haven’t read any comments yet, but i’m sure folks have suggested to get her a friend. It’s pretty easy to find horses that need a retirement home. I’d go with a gelding instead of another mare,
Probably should read the thread. The horse has a friend.
The OP has a plan.
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oh, alrighty then, will do
They did not, but that is a good idea.
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Thank you for your reply! Yes thankfully she is eating drinking peeing pooping all normally. We’ve got her on the exact same hay and feed she was on before as well. I am going to just try to get her on a very definitive schedule and give her more time to settle…and let her work it out as well. I’ve got her on some calming supplements and also got resperine from the vet which I plan on starting next week if we still don’t see an improvement.
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We had a horse that was absolutely terrified of my goats in the adjoining pasture. We tried to get him to come up to the fence to see they were ok but he was adamant. Eventually he got used to them. I imagine that with goats, cows and Llamas your horse has plenty of adjusting to do.
For some horses other livestock can be extremely stimulating.
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we got our show princess a TV for her to watch, she really like the old Mission Impossible series
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OP UPDATE
Thank you again for all of your input! Wouldn’t you know, we seem to have had a breakthrough. Yesterday, I decided to turn her out opposite her buddy, she had a brief galloping temper tantrum, came back in her stall and paced for awhile, and after that, she was LITERALLY a different horse and has been totally cool, calm, and collected since then. I’m not sure what the catalyst was for the drastic and immediate change in her behavior, but I’m thrilled that shes calmed down! As I type this in fact, she is calmly and happily grazing out in her BIG pasture! Wow! She seems super happy!
We opted NOT to start her on the resperine as I wanted to save that as a last ditch effort should things not have improved after another week or so, as I was concerned by some of the side effects. We started playing classical music on low volume in the barn which she seems to LOVE, and I have also been giving her a couple of calming supplements (Equine Elixirs Calmakaze, as well as VitaCalm), which despite only using them for 2 days so far, they must be working!
Yesterday after her major fit after she calmed down, I was able to work with her, walk her down to the main equestrian center and lunge her and she gave me a super nice ride as well.
Horses…gotta love 'em. After all my 10+ days of being worried and heartsick, with the flip of a lightswitch she seems to be happy!
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I hope this doesn’t come across in a negative light, because I certainly do not mean it like that, but perhaps it is a good time to allow your horse a bit more freedom to be a horse. That friend across the aisle may be more helpful and enjoyable as a friend in her paddock with her. Regardless of how horses have been housed for periods of time, it is still natural for them to appreciate companionship. With the companionship and partnership, I bet she’d be far more comfortable in her new surroundings. Peeling off layer by layer of that bubble she’s been provided may actually make her happier. Many of those bubble items and procedures are for the people, and less so for the horse.
I say that from the context of my own show horse experiences when I was younger where my horses lived in stalls and individual paddocks…and now my far less stringent boarding situation where my horse has a humongous pasture with one well matched friend, and a shelter with free choice hay. He’s so happy.
Edit: of course after I posted this, I see your update at the end of the thread. I’m glad she seems content now!
