangely calm. The last time I saw her show separation anxiety was at a show about two or three weeks ago where oddly a horse in a nearby field bared a scary resemblance to my mare's friend at home who passed away yesterday. She went mental trying to reach her and I had to get my dad to hold her (she's a big girl!!). Yet this same horse died next to her yesterday and my mare saw her being taken away and she was left alone, and she is calm.

Has anyone else ever experienced this?:confused:
 
3Beasties said:
They just know when their friends are not coming back to them :(
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I'm heartbroken for her. I spent hours with her this afternoon poo picking and fussing her in the field but it's so weird to see her calm with no other horse around. I keep expecting her to suddenly go mental. I swear I am such a sceptical person but seeing this I seriously believe what you say - she just knows that her friends have gone and she has to be alone now!
 
They do know especially if they are allowed to see the other horse pts and taken away.
Izzy went and stood where Bruno was buried, on and off for days afterwards!
 
I know exactly what you mean. My oldie doesn't have separation anxiety, she's a definite lead mare & gets on with anything happily. But over the years, she has chosen certain horses, very much at random as her close friends & formed very deep bonds. Her last close friend was pts from old age. Both were brought in then her friend taken round the corner. They were used to going in/out separately, however this time they both spent time nuzzling & resting their heads on each other & I swear saying goodbye. My mare then stood to attention before visibly drooping at the moment the old girl dropped, which she couldn't see. Then she went in with her & seemed to accept it. Normally if her friend was gone she would create if it was longer than 6hrs or so, but this time she didn't. A few weeks later a new horse moved to a field we hack past that even I did a double take at, the resemblance was so uncanny. My well behaved, schoolmistress pony tanked with me to the fence calling happily, completely out of character for a pony that is under control with a novice child on a hack. When close enough to realise it wasn't her friend, the only way I can describe her is as though she wanted to take out her anger on it. Again, out of character, she's got on fine with horses that usually don't get on with anything. Only years of good behavior & lots of me calming her stopped her going for it through the fence. And since then she's met it & been fine. Not into humanising horses normally but it was strange.
 
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