We will have 3 horses and take two out to ride. So someone will be left home alone for a few hours. They all get to get out for rides, just not on the same day.
I’m so worried about the one left. Especially my grey mare who has never been alone. DH says they will get used to it. They will see we do come back. And they will scream and run around but once out of sight, they will settle.
DH is calm in his thinking and I’m the worrier!!! We can’t get a donkey or goat - it’s not feasible for us. Anyone else have this type of set up??
Rotate horses, and do short bursts at a time, while you are in ear shot but out of vision. Listen, and come back if the freak out is really bad.
Feed the horse that’s left behind, make it a good time for that horse.
Will they be loose or in a stall? I’m telling you, a mirror works wonders!
I have 2, but usually ride alone, so 1 is left behind. I have a 30 ish year old lg pony that I take out for short slow rides first, leaving the 6 yr old TB alone.
I leave him in the stall with hay and water. The first few weeks I was putting the pony back into work, the TB was a whirling dervish in his stall the entire time I was gone. At first he was alone for only 15-20 minutes. Cleaning his stall was no fun after. I’ve been doing this for the past 6 weeks, with the riding of the pony lasting longer (sometimes gone for up to an hour). He is no longer a whirling dervish. If I sneak up to the barn quietly, and out of his line of site, all is quiet. Once he hears me, he starts nickering.
I think you may be over-thinking this. Why not just try it and see what happens?
I have two horses, and I am the only one who rides so one is always alone when I am riding. Both are just fine being alone. My mare couldn’t care less and my gelding does what your husband says your horse will do…he whinnies and lopes the fence line a few times, and then settles down and doesn’t whinny or pace until we return and he sees the other horse again.
I have always had two horses, so far in 3 different combinations. My most neurotic thoroughbred was actually fine, I think because he was the first horse we brought here so was alone for a couple of weeks. My “herd” boss tb was fine. My 3rd tb I had to ace and put out a pile of alfalfa. He would call and trot around a little and was fine. Until the time he wasn’t–did some insane running around and bucking as I was coming back from a ride and trashed his stifle and I had to retire him :(. I now have one horse and a companion pony, but the pony doesn’t like being left alone either–mostly just calls but also will run around. Sigh.
Ahhhh, yes. Horse math. You need four horses. Problem solved.
My DH and I have 5 horses total and a lot of times we’ll take 4 with us if we’re packing or want them to get some work leaving the youngster at home alone. At first she’d run around her paddock but over time she doesn’t even notice. Just takes a little time and they will figure it out that they will be back.
I always devour these posts for any suggestions and experiences…I’ve always boarded, and even in a small ‘herd’ scenario, my nervous nelly gelding has been difficult…many times if stall rest or etc was needed? I’d have to ask BO to keep another (!) horse in the barn with him! (where he could see him) S I G H.
So, now, approaching taking him and a mini and a yearling ‘home’ I want to be prepared for all I can try to do (!) to not only minimize this, but more importantly (!) (to me…because he is who he is at 17 and won’t change) to NOT have this ‘teach’ the yearling to do the same. anyway…my ‘planned’ approach is going to be: rotate what / where I put each one as often as I can ‘deal’ with it… Mix it up. Put one across the driveway one day, put that same one across the driveway another day, put two out together once in awhile, switch that up, put two in the barn sometimes, one turned out, put one in the barn sometimes, etc, etc…I have NO idea if this will truly help? But I’ve always felt that, if I get LAZY about it and do whats ‘easy’ for me at the moment, that I may create the monster I hope to avoid…
[QUOTE=ayrabz;7754495]
I always devour these posts for any suggestions and experiences…I’ve always boarded, and even in a small ‘herd’ scenario, my nervous nelly gelding has been difficult…many times if stall rest or etc was needed? I’d have to ask BO to keep another (!) horse in the barn with him! (where he could see him) S I G H.
So, now, approaching taking him and a mini and a yearling ‘home’ I want to be prepared for all I can try to do (!) to not only minimize this, but more importantly (!) (to me…because he is who he is at 17 and won’t change) to NOT have this ‘teach’ the yearling to do the same. anyway…my ‘planned’ approach is going to be: rotate what / where I put each one as often as I can ‘deal’ with it… Mix it up. Put one across the driveway one day, put that same one across the driveway another day, put two out together once in awhile, switch that up, put two in the barn sometimes, one turned out, put one in the barn sometimes, etc, etc…I have NO idea if this will truly help? But I’ve always felt that, if I get LAZY about it and do whats ‘easy’ for me at the moment, that I may create the monster I hope to avoid…[/QUOTE]
I used to work with a trainer who did that with the horses at her home barn. No horse had a “permanent” stall - they were rotated on a regular basis so that no one became attached to their neighbor. It seemed to work well.
I do that to a small degree at home. Paddy and Mac are together for breakfast; Princess Fancy Pants is alone in a pasture across the driveway (all are in sight of each other). Paddy moves to an adjacent pasture to Princess Fancy Pants for lunch and Mac is alone for lunch. For after-lunch snack time and when I’m riding Mac, Paddy and PFP are in a pasture together and PFP’s previous breakfast/lunch pasture is empty. After I ride Mac he goes in a pasture that is separated from Paddy and PFP’s pasture so there are no shared fence lines. Then for dinner Paddy and PFP go back up to the barn dry lot and Mac is in the pasture. Then for tuck-ins everyone goes in their stall/paddocks whereby Paddy and Mac are next to each other and PFP is across the aisle.
So far it works okay, but I haven’t taken two out. When it was just Paddy and Mac I could take either one out and the other wouldn’t care, but now that PFP is in the mix things are a little different.
Do you have someone who can wait at your place and tell you if the one left settles down? Mine all do fine, but it’s reassuring to have someone tell me so.
[QUOTE=ayrabz;7754495]
I always devour these posts for any suggestions and experiences…I’ve always boarded, and even in a small ‘herd’ scenario, my nervous nelly gelding has been difficult…many times if stall rest or etc was needed? I’d have to ask BO to keep another (!) horse in the barn with him! (where he could see him) S I G H.
So, now, approaching taking him and a mini and a yearling ‘home’ I want to be prepared for all I can try to do (!) to not only minimize this, but more importantly (!) (to me…because he is who he is at 17 and won’t change) to NOT have this ‘teach’ the yearling to do the same. anyway…my ‘planned’ approach is going to be: rotate what / where I put each one as often as I can ‘deal’ with it… Mix it up. Put one across the driveway one day, put that same one across the driveway another day, put two out together once in awhile, switch that up, put two in the barn sometimes, one turned out, put one in the barn sometimes, etc, etc…I have NO idea if this will truly help? But I’ve always felt that, if I get LAZY about it and do whats ‘easy’ for me at the moment, that I may create the monster I hope to avoid…[/QUOTE]
I think that is a great plan and should work well. Being herd animals, I think always being together with the SAME horses further solidifies that herd-like attachment.
As mentioned above, I only have two horses. My mare NEVER cares when I take my gelding. He will do some trotting the fence line (sometimes he will run) but not for long, and he will winny. He does NOT challenge the one strand electric fence that’s held up by temporary fiberglass fence posts and is just shorter than chest high on him. But still, every once in a while, after a ride, I will toss him out into a different field than my mare and leave him there, alone, for a day or so. He doesn’t like it, but he gets over it. Quickly.
I got the Evil Mini Pony (a.k.a., the Pasture Shark) to keep whomever is not being ridden company. It’s worked out great!
My daughter has 3. When she and a friend take 2 away, the third is unhappy but settles down. She has good fences and and a fairly safe barn and pastures. If she takes 2 overnight, she borrows a neighbor’s horse so number 3 is not alone overnight.
I’m with all the other owners of 2’s and 3’s … they do adjust. I currently have 2. Whoever stays home is in a stall with hay and water. Noise is made but no harm has happened.
I will say that I have cameras in the barn, and Husband Person will occasionally check the monitor (if I remind him to do so …) He has instructions to call me if anything awful happens. So far there has been no need.
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