How long for new horse to settle

[patsy]

How long would it take for a new horse to settle? I bought rather flighty 6yo who was very calm at her previous (large) yard and she is rather stressed now at my home where I just have 2 horses. I'm keeping them both together (i.e. not taking the other one away) just now, and she seems OK in the field but then rather stressed in the stable.
Any advice please?

[wills]

How long have you had her for? Every horse is different, some may settle straight away others may take weeks to settle in. I've owned my horse for 18 months now and it took a good 4/5 months for her to settle completely.

[clipclop]

Some horses settle quicker than others and some are better in different environments - some horses need a small, quiet yard in order to feel secure. Others thrive in a busier environment where there's always other horses around and they don't necessarily get attached to one particular friend.

Some just don't settle in certain places and for others it can take time - not just if they've had lots of moves in a short time but also if they've been at one place for a good while and are uprooted so to speak.

Sent from my ST18i using proboards

[patsy]

I've only had her for 5 days, so I know it's very early yet. It's just that when she arrived she was very quiet, but over the last few days has got more upset when being in the stable. I know this would be how it goes i.e. horse appears very quiet initially (kind of like in shock/frozen) and then after a few days will start to show more like the true personality.
Actually I've just brought her in today and she seems a little better than she was yesterday (unfortunately my husband decided to bring her in yesterday when I was out and that was the first time the two horses came in separately and I think that upset her a lot).

[wills]

Well it'll b a while yet i would imagine before she settles.

[ladyndibs]

My friend moved her three horses over to share with me over 8 weeks ago, same friends same owner just differant fields and it took nearly two weeks for her completely sane unflappable mare to more or less settle and even today with one of her buddies she was turned out of a part of the field she's not usually allowed access to and was quite hesitant initially.
I think it could be a while before she settles and maybe some time before she feels completely at home.

[zack&buffysmum]

When I got Buffy she had been used to living on small quiet private yards for most of her life with a small herd.
I moved her to a fairly busy livery yard and she didnt settle at all. after about 4 months with the situation not improving I moved her to a large field with shelters and a companion and she became much more chilled.
Overall I would say it took 6 to 8 months before she properly 'settled'.

[Beth&Rosie]

I must have an anomaly here then! We moved yards about a month ago and Rosie was completely chilled within a few hours. I don't think she really cares as long as there's food... I think a busier yard environment has done her good, as she's got used to lots of things going on and has become increasingly less bothered by previously scary things.

[highlanderpony2002]

Took my youngster three months to accept a new rider and she didnt move home. Nothing changed for her except the arrival of a young lady to ride her

[nich]

agree with everyone, there is no 'normal' - I think horses reveal more and more of themselves throughout their time with us. What appears chilled can be stunned/shocked/withdrawn. changes (new arrivals/departures) in a current home can unsettle them. one of my mares seems chilled - she was the perfect hack or so I thought when I brought her over from Ireland. Then 8 months later she spooked for the 1st time and hasn't stopped spooking since! she was 'frozen' in to perfect behaviour and shut down in retrospect.

My other mare had a hard life prior to my owning her, broodmare and harshly broken in Spain, bought by an ignorant woman in poor fitting tack, sold to me without declaring her sweetitch. she spun round and round in her stable which I rarely used for 2 years. Now she is comfortable in there.

5 days is too soon to be worrying, but I would advice a stable mirror - you can get them quite cheaply. Good luck!

[Amanda Seater]

.....and then .........."they" send them for training and complain if "it" takes more than 2 weeks!
No pressure on horses or trainers then?!

[Deleted]

You can really help your horse settle by doing groundwork and making sure your leading is spot on, and by working through problem areas as you would any other problem at any other time, rather than just leaving her to deal with it herself. Carrying on the groundwork in the stable - so step by step leading, backing up, head lowering, etc can sometimes be helpful for stable stress.

If she's 'flighty' there may also be an underlying issue that's causing her to stress. She may actually have a problem being stabled but had learned to cope at the old yard, for example. It's not uncommon for problems a horse can otherwise cope with to show in these confined environments.

Make sure she's got plenty of forage and make sure feed is low energy and molasses free. And put all hay on the floor rather than in nets to encourage her head to stay low and relaxed rather then pulling upwards to eat. That's good practice anyway but particularly in this sort of situation.

[annas]

Nov 29, 2012 20:14:15 GMT 1 Beth&Rosie said:

I must have an anomaly here then! We moved yards about a month ago and Rosie was completely chilled within a few hours. I don't think she really cares as long as there's food... I think a busier yard environment has done her good, as she's got used to lots of things going on and has become increasingly less bothered by previously scary things.

We moved an month ago and Red was the same, completely chilled the second he walked off the lorry! Been chilled and laid back ever since.

It all depends on the horse though and 5 days is not very long at all. It also depends how long she was at the last place, she is young and if that was all she had ever known then maybe it will take longer for her to settle into a new place and routine. I hope she settles down soon.

[Susan]

Hi All
I got my new horse Lukas approx 4 weeks ago and although much improved he really has found the move from actualy turnout to stabling very stressful.

I was so spolit with Flynn who vertually went anywhere and took it all in his stride except once! his last actual yard move to Lucys he showed seperation problems when I took him out the field on his own to ride. We just dealt with that by keep doing it and keeping him focused when out say with clicker and by he always being returned to the field he learnt he would go back and goit back to the old flynn.

Lukas has been very different. To ride he offers so much but trurnout has been difficult. Never realised how much he had seperation issues. So much so that the shetland we put with him to build up herd joinup slowley did her own thing and left him as she broke out the fencing ( her usual thing ) he went ballistic and jumped out to another part of our grazing ( rested area) but it was over posts approx 3 plus feet high.
When we "thought" he was ok to join them all, Lukas decided he owned the mares!! and pushed the gelding out! so we then have had some "Interesting times" as we saw Lukas chase poor friends horse all around the place as he would not allow him in his New Herd!

I then thought about Lukas's history. He was bred in Germany 8 years ago. Sold to a riding school here in outskirts of london. OK yes great in traffic but a baby doing lessons got extremely bored and shut down mentally. We also discovered he was stabled vertually 24/7 365 days a year bar lessons for about 3 plus years.
We also think Lukasd has had very little turnout and possibly never with mares and geldings. So if you think about these underlying issues its no wonder Lukas has been unsettled. He had a friend the shetland. But she decided to break out and do her own thing not with Lukas. He then met the other girlie and accerted his authority and the gelding being quite passive allowed it so Lukas gained bossiboots status.
We have them out 24/7 but we do haver stables. When I brought Lukjas in for what ever reasons to ride to play to do ground work he has been quite stressed. If I bring in another that helps. If we bring them all in he is much happier although only sees them by head over stable wall.
There has been a lot for him to deal with. On top of that we graze land that not long ago was cattle grazing. Magnesium deficent possibility. So add that to insecurities i'm sure that hasnt helped much either. I have put Lukas on mag ox. and with time I hope he will just settle and get one with eating like Flynny did.

[heidi]

Years ago a friend of mine bought a PBA gelding and it took a year for him to settle and be the horse she thought she had bought!