iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
Long story short, new boy seems to be very insecure and have some degree of separation anxiety, which is obviously something I want to work on.
He’s absolutely fine being taken from the field, and ok (if a bit fidgety) stood tied in the yard by himself. Also fine to work in the arena next to fields with horses in, not at all nappy, and if horses coming/going he notices but also ok.
The main issue comes when he starts off “alone” but then hears/sees another horse come past, or there’s another horse nearby to start with and then they leave. He gets super stressed, calling, spinning from side to side, scraping the ground… He will settle eventually, as long as the horse actually “leaves”, if he can still hear them he’ll carry on.
It happened a little bit when I was competing at the weekend too, even though he could see the horses in the warm up/tied to other lorries, if one walked past and I wasn’t stood with him he’d start playing up (but nowhere near as bad as above)
So any tips to work on this? A vague plan in my head is to bring both boys onto the yard, tie Pepsi up, then walk Henry up and down where Pepsi can see him until he settles, then eventually (over a few sessions) start taking Henry around the corner for a few seconds and gradually build up the time before I bring him back. Is this sensible? Is there a better way to do it? I’ve had nappy horses before, but not one that gets anxious like this.
Im hoping that since it’s only when he’s the one being left it’s something we can work on and improve! I know naturally they want to comfort of others, but it would be nice to not worry that he’s going to hurt himself or me whenever someone walks their horse through the yard…
He’s absolutely fine being taken from the field, and ok (if a bit fidgety) stood tied in the yard by himself. Also fine to work in the arena next to fields with horses in, not at all nappy, and if horses coming/going he notices but also ok.
The main issue comes when he starts off “alone” but then hears/sees another horse come past, or there’s another horse nearby to start with and then they leave. He gets super stressed, calling, spinning from side to side, scraping the ground… He will settle eventually, as long as the horse actually “leaves”, if he can still hear them he’ll carry on.
It happened a little bit when I was competing at the weekend too, even though he could see the horses in the warm up/tied to other lorries, if one walked past and I wasn’t stood with him he’d start playing up (but nowhere near as bad as above)
So any tips to work on this? A vague plan in my head is to bring both boys onto the yard, tie Pepsi up, then walk Henry up and down where Pepsi can see him until he settles, then eventually (over a few sessions) start taking Henry around the corner for a few seconds and gradually build up the time before I bring him back. Is this sensible? Is there a better way to do it? I’ve had nappy horses before, but not one that gets anxious like this.
Im hoping that since it’s only when he’s the one being left it’s something we can work on and improve! I know naturally they want to comfort of others, but it would be nice to not worry that he’s going to hurt himself or me whenever someone walks their horse through the yard…
but he’s incredibly un-food motivated, and won’t even take treats/bucket feed if he’s at all stressed.