Thank you. Yes I’ve ordered some calming supplmenets for her and am planning on increasing her workload while she acclimates. To answer your question, it is an equestrian community with farms all clustered together - no other livestock. She’s had a few different grooms over the years but I’ve of course been her primary rider/handler for the past 4 years. I do plan on ditching the ace as that was only recommended for when she became dangerous.
Thank you so much for the encouragement! We did go out the other night and had a glass of wine on the barn porch with her, which she seemed to enjoy “hanging out” with us.
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Yes I’ve ordered some calming supplements (not CBD specifically, but I may try that!) She has NEVER in her entire life gone out with another horse - she’s always been in the “show hunter bubble”. She is one who often pins her ears at other horses when nosing with them, etc. so I’m not sure how well that would go.
And yes, that is part of my own frustration is that we designed our property so that she can move around all the time, but that is where we are seeing the most anxiety with her - is when she’s turned out! I thought her being able to be out more would help but it’s where she really works herself up. The only place so far where she seems to feel calm and happy and safe is in her stall all shut up. She has multiple dutch doors on her stall to look out onto the property (and her dry lot and pastures) so maybe we just need to slowly introduce her to the availability of those things after she’s had a lot of time to look at them out her dutch doors.
Oh thank you for telling me this! I feel better that I’m not alone! I swear they breed the brains out of thse show horses sometimes. They can jump the moon for us but are afraid of trees .sigh Thank you so much though…your post made me feel better that it will get better over time.
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Yes! I think it will just take some time … possibly even months lol … our mare is happy as can be now, but still, if one thing is out of place (i.e., plastic bag in pasture) she is shocked and horrified. She was always super quiet at the boarding and show barns so I expected a smoother transition. And, like I said, all these years later, she still loves her stall.
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Sorry if you mentioned this above - can they see each other when turned out? Or does your mare feel like she is totally alone when in turnout?
It’s a big change for her so you definitely need to be patient and I’m sure it will improve daily, but it might take a while.
A new home and new environment can wildly change a horse. Just because she was always out “in a bubble” alone before, doesn’t mean she can handle that life now. She was “alone” at a presumably large, busy, bustling farm that had lots of friends and people around to provide her comfort.
Now it’s just her and one horse she’s never even actually met. I’d be putting them out together, myself. Or getting an actual in-field companion for her if the other horse’s owner is not open to them going out together.
I read the other horse is coming back from an injury so not worth the risk. You do say she’s happy in her stall so maybe that’s her lot in life going forward. But that sure is more work for you.
Yes, is it possible to be turned out right next to the other horse?
Do you plan to get more horses? Maybe the question is…how many stalls do you have? 
She will acclimate. In her past life, she had a schedule and people told her what to do all the time. Now, she is living in a place where she can be autonomous, but she doesn’t know how. She literally does not know what she wants. You can help her develop her confidence, and curiosity, and she will get to the point where she ambles around as she pleases.
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I just moved my two horses, together, to a new facility. It was two weeks before they were relaxed in the barn - solo or together. That relaxation wasn’t even their normal level of relaxation, but just relaxed enough to say that they were getting more comfortable in the new barn.
I got the impression that her stall opens to a small turnout area, which then opens to the pasture. If that’s right you could try closing the pasture gate and just put her hay (and maybe water) in the small area for a week or several, opening the pasture again once she’s comfortable in the small turnout.
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She’s gone from being a city horse with lots of horses everywhere living in a ‘busy city’ (boarding barn) to living in, to her, the middle of nowhere with some other random horse.
Just like people, she will take a bit to acclimate.
One of my horses went through a similar change. I thought he was going to kill himself those first 3 days. He ran the fence day and night. The vet finally gave him some reserpine which helped a bit. He got over it, decided it wasn’t so bad, and settled right in.
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I went through this exact thing with my mare. It was terrible at the time but we made it through, and she’s been at our farm for three years now and is doing great.
What helped:
- we put her on Zylkene for a while. It was pricey but I think it helped. We also did ViaCalm, less sure how helpful that was but it made me feel better to think I was doing something.
- went from 1 buddy to 2. I am not 100% sure this made the difference but my mare got very attached to the one buddy, and I think it added to her anxiety. When there was a third added, I think she became less obsessed with the one because there was another “back up” if one was out of sight for any period of time.
- I got back to riding her to keep her brain busy. She was in her mid 20s so nothing crazy but the routine and having a job was helpful.
I remember watching the nest camera for nights and nights while my mare anxiously weaved. Ugh! It gets better!!
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Just wanted to thank you for working to create such a lovely-sounding home for your horse, however ungrateful she may be at this time. 
Keep us posted and let us know how you’re all enjoying the new farm, once things settle down. Congratulations on achieving this dream – even if it’s not so dreamy just yet.
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Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond with such thoughtful and encouraging replies - I truly appreciate it! Each of your posts have offered me perspective and ideas regarding this change, and I can already say that this morning is starting off on a MUCH better (and calmer) foot (er, hoof lol) than yesterday.
One of the key takeaways from the replies that really stuck with me was that I have to remember that she is coming from a LIFETIME of complete control over every single move she’s made all day long as a show animal. Now, as one person offered, she has no clue what to do the autonomy I’m trying to give her…and that’s likely scary for her. I hadn’t considered this at all. From my perspecitve, it was just “look now you have room to roam and FREEDOM! Why don’t you like this?!”, without thinking that “freedom” may be scary to her in a way. Rather than giving her ALL the “freedom” at once, her freaking out and then spending the day having to work her down from getting all riled up, we will work the opposite way and SLOWLY increase her exposure to her new home.
So, with that in mind, this morning we started out calmly with our same morning feeding/mucking routine, BUT, with one adjustment. Rather than open her gates that lead from her dry lot to her big pasture, I kept them closed, and only offered her access from her stall to her dry lot. I put out strategically placed hay bags in different areas of her dry lot so she can be encouraged to explore and be exposed to the sights and sounds of her new home, but hopefully be distracted by munching. Once she shows a greater level of comfort in the dry lot, we’ll plan to expand her access to the pastures again. I’m hopeful that this plan will work. My husband is also going to work with her in the pastures, hand-walking her around to continue to orient her to the property to help calm her nerves, and I will continue her exercise regimen and walks through the community, which seem to help keep her brain busy, as well.
Supplementally, I’ve got calming pellets coming today, am going to back off the ace entirely, but feel good about that I can always call my vet for another option if we get a few months down the line and shes still not improving.
Thank you again everyone…I am hopeful we will work through this…you have each given me great ideas, and hope that things will get better over time.
UPDATE So despite a nice, calm morning today…I went out to the barn this afternoon to work her, and found her at her dutch door, eyes wide, head in the air, quite literally shaking and pacing and spinning like a lunatic. I had to shut all of her doors just so she wouldnt become a danger to herself. Next call was to the vet who gave me a month supply of Resperine, which hopefully will help to take the edge off while she acclimates. I left her alone for awhile and after she calmed down, I was able to successfully bring her out into the aisle, groom her, do some stretches, and then I took about an hour to hand-walk her around our pastures and farm to let her graze and explore responsibly. She only had a few spooky moments, but at least I was able to accomplish it despite a difficult afternoon. I also thought it would be a good idea to put ear plugs in her (she always wears them when we ride) during the day, as beyond our stable’s rear wood-line is a highway and I think that added noise may also be bothering her, so hopefully the ear plugs will help with that when it’s noisy during the day.
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Sounds like an amazing plan!
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I think you have received some fantastic advice here. I’m going to add one thing. It seems like you’ve already figured out that restricting her access to a big space is a good way to go.
I would add that when you do open her dry lot to the pasture, use hot tape to section the pasture off. Don’t let her have access to the whole thing. Once she gets running, she ends up in a cycle of adrenaline. I would try using a solar charger, step-in posts, and a space that feels like a small paddock to her. Scatter alfalfa out there. Gradually enlarge.
Also, one buddy may well be not enough. Like passenger pigeons, show horses are used to being in large flocks. Full barns. I have a mare in my barn right now who’s owner tried to take her home to a similar situation and haul in for Lessons. The mare just lost her shit. She likes to be in a barn surrounded by others. She likes to go out and paddock surrounded by others. There’s a certain threshold of company that keeps her confident. Too few horses equals anxiety.
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Just a quick reminder the calming supplements take a little while to work. My TB does really well with smartcalm ultra but it took 3 weeks to see a difference. I recently tried to wean him off and that was a no go he just gets anxious and I’d rather reduce anxiety to prevent ulcers. I’m expecting another 3 weeks to see a difference once I put him back on the supplement so be patient
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Change is hard. I moved my mare from a 24/7 turnout situation to a barn with an indoor for the winter (I broke my ankle and couldn’t do self care). She stopped eating and was very anxious. It was a BIG change for her. Even though the new barn provides very good care, she was used to being out all the time with a friend . . .
It took about 2 weeks for her to settle in.
Is your horse eating? One of the things I did for my mare was give her alfalfa hay, which she would eat and which would help buffer her stomach.
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Yes she is eating drinking peeing pooing all normally - she just has these huge explosive temper tantrums and spooks throughout the day - thats really the biggest issue right now. As I mentioned its “only” been a little over a week so far, so I’m hopeful that with some calming supplements she will relax a bit.
A question has been nagging at me this whole thread.
Did her previous stable have a radio playing? IF she is used to that it might make her happier. Hey, even if she is not used to it she might end up calming down since a radio could drown out random noises that get her attention.
Maybe you are lucky and have a classical station. If not an “easy listening” station might be good.
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