eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
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Post by eden on Jan 2, 2011 22:08:09 GMT 1
How would you go about helping a horse with it? owner is at her wits end!
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Post by gordo on Jan 2, 2011 22:23:10 GMT 1
Try Bach flower remedies mate, do a search on net and see whats recommended x
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Post by outoftheblue on Jan 3, 2011 11:55:59 GMT 1
HAs this started suddenly - and for what reason?
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Post by Mellymoo on Jan 3, 2011 16:59:36 GMT 1
Is it with one horse in particular, or horses generally?
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Post by mrsfields on Jan 3, 2011 17:25:52 GMT 1
my two are extremely bonded and it has been a nightmare, ok practically impossible, up til recently to take one out and leave the other in his stable - ken my fjord cross is much better about being left, he just gets very vocal, but reggie my connie/TB cross will literally try and jump out of the stable... it is always the one that's left behind that gets upset - the one being ridden/schooled is fine and well behaved and will just whinny now and again if he can hear the other one screaming for him from the stable block LOL!!
at their current yard, i've been taking one out and leaving the other regularly... the first time we took ken out, even though other horses were close by, reggie was rearing up, striking out, trying in vain to get out of the stable and was getting very cross- he actually kicked out at the back wall when he realised there was no way of getting out of his stable - he NEVER kicks normally! anyway, i stayed a while on my own while my daughter went off to her lesson, as i was worried in case he would break out of his stable, and as soon as i tiptoed round the corner out of sight he actually settled down...
it took a week or two of regularly taking them out separately and now he doesn't get upset at all... it was awful and stressful going thru it at the time though...
i still dare not leave reggie out in the field without ken though - he goes absolutely nuts and throws himself around the place and i would be worried he would try to jump out... i feel he is much safer in the stable when he has to be left on his own, and it has got better with time and persistance...
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eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
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Post by eden on Jan 4, 2011 9:53:39 GMT 1
mrsfields this is the same as the mare in question. The lady has had her nearly a year know, not sure is she is getting worse rather than better? she will panic in the stable on her own or if I go hacking she goes mad even if she is out or in. The owner before said she was not a problem at all, she is a lovley lady who keeps in contact, she also wonders why she is behaving this way? The only diffrence is she is in a bloke of 2 with Vicky and shares field with one horse! do you think its the set up? all advice would be very welcome Many thanksx
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Post by outoftheblue on Jan 4, 2011 12:09:55 GMT 1
I always thought seperation anxiety was caused by insufficient training when young i.e. not putting in the field or stable alone at times and by not puttin g young horses with different companions so that they were not particualrly attached to one. It ly is something which feeds on itself. The horse makes a fuss - the owner gets stressed - so the horse is more stressed. Does bit haynet help as a distraction for the one who is left? Otherwise - I dont know the answer but I am sure there will be someone on here who will!
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Post by Mellymoo on Jan 4, 2011 19:21:47 GMT 1
mrsfields this is the same as the mare in question. The lady has had her nearly a year know, not sure is she is getting worse rather than better? she will panic in the stable on her own or if I go hacking she goes mad even if she is out or in. The owner before said she was not a problem at all, she is a lovley lady who keeps in contact, she also wonders why she is behaving this way? The only diffrence is she is in a bloke of 2 with Vicky and shares field with one horse! do you think its the set up? all advice would be very welcome Many thanksx It does seem like it is the set up. Can you turn out in a bigger herd, or stable her on a larger block? We have 6 horses at our yard, and all of them go out in different groups at different times of the year, and they swap stables most winters as well. We have virtually no problems at all - one might whinny once or twice if someone goes out, but that is it. We can leave one in the stable and the others out if we need to. Hope it gets sorted. It is very frustrating I know - Jos was terrible when he first came, but now (after 18 months!) he knows that he won't be left and that his pals will come back.
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Post by Chestnutmare on Jan 7, 2011 10:05:29 GMT 1
What is going on? Is their any chance you can seperate the horses involved? Thats the only thing that stopped it with my old mare that i just sold. I used relaxme horse calmer when had no choice but to keep the horses together and that was quite good suff. I know how the owner feels i was at my witts end, then wondered why i could never buy the perfect horse, then bought another but she still has issues, issues that my horse never had. We just can't win
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Post by mmel001 on Jan 7, 2011 14:00:00 GMT 1
I have the same problem. My boy has bonded with his neighbour over the winter as I turn them both out and they are both brought in together in the evenings. We can't leave a horse out on it's own and as I can't get to the yard until late, I can't guarantee any other horses will be out, so I am a bit stuck!
These two are so bonded that the other horse evaded his handler a few weeks ago and ran back to my horse's stable and stood outside, and somehow last night he escaped his stable. He did a tour of the yard, selectively eating other horses breakfasts, wandered off down the drive (more breakfasts were gone from stables further down) he clearly stood outside another horses stable to use the loo before going back to my horses stable, eating the hay and waiting patiently for Indie to come out and play!
I had a training session before Christmas and my local RA came out to me. Indie had been kept in, the other horse turned out. Indie was incredibly distressed. We got him to the school to do a session with him, and he struggled to focus most of the time his attention was on his field mate, and he got very upset with us at times. When I tried to lead him down the field I was basically towed, and any attempt to slow him down, turn him round etc ended up in a big rear over my head!
Ideally I would overcome this problem by field management and I would turn Indie out with another group for a while. Or I would turn them out together but bring them in seperately.
Indie's neighbour weaves quite dramatically and becomes extremely anxious if I just walk Indie around the yard. Taking Indie to the school whilst his neighbour is in his stable is practically impossible as they will call out to each other and both will get incredibly distressed.
I didn't have this problem in the summer, Indie was turned out with another horse and was out 24/7, but of course he had to come in during the winter.
In an ideal world I would change the turnout groups so that Indie and his neighbour were split up and brought in at different times. I think his neighbour would still have to go out at the same time as him!
Anyway my local RA Sandra after witnessing all this suggested that Indie should perhaps go away for light starting, so my plan is to send him off later on this month, and during that time I hope his neighbour is going to establish some new relationships. I should say that these two are turned out with two others.
Indie certainly loves the other two as well, he stands and waits for the other two in the mornings and calls out for them, and I've seen him standing guard over the little pony when a horse in another field was in distress before!
Anyway... My question is whether or not there are any other horses around so that turnout could potentially be moved around a bit? Bringing in and turning out times randomised and alternated between the horses so they aren't always doing the same thing?
When one horse goes out for a ride etc, does that mean one is left on it's own?
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eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
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Post by eden on Jan 11, 2011 10:29:48 GMT 1
What is going on? Is their any chance you can seperate the horses involved? Thats the only thing that stopped it with my old mare that i just sold. I used relaxme horse calmer when had no choice but to keep the horses together and that was quite good suff. I know how the owner feels i was at my witts end, then wondered why i could never buy the perfect horse, then bought another but she still has issues, issues that my horse never had. We just can't win I really feel for her! Its so hard to see the horse get so upset
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eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
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Post by eden on Jan 11, 2011 10:40:07 GMT 1
I have the same problem. My boy has bonded with his neighbour over the winter as I turn them both out and they are both brought in together in the evenings. We can't leave a horse out on it's own and as I can't get to the yard until late, I can't guarantee any other horses will be out, so I am a bit stuck! These two are so bonded that the other horse evaded his handler a few weeks ago and ran back to my horse's stable and stood outside, and somehow last night he escaped his stable. He did a tour of the yard, selectively eating other horses breakfasts, wandered off down the drive (more breakfasts were gone from stables further down) he clearly stood outside another horses stable to use the loo before going back to my horses stable, eating the hay and waiting patiently for Indie to come out and play! I had a training session before Christmas and my local RA came out to me. Indie had been kept in, the other horse turned out. Indie was incredibly distressed. We got him to the school to do a session with him, and he struggled to focus most of the time his attention was on his field mate, and he got very upset with us at times. When I tried to lead him down the field I was basically towed, and any attempt to slow him down, turn him round etc ended up in a big rear over my head! Ideally I would overcome this problem by field management and I would turn Indie out with another group for a while. Or I would turn them out together but bring them in seperately. Indie's neighbour weaves quite dramatically and becomes extremely anxious if I just walk Indie around the yard. Taking Indie to the school whilst his neighbour is in his stable is practically impossible as they will call out to each other and both will get incredibly distressed. I didn't have this problem in the summer, Indie was turned out with another horse and was out 24/7, but of course he had to come in during the winter. In an ideal world I would change the turnout groups so that Indie and his neighbour were split up and brought in at different times. I think his neighbour would still have to go out at the same time as him! Anyway my local RA Sandra after witnessing all this suggested that Indie should perhaps go away for light starting, so my plan is to send him off later on this month, and during that time I hope his neighbour is going to establish some new relationships. I should say that these two are turned out with two others. Indie certainly loves the other two as well, he stands and waits for the other two in the mornings and calls out for them, and I've seen him standing guard over the little pony when a horse in another field was in distress before! Anyway... My question is whether or not there are any other horses around so that turnout could potentially be moved around a bit? Bringing in and turning out times randomised and alternated between the horses so they aren't always doing the same thing? When one horse goes out for a ride etc, does that mean one is left on it's own? The thing is the set up is not ideal for her! but she feels more in control having just vicky on the yard ie bring in the same time, she was on box rest due to going mad in the field when Vicky was out, but was so upset being in she is back out again. I thought maybe if another horse came in while Vicky was out, but it made no diffrence at all!
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Post by mrsfields on Jan 11, 2011 18:21:13 GMT 1
i really think it gets better with time and persistence and dealing with each new hurdle as it arises - my 2 have been on their new yard for just over a month now and, like i said above, it was a nightmare taking one out to school and leaving the other (particularly when Reggie was left as he would get the most distressed)
that has now settled down completely, and i can take either of my lads out to school without any worries, but now hacking solo has become an issue, totally due to separation anxiety!
my boys are totally mellow and cool hacking out together with me and my daughter, and i can even be along way in front or behind and both horses are absolutely fine as i guess they know the other one is there, but the other day i took Reggie out for a walk in hand just on his own, along the usual bridlepath, and it was a nightmare! rearing and boxing! unreal! was really difficult... then hacked out in company with his pal a couple of days later and no problems at all, 100% mellow, then last saturday, a couple of days later, after schooling him solo (he was absolutely wonderful in the school) i decided to walk him out along the bridlepath to cool off - but did we heck? lol!!! i guess he obviously thought he'd finished for the day and was going back to see Ken his pal and got pretty upset when i walked him straight on and out of the yard, we had spinning, dramatic rearing, running backwards towards a ditch, you name it! i managed to walk him out a little but it was pretty scary the whole time - was even hair-raising riding him back into the yard as he'd got into such a state and was spooking at everything when normally he turns a blind eye, so i took him back into the school to calm him down - everyone who was at the yard was pretty shocked at his reaction...
anyway today, i decided to take him out again in hand but fully tacked up, and he was much better, although still a little on edge and stopping and whinnying a lot... he was hesitant going out but really energetic and trying to pull me on the way back so i had to do lots of circles, and also let him stop plenty to graze and relax... spoke to him lots, with plenty of reassurance as well, so i can hopefully transfer that to ridden as well...
this separation anxiety seems to affect every new thing my boys encounter, so i just have to break everything down and work thru things gradually and slowly and they do get better...
i will keep taking him out solo in hand until he is totally relaxed, as well as riding out in company on different days, and take it from there...
already in the school he has gone from being a napping spooking whinnying wreck to doing beautiful work and really concentrating, so things definitely do get better with time... it just takes a little time for them to adjust whenever they move out of their comfort zone...
i really feel for you all and totally understand - it can be so worrying!
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Post by laurac on Jan 11, 2011 21:01:00 GMT 1
my chap suffers from really bad seperation anxiety but is getting better, since moving to a new yard (just my 2 boys) i have been bringing my warmblood in on his own the last few days and he has stopped pooing and calling in anxiety last couple of days, i am gradually building up the time i take to get his companion in from the field and it is working, small steps and reward the one coming in on their own with a small feed does seem to work, I have also then been taking my chap for a short 5 min walk in hand once his companion is in the stables too with walk head lower click treat (all calm and nice) Best of luck I know how difficult and dangerous stressed horses can be with rears etc
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zel
Novice Poster
Posts: 34
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Post by zel on Jan 11, 2011 21:12:01 GMT 1
hmm..interesting reading! I've got the same problem with my mares, as it's just the 2 of them there. The 3rd horse died a few days after I brought my new one into the yard, so her and my mum's horse have bonded very closely, and understandably so. Mine, 5 year old Cara, did actually jump out when she was left so since then haven't dared try too much and we are currently looking for a larger yard with more horses and more going on to combat the problem. Think it's the only way. Had some recent advice suggesting to go backwards and forwards away from the horse left behind for increasing lengths of time to get them used to the idea that one comes back. Have begun doing this with mine and turns out they can cope as it builds up slowly. Distractions (such as food) didn't work, I think the main thing is that as herd animals, they need to be with others. It's one thing being ridden out alone and therefore with you and in 'work' mode, but to be the horse left behind alone, it's different. Will maybe be eating my words if my two sillies are still being clingy after we find somewhere new for them!!!
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