Separation anxiety to a person

[tabbycat]

Or temper tantrum?  Jealousy?  My boy has a major strop when I walk away from him on the yard, so much so I am worried he is going to hurt himself - box walking/trotting, ramming the door, rearing, bucking and kicking the walls - until the second I go back and just stand next to him.  No treats or food involved, I just have to stand beside him. He has hay in his stable but this makes no difference.  He cannot bear me talking to another person or horse unless I am stood right beside him whilst chatting to them.  Tonight this happened in the field, he wasn't the last out, by time I get there from work he would be last out, so asked someone else at the yard to just pop him in before I get there, but tonight he displayed the exact same behaviour and she was unable to lead him in due to him losing the plot and not being able to hang on to him.  I got there and he immediately calmed down and walked in with me like a completely different horse.  He is not usually like this in the field though, I think the wind and missing a certain field companion didn't help tonight, but it was similar behaviour apparently to what he does in the stable.  Have tried telling him to stop, ignoring the behaviour, walking out of sight, making sure he has hay etc, but nothing works.  Any ideas?  No-one else at yard has seen a horse do anything like this.  He watches me constantly on the yard, if I go to the tap etc, its only if I stop and talk to someone that he starts creating.  Have run out of ideas of what to try.  Has anyone else come across any thing like this and any suggestions on how to help him?

[SarahW]

It can seem quite flattering when a horse takes this level of interest in you but, as you describe it, it can also be a pain. Can't be so good for a horse to be feeling like this either. My first priority I think would be to make sure his stable is a safe place to leave him, give him some things to occupy him such as good hay and perhaps a feed (which he may choose to ignore) and then I would set about moving away/ out of sight each time every time he makes a commotion, only returning to him when he is quiet. If he starts again as you approach, move away again without saying anything. You'll need to be utterly consistent for this to work and also make sure that no one else undermines your work.

It may be that your horse started this behaviour for a good horse reason, possibly as far back as weaning, but since then it has been working for him and he doesn't mind whether the attention he gets is 'good' or 'bad'.

Sarah x

[tabbycat]

Thanks Sarah, that does make sense and I will give it a go. Yes its great to have such a bond with him but its not always practical. I cant even pop to the loo when we go out to local shows as I cannot go out of sight as he won't stay with anyone else! I have probably unintentionally not been helping by going back to him when he starts but purely because I don't want him to hurt himself and I worry about him getting so stressed. He is currently on individual turnout, but surrounded by others on individual turnout too, I did wonder if that is not helping but he was out with others at my previous yard and still displayed this behaviour although it is getting worse over the years.

[kafee]

One of my ponies suffered separation anxiety for years, and we suspect a bout of laminitis was the result of his previous owner going away on holiday for 4 days. I read about supplementing with magnesium oxide on this forum, and he went from charging round the field working himself into a sweat even though his companion was working at the other end of the field within sight, to lifting his head watching and returning to grazing within a few days of starting to add mag ox to his feed. He wasn't always as chilled, but it helped enormously.

[tabbycat]

Great thanks, am open to any ideas and will look into that. He is so laid back in most things but with this issue the compete opposite so maybe it will help. Its worth a try.