who else keeps their horse on its own ?

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JLD

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I am really struggling as my pony is no other equine company in the field. He has horses on both sides he can see and hear but not touch and he is turned out with alpacas, one of whom he shares hay with and mutual grooms ! He is really chilled and settled and easy to handle, isn't bothered about the comings and goings of next doors horse and was bullied when previously turned out in company. So on paper all is good but I feel guilty ! I am not in a position to acquire an equine companion and if I were I am worried it could disrupt a very settled situation as when one is taken away the other may stress. How does everyone else feel about their pony being solitary and are others seemingly happy with it ? Thanks. Am just wibbling on here as my OH whilst horsey doesn't get my concern as all is good.
 
I personally wouldn't keep my horses on their own as feel they need equine interaction. However, if your horse is happy in this situation then they is no need to change it unless you see a change in his behaviour.
 
My friend (whose horse was also bullied in a herd situation) keeps hers with sheep on their farm. Currently he's in with just one, elderly pet sheep as the rest are in fields down the road. He's happy.

If your horse is happy, then be happy for him! :)
 
I don't think mine would like it much but yours sounds happy with his alpaca mate so I wouldn't worry about him too much! It's good that he can at least see other horses as well - some yards only offer individual turn out so this is the same deal really!
 
Mine used to be kept on his own with his previous owner, the main problem I have with him now is that he is pretty antisocial with other horses. Not a huge issue as he is mainly good when ridden and they are on individual turnout at my yard but it could be an issue if you have herd turnout if you move etc.
 
I think yours is ok, they can see other horses and sounds like they are happy with the alpacas :) it's great they share hay and groom.

I know of someone who keeps theirs completely alone and I think that is a shame as they see no other horses or companions apart from their human owner.
 
Herbie is kept on his own as he is agressive to other horses. I don't mean agreesive as in sorting the pecking order, he is proper agressive. He's much happyer on his own. He has horses next to him but he ignores them compleatly. He doesn't care if they come in and he's the only one left out.
Not every horse is suited to this and I like to keep Merryn with other horses. He doesn't mind being on his own and won't make a fuss but I wouldn't say he's happy on his own.

It sounds like yours is ok with being on his own. He can see other horses and has the alpacas for company :)
 
if he can see other horses I wouldn't worry at all. my mare used to be in a field on her own but she could chat to the geldings in the next field. now she has another mare in with her and I don't like that they have become a bit too dependant on each other. I would prefer to go back to the previous arrangement when she was more independent. I worry now that she is miserable when separated from her field mate!
 
A lot of horses will accept a situation without necessarily being happy about it. I'm sure riding school horses would rather not go round and round in circles with novices bouncing around on their back but they do.

I wouldn't keep a horse on its own unless it was a danger to others
 
My horse who is nearly 28 has been kept with only 3 pet sheep for company for over 13 years (we’re on our second lot of sheep). I can honestly say the only problems we have had is from me feeling guilty and the opinions of other people who have never even met him. My horse appears to be absolutely fine – believe me, whilst he is very laid back and easy to do he has his moments and would certainly let you know if he wasn't happy. On the few occasions that we have hacked out in company, my boy would happily walk away from the other horse at the end of the ride. Very occasionally there is another horse in an adjacent field but out of sight and he will calmly neigh hello before putting his head down to eat. I am lucky in that he is a horse that is very people orientated and loves his food. I would never like to keep any animals totally alone, especially a herd animal, and he and his sheep rub along very well.
In an ideal world I would have liked him to have a horsey companions but agree with the OP that if he didn’t get along with another horse then that brings a whole other set of problems.
All animals (whatever the species) are individuals, what suits one will not suit another, if things don’t work out then changes have to be made. However, as others have said, if all is well then just enjoy him. You may have problems in the future if you have to move him but then so can any horse that changes yards. He will probably have formed strong bonds with his ‘personal’ alpaca so if you can keep them together that would be good.
 
Mine was cut late so didn't cope well with an all gelding herd so he was kept with in small sections in a huge field where he spent little time with other horses grooming etc he would happily be the only one left out and this worked well as he was quite nervy to handle unless you knew him and he knew you so it meant people didn't have to be bothered. If your horse is happy then I don't see a problem with it personally
 
I think he's okay given he has equines round about him and obviously he's happy with his alpaca friend and he has him to interact with. Because if the last yard I was on, my boy was the only gelding so he was seperated from the four mares, but he had his paddock within their field so he could still talk to them and groom if he wanted. The only issues I have with them on their own is when it's for the owners benefit in which case I have seen, and the pony was left at the other side of the farm in a small field with no other animals nor equines in sight, purely for her ease of not having to 'deal' with others horses when turning out or bringing in.
 
Yes, on and off our homebred has been on her own over the last 23 years. Shes usually got sheep for company and is much much easier to handle. She pair bonds badly with one other mare and is getting more cantankerous in her old age in a herd. Our new house completes soon so she'll be coming home again...on her own. Shes been in livery for tye last 18 months with lots of company. She really isnt bothered either way :)
 
The horse in the field next to mine lives alone. He can speak to mine over the fence in the summer but i move mine in the winter so he can only see them in the distance

He seems happy enough though and is obviously much loved
 
I have just recently had to get my 5 year old stallion a friend. He is turned out through the day and was in on his own on a night, he could see other horses from his field but was quite stressy when stabled and I was struggling to get weight on him, four week on and he's much happier now, his friend (2 year old cob gelding) goes out with him through the day and is stabled next to him on a night and I found this has really settled my boy. It was a last resort after a mirror and a radio various other efforts but I have seen an improvement in his weight gain over the last few week too so worth it for me.
 
I did it for years, no issues pony didn't bother, he had cows and sheep periodically as companions, didn't bother when company came over, didn't bother when we went to shows never called, got anxious and didn't bother when we went in holidays to stay with friends then he came back to be on his own.

I got another horse and it turned into a night mare as he would leave no bother and be in the field himself no bother but the other horse I had to gradually get her to accept being on her own. Certainly could afford three.
 
We had an ex brood mare on loan at one time who did not get on with other horses but like to be turned out with a herd of cows.
If your horse is settled and relaxed, then I would not listen to negative people but trust your own judgement.
 
Mine is absolutely fine - he can see other horses but doesn't worry if they get taken out of the field and he is left out.

I keep all mine on their own because I keep them at home and don't have the space for 2 unless I got a small pony. However, I did try this with a horse I sold in the summer and it turned into a nightmare when they got seperated.

We have sheep out in the field a lot too and they all mooch about quite happily.
 
My boy is currently on his own and will be for the foreseeable. When I moved to current yard there were four of us in total plus an elderly horse out 24/7. Over the years due to liveries being asked to leave etc I have found myself on my own. He can see others in the field next door but when stabled he can't. He doesn't seem to care at all. We have had another livery come and go and he didn't react at all. I do feel guilty about it but on the flip side he has a huge stable, 24/7 great turnout if I wanted. No restrictions on turn out. Nice clean yard. Floodlit school to use whenever I want. MY other 2 options for livery yards are one which could close any day as land sold for development or a yard where mud is that bad you could loose a welly just walking on yard!! School not maintained and that's when you can get in it!! If he showed signs of distress I would move, but he is quite happy.x
 
mine was on her own for a few weeks....shes 3 tho and i dont agree a young horse should be alone.

If your horse is happy (you know your horse best) then great....however i do think a companion is preferable...

mine is now out with a herd of 7 older than her to teach her some manners and herd hierarchy (shes never had that) which i think any horse should be able to have at some point :)
 
I've had my mare alone now & then due to injury/loss of companion etc.. Some times days others weeks. She was happy with it, though with company she isn't bothered if she is out by herself never plays up passing horses even if they are galloping around, I have never seen her groom another either.
I think she just likes her own space.
 
Mine is kept in his own paddock with horses each side of him, he can be a total plonker with company, put him out with mares and he gets really possesive and riggy, (he isnt a rig as far as I know but likes to act the part), his behaviour changes too and I tried him out with geldings and it lasted aout a week before all the other owners complained that there horses where coming in with ripped rugs, bite marks etc from all the scrapping he did or he'd go the other way and totally seperate himself from the others and behave like a recluse. He has lived a competion lifestyle and was never allowed out in a herd enviroment so now I think it just blows his mind and is happier with his own space. :)
 
Of the almost 12 years I had my old girl for, she was on her own for about 8 of them, with just sheep for company. She didn't like most other horses anyway and loved her sheep! My neighbour had a horse too, but most of the time they couldn't even see each other in their fields, and were quite far apart stabled. Hers have always seemed happy on their own too.
 
Unfortunately I knew a mare who had really suffered mentally from being kept alone with no other horses in sight. The owner (who felt very guilty) was in no doubts as to why the mare had problems. She had been fine while kept with others, then seemed OK while alone, but the damage showed up once she was kept with other horses again. I've never seen such extreme separation anxiety before or since the horse totally lost all sense of self preservation if any horse was moved out of her sight (even if she still had other equine companions). She also was aggressive to the other horses (apparently hadn't been like that when originally kept with others), but couldn't cope without them. It was very difficult and very sad.

Anyhoo, when I had one horse, I kept her at livery. I bought the grey because I was able to move CM to a private field. If I went back to only having one horse (and couldn't have a companion for whatever reason) I would keep him/her at livery.

Did anyone watch that programme about training Police horses? It was very interesting as they put heart rate monitors on the horses and this showed that horses that looked 100% calm while they walked past scary obstacles, were actually very stressed. The ones being great big spooky drama queens, actually had lower heart rates.

I wondered if this explained why the mare I knew *seemed* OK, when she was obviously in hindsight quite distressed?
 
Generally speaking I hate to see horses kept on their own. In the majority of cases I think it is cruel as equine company is a basic need for the vast majority of horses. But your horse seems quite content from what you say OP, and there are some horses that cannot be turned out with others. I have one here who will run down and double barrel others relentlessly, yet he loves to groom them over the fence!

My own view is that if you decide to keep your horse at home, or in a rented field, then it is your duty to provide them with company. I would never even consider taking a lone horse anywhere. I think many are fine so long as they can see others, and preferably touch them over a fence, but I would not like to rely on others to always keep their horses there. I would feel very worried that at any time the other horses may be removed and leave my horse with no company. So if I couldn't afford a second horse, I would keep my single horse at livery or in a field rented with a friend and her horse(s).
 
I don't think you can know how your horse is getting on without equine company without seeing how they are like when a companion is introduced.
 
I used to keep my mare, Molly, on her own. She was my first pony and spent 5 years on her own (there was a few months where she was in livery with other horses but mainly she was at home) It never bothered her when we were taking her back home, her field companions would whinny after her but she'd ignore them. She never minded being alone and seemed quite happy with just human interaction. Eventually we got another mare, Bella, and had the two of them together, it took her a while to adjust but the two of them eventually grew to like each other. The only problem was that Bella was 3 years old and completely untouched when we got her, she had been in a field with about 20 other horses since she was born and so she would completely freak out when we tried to take Molly out to do anything with her, this in turn started to stress Molly out as she didn't know what was happening. Long story short, after months and months of hard work and training, Bella calmed down and made it possible to seperate the two of them.
I know that was super long winded but basically, I would be careful about changing something that already works. If your horse is happy then there's nothing to worry about. And if he stops being happy he will let you know :)
 
I had a horse who was kept on his own for about 9 years, then went in with some other horses for several years, then was kept on his own for another two years. He was absolutely unconcerned with whatever arrangements were in place, never stressed, was fine if he met other horses at a show or out riding. He was a pretty cool dude anyway, but I think sometimes people set themselves up to have problems by never teaching horses to be on their own (all these problems with horses not being able to be left out, etc.). Wild or feral horses do occasionally live alone too, so it's not an unbreakable rule that they "have" to be in a herd.
 
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