Barn/Buddy Sour Horses

[chelzee22]

Hey! I’m looking for some advice/suggestions from fellow eventers with barn or buddy sour horses. I had 1 OTTB in a field for a week alone while I searched for a buddy, and after introducing the buddy, another OTTB… they are inseparable. I’m glad that they get along, but I hate how attached they are.

I took my first horse off the farm and he kicked in the trailer (which he never does) and screamed his head off. The other one ran the fence line while I was gone… Of course, they were back to being content after reunited.

I should add that I have a very small 2 horse barn and the horses are right next to each other (I use corral panels for stall dividers). There’s no good way to keep them apart.

Any suggestions? I don’t have a good way to separate them as I’ve just moved to this property an am still getting things setup.

[Minerva]

Is it possible to have one in, one out, and then switch them? I think that’s what I would try until I got everything in order. Are you going to have stalls with solid sides? If so, that should take care of it since they won’t have contact with one another while in. If not, I think I’d make sure they were in adjacent fields for turnout* since they’ve shown that they can’t be trusted not to act like fools if they’re allowed to be together too much.

*Once you have a chance to get things set up the way you want, I mean.

[FatCatFarm]

Unfortunately they, and consequently you, seem to have to learn to suck it up until it gets better. You might want to get a small or mini donkey to be your third wheel companion to whichever one gets left behind. It lessens the screaming which is the biggest trigger for all of the drama. Otherwise, whomever gets left behind gets locked into a stall where they can’t jump/climb out with water and a full hay net where hopefully they won’t do harm to themselves until their buddy comes back. Having two horses is worse than having one or three, I’ve found.

[LadyB]

Can you do an added one on outdoor board? Have three on the property for this reason?

I had this problem, my mare and gelding were attached at the hip, it was awful. They had to be separated, never turned out together, it was only best this way.

[knic13]

I had a very similar situation, OTTB had to wait about two weeks for his buddy to arrive.

Good news is that with some work, approach detailed in thread I started on the subject (link below), I was able to get to manageable levels of buddy bound behavior in just a couple weeks. I expect to have to do some refreshing once the weather gets nicer but don’t think it will be nearly the trial it was the first time around. I had been making it a point to bring OTTB into the barn by himself at least a couple times a week just to groom, but he is on stall rest currently, so I have given up on that hassle for the moment.

My OTTB still has a melt down if left by himself in pasture or field for more than a couple minutes but he is the one I plan to haul out so while annoying it is not the end of the world.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?479611-Buddy-sour-or-just-adjusting-to-new-situation

[chelzee22]

Thanks, guys! Actually, I have corral-panel stalls (limited space) and they can see each other at all times.

This morning when I went to turnout, one could STILL SEE the other and was already upset. If left inside while the other was out, I would be worried about an injury.

Perhaps I could leave one inside and one outside for a few mins every day and gradually increase?

[chelzee22]

Yes! I plan to DEFINITELY have stalls with solid sides! Especially after this fiasco!

[chelzee22]

No, I don’t think I’d be able to take the wear and tear on my field. They do have three horses nextdoor, though

[chelzee22]

THANK YOU! I’m not sure how I missed your post!