Horses getting attached to each other

[big e]

A friend pf mine might be buying a horse that gets very attached to its field mates and has been advised by the current owner to either stable it 24/7 away from other horses or keep it on its own

Seems a bit sad to me What are your thoughts?

[kizi]

my first thoughts are, is she rescueing it................
my mare gets way too attached, she always has since i got her 3.5 years ago at 3 years of age (her not me!)
i didnt realise it at first, she was 'difficult' as a youngster with a few issues, mainly being claustraphobic (sp?) and HAD to be turned out as much as possible. it just so happed i had a retired pony mare so it was easy to put her out with her so i could work others etc and it meant that if she had the pony with her i could bring others in and out without a total hissy fit from her. she did also have others for company, so i did not notice the attachment...
one day i needed to take pony away, cannot remember why, ooooh boy the screaming, stamping, squealing, rearing bucking etc etc etc
after that i looked back and realised she had done it before, when i bought her she had been in a field where i kept another retired mare on livery so when we bought our farm they came home together.... she treated the older mare a lot like a mom and as she was new and young and getting settled she stayed with her until she went to be broken, but in hindsight i remember her being glued to old mare.
2 years down the road and being aware of the issue, we have come very far, theres always going to be the odd day when she needs her pony, but in general she has improved a lot.
she was awful, if she was in a stable she always had to be first out, no other pony could leave its stable until she was out, i could not bring her in first to go get another, lord above, somedays if i had a few in stables and wanted to groom another and she saw me she'd have a fit, rearing bucking rolling etc in the stable.
i just made myself her best friend basically, so that she would be as happy with a human as her pony first, then i had her out woth say 4 or 5 other ponies, and i would change it around a bit, making sure her next door neighbour changed any time i felt she was getting attached etc.
now, i can turn her out first and go get another without worrying about her crashing through fences, i can bring her in first (if i put feed in her stable) and go out to get another, i can bring her in first or bring another in first. i would not ever leave her out last, as in bring everyone else in first, nor would i turn others out and leave her in till last, eventually i think we will get to that, but not yet, if everyone is out i can bring her in alone just for a groom etc and put her back out again.
if i only had 2 horses to be honest i would have HAD to get a 3rd, because i would not have been able to leave her alone to ride the other etc.
however in very stressy situations (for her it was travel) i could bring her companion pony along who was totally indefferent to everything! and my mare just oozed confidence afterwards! she will be going to the vets soon for some testing times (patience!) needing xrays and needles and god knows what, and although i have weaned her off THAT pony, i will bring that pony along to the vets, because i can happily tie her to the box or the ground haha and my mare will hopefully behave nicely for the vet to do nasty stuff :-(
i wont say it has been easy, it can be an issue with regard to liveries showing up early to put their horse out etc, in that situation previously my mare simply lived out 24/7 tho i do have the luxury of a separate stable block where she was last year so was not affected.
i would not change my mare for anything, i adore every fibre of her being, shes not been easy, and early on her behaviour did set off alarm bells and when blood tests were done she did have elevated testosterone (sp?) levels, but they became normal as she settled in!?!?
with my mare i needed o know why she was like this, and i learned that she was from a breeder where she was either treated really bad as a foal and locked up a long time to be weaned, or may have been an orphan foal whos mom left to go nurse a more valuable foal....
regardless....
it is not straight forward, but it is manageable and it is possible to improve the problem, but i would be getting as much info from the owner first to try figure out why the horse has this 'issue' and if indeed they have locked him up without company for periods of time then you may have a bigger problem on your hands depending on his age, how long they have been doing that etc etc
i would want t know also what he IS like with other horses, it is just possibly possible that maybe his might be a bit aggressive with other horses and rather than tell a potential customer that, they say hes clingy, and think that by saying keep him on his own they will avoid you finding out.
ask around maybe...
but if it was me i would be having him out as much as possible with as many horses as possible, obviously intigrating him slowly and properly etc.....
locking a horse up 24/7 and keeping them along is never a solution....in my mind it is cruelty...

[donnalex]

I think the mare would be best on a massive yard where they are constantly coming and going so she always has company but never has long enugh to form a strong bond. I rotate my ponies round stables, fields and between groups as best I can so that they all know there is no problem with separation or coming and going and take it all in their stride. Not always easy to organise but worth it if you can do it.

[Deleted]

I tend to agree with PN, Talin is a bit of a baby in that respect and when we were at a big yard with constantly changing companions I thought it'd upset him but he always seemed very settled there, he didn't worry about others coming and going whereas now he's on a small yard with constant companions he gets his knickers in a twist if any of the others go in, he doesn't like any of them to go out of sight but especially Ginger who's in the next paddock, she's his current crush ;D

[poppyandbea]

i found bea was the same although she was more horses couldnt leave her yet she would happily leave them
but may be if he had a companion that when he was out didnt mind being alone for a bit he would settle, but it would take time for him to realise hes always going back to company and not going to be alone again esp if in the past hes been kept alone or stables 24/7

[big e]

No the horse isn't a rescue, she's looking at him now so will find out later if shes buying him.