Very specific separation anxiety?

[iknowmyvalue]

Long time no post! Currently trying to work through Pepsis very specific and slightly confusing separation anxiety but struggling to work out the best way to do it.

Basics of the situation.

Things which are absolutely fine: him leaving other horses, standing in the empty yard by himself, other horses leaving/walking past the arena while we are working, horses being taken out of the surrounding fields

Things which cause a complete mental breakdown to the point where he is physically shaking with anxiety: other horses leaving him, hearing the sound of other horses walking when he is in the yard/stable by himself.

The slightly confusing part is that it isn’t even other horses leaving him by himself that is the issue. There can be 4 other horses tied up next to him, and if one of them leaves, or he hears a 5th horse walking past and can’t see them, we get the same massive anxiety reaction. And the only way I seem to be able to break the cycle is to work him and then bring him back, even a couple of circuits on the lunge will do.

Anyone else dealt with a horse like this? Unfortunately it’s difficult to have another horse to keep taking away/bring back because I only own him, and removing him from other horses to work on it is pointless because he doesn’t care

 

[dottylottie]

i’m sure there’s plenty more experienced people who will come along and give you advice, but have you tried some simple groundwork patterns that you can do still on the yard? Miri Hackett’s patreon has a few videos of her using them specifically with a horse that has separation anxiety and she starts just outside the stable block on the yard. It’s £6 a month, but you can definitely learn what you need in just a month! i still pay for it and only do the 3/4 most basic movements she talks through lol. Literally all done from walk or a standstill, but the goal is for them to find a nice relaxed posture at the end. I’d start by learning them in the arena where he’s already relaxed, before trying them when he’s actually anxious.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

i’m sure there’s plenty more experienced people who will come along and give you advice, but have you tried some simple groundwork patterns that you can do still on the yard? Miri Hackett’s patreon has a few videos of her using them specifically with a horse that has separation anxiety and she starts just outside the stable block on the yard. It’s £6 a month, but you can definitely learn what you need in just a month! i still pay for it and only do the 3/4 most basic movements she talks through lol. Literally all done from walk or a standstill, but the goal is for them to find a nice relaxed posture at the end. I’d start by learning them in the arena where he’s already relaxed, before trying them when he’s actually anxious.

He does already know them! They’ve been taught in a relaxed environment and he does them in our in hand sessions at least once a week.

Unfortunately they don’t seem to help him massively once his brain has gone, and I’ve yet to find a way to push his comfort zone just enough that he’s not relaxed but also not over the edge. Am hoping someone might have some ideas about how to stretch his comfort zone gradually, but currently he seems to be either fine or completely overwhelmed when it comes to this particular issue.

Eta. he didn’t used to be ok with standing on the yard by himself, but we followed the programme and groundwork patterns, and gradually moved where he would happily stand further and further from other horses. That worked brilliantly. It’s just this specific sticking point where I can’t work out the best way forward