Tips to help settle in to new yard?

[milliepops]

Thought I'd ask you helpful lot in case I've missed anything I could be doing.

I've had to move yards twice in 2 months and arrived at our new home 2 days ago. We had been at our original yard for many years so this has been really traumatic for both me and my horse.

I am confident that I've found the right place for her now but obviously with 2 moves in such close succession she is really unsettled. Yesterday I thought everything was going OK until something went wrong in the field and she came through an electric fence - she's now lame I'm so worried about her.

I've spoken to my vets and they have given me some sedalin which I can start using tomorrow. I'm hoping that will help to take the edge of her anxiety off and help her to accept the new place and new routine.

Just wondering whether anyone has any tips or other suggestions of things I could do to help her feel at home as quickly as possible? I've NEVER had to move a horse before so this has been a huge, horrible learning curve and I feel completely drained

 

[ApolloBaby]

Have you been able to spend extra time with her? When I moved my fella I spent loads of time just walking him around on a long lead rein, showing him everything and chatting away. Just being there more often and spending time moving around seemed to help; he seemed to find it less scary and was calmer. That's probably massively obvious, but it helped both of us make the adjustment. I hope it all settles down soon for the two of you.

 

[milliepops]

Thanks yeah, I'm trying to spend more time with her and she has certainly seemed to lean on me more since we left the original yard. She used to be so self confident

I was really hoping I could distract her with plenty of work but now she's lame that's gone out of the window! Maybe we could do something totally different and low key like join up or something, as she seems comfortable enough in walk. I've never done anything like that but now we've got time on our hands...

 

[ghostie]

Is she stabled, turned out or a bit of both?

Have just bought my boy and had to settle him in to me and a new yard, and he wasn't allowed to be turned out at all during his three week isolation period! Things I found helped him massively were:

- lots of walking in hand - looking in all the corners, behind all the buildings, checking out the machinery etc so he could be familiar with his surroundings

- always making sure he had hay to eat in his stable, putting it in a small holed net to make it take longer and soaking if necessary.

- having a very strict routine so he knows what's going to happen and when

Good luck - I'm sure she'll settle soon

 

[ApolloBaby]

She will be self-confident again; she just needs you right now. You're the constant in her world, as everything else she knew has disappeared. I've done some of the horsemanship / groundwork stuff in the past, and it really does help in these situations - some of the exercises encourage you to slow down and focus more than if you were working hard, and they can be quite calming for both horse and human. I've done goofy stuff like take my big exercise ball to the paddock and get him to kick it or roll it with his nose, just for a bit of fun with a purpose. I recently got a good book on in-hand work with a bridle which also works on focus and suppleness - I find it a great way of bonding and focusing without being in the saddle, and we can work on things that transfer into the riding later on. Using her mind might help her re-establish her mental balance.

 

[milliepops]

thanks both

She is turned out in the day and in during the night. Once the other horses come in for the night she seems to calm down so I'm fairly sure she's OK in her box. Her droppings are not disturbed so I think she's quiet all night Plus she is eating a reasonable amount of hay.

The turnout is more of a worry because I can't be with her all day and I don't quite know what happened to cause her to come through the fence. She was on her own at the last place which is why we moved again, as she is used to having company and she was so lonely. I thought she was getting on with her new buddy OK until he chased her out of the gate tonight when I brought her in

Thanks ApolloBaby, I'll just have a play tomorrow I think and see if we can kill some time and have a bit of fun at the same time Any suggestions of things we can try? I'm a groundwork novice but she competes BD medium and has evented to Novice so is reasonably educated in 'conventional' terms!

 

[ghostie]

Hopefully just teething trouble in establishing her into a new herd - at least she seems settled in her box.

People on here recommended me a book called "Schooling Exercises in Hand: Working Towards Suppleness and Confidence" by Oliver Hilberger. I've just started reading it and haven't had a chance to put much of it into practice yet, but I've been really impressed so far. Might be worth a look?

My boy is starting to relax a bit more a month in, but I think it can take them a good six months to settle when they move.

 

[ApolloBaby]

Meant to get back to you last night - Sorry!! I also use the book ghostie recommends, and it might be great for your current situation. (Amazon have it.) The exercises are classical ones, but done from the ground with a bridle, so you could work on suppleness and use movements that are familiar to her - a win all round, and might help her settle and focus. Some of the other stuff i might do is bring a tarp to the yard and work on walking over and on it - start with it folded and unfold it progressively until she's walking on the tarp, or take the time to work on something she's always had trouble with - baby buggies, plastic wrappers, whatever. I once used my electric toothbrush to simulate clippers! Again, like ghostie, I walked him everywhere around our new place, and paid close attention to what seemed to bother him so that we could spend time in that spot working it through and increasing his comfort level. There are some articles on the Horse and Rider site under the riding and training section that might be of interest. Sorry this is so long - I hope things are working better for you today.