If your house to barn situation allows, you are the other herd member. If the barn is within talking distance of the house the horse hears and knows your routine. If you can see each other from the kitchen window even better - they like watching you. If you have a back porch/laundry room/garage that faces the barn even better.
Your horse feels like he is a family member at a move removed distance.
They really become quite synched to your routine - to the point that you get a nicker in the middle of the night when you go to the bathroom!
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lol yes very true,he will look at mesometimes through the bathroom window 
- the barn is quite close and he certainly can see and hear us and has even been seen sleeping right in front of the porch in the early days of the old mare s departure.
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Iâd probably err on the side of him needing an equine friend. We have a tiny little farm so when I brought my old mare home years ago I got her a mini - a larger one, like a little shetland, but still technically a mini. He and my gelding are now very bonded (but not to the point that I canât separate them when I want to haul out etc).
I learned my lesson when the old mare died and the mini was alone. I thought all was well, then he went walkabout one night looking for friends. I had to hike him home over several miles (thatâs how far he had to go through cash crop land to find some beef cows).
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Purely anecdotal.
It depends on the individual horse.
Back in the 80s I had one horse. He hated it. Any time I went on a trail ride he was faster going out (hoping he might meet another horse?) than coming home. One day he jumped out of his pasture and ran 2 miles down the road (a direction I had never ridden him) to a barn with horses. I got him a companion.
But in the 90s, I ended up with just one horse (when there were other horses there she had been at the bottom of the pecking order) and she was clearly happier to be the only horse. I had a retired broodmare belonging to a friend lined up in case she needed a companion, but she didnât.
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Iâm sorry for your loss. I currently only have one horse right now. When the senior gelding she lived with moved out, I was ready to haul her to the boarding barn where my greenie is currently in training. But to my surprise - she is happy as a clam. She enjoys mosying from pasture, to her stall, to the smaller grass paddock at her leisure - not beholden to a boss mare/gelding or pecking order.
Itâs hard not to feel guilty because itâs been drilled in our heads that they canât live alone. But she seems happier than ever. I do have two goats that keep her company, but theyâll be out in the pasture for long stretches during the day without her. They all hang out at night and keep an eye on one another. I joke that she is the goatâs emotional support horse. 
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I have an alpha TB mare who lost her pasture companion. She visibly mourned for a few days. She was rather âclingyâ to me, and preferred to stay in a paddock rather than the pasture. I gave her time, and spent extra time with her to help her adjust. It took a few days, but she went back out into the pasture on her own. She did ok on her own, and because she has such a strong personality (and is huge, 17+ hands), I felt that if I wanted to find her a companion, I had to choose carefully. After a few weeks, I was able to find another mare, about the same age, that needed âre-homingâ due to the ownerâs change in circumstances.
Yes, I think both girls are happier with each otherâs company. But I have also learned that just having âcompanyâ is not enough. The personalities need to mesh, especially in older horses.
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yes i totally agree ! should i get another horse ( which i am stro-ngly considering these days ) they will have to get along - not an easy task since most people donât want to do a trial period or lease
Have you found another horse yet @buzul?
I thought I would come back and tell the story of the people across the road. They bought the property 2 years ago but just recently got 1 horse. They kept him back by the barn area( i could hear him whinny occasionally).
They finally let him out on their pasture which is a long rectangle bordering the road and if he stands at the farthest, corner he can see my pasture( well a part of it) which is way, way down the driveway and 98% completely blocked from the road by the house, a few buildings etcâŠ
Yet from day 1 he stood in that corner calling to my 3 who ignored his cries. I could barely see him, just a black shape moving but he sure knew my horses were there.
I was out at the mailbox and went across to pet him one day and he was in great weight and sporting neon fly boots He didnât look distressed but was again fixated on my pasture and getting a glimpse of my guys.
I am happy to say I just recently noticed the absence of frantic whinnies and saw a gold body out in the pasture. It appears he has a buddy now. I think they made the right decision as he was clearly lonely.
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