Keeping only two horses at home

[coco10]

We are in the process of planning our barn on our small farmette.

Was wondering about the feasibility of keeping only two horses on our farm. They will both be riding horses, and I do plan to periodically trailer out for lessons/clinics/shows with one horse.

I’m thinking I probably need to consider having three horses.

Does anyone have only two at home where they are doing shows, etc. with one of the horses?

[normandy_shores]

I did that. Moved here last July, and went ok for 2-3 months. Then one started to get more and more herdbound. I had them in separate fields, and took each one away daily for riding grooming. Still didn’t help. Herdbound horse went THROUGH the fence and sheared off two posts.

Now I have three horses.

Herdbound horse was never herdbound before coming here, and coped by himself. I still have to switch up living arrangements every month or so or he gets too into the routine and gets ridiculous again.

Can I reiterate he was never herdbound at all before?

[Bluey]

It depends on the horses.

You may have two that are fine with one leaving and then the other leaving and not do more than maybe nicker when one goes and when it comes back.

I have one that doesn’t care, the other will wish he was going, none has a problem severe enough to have to shut them up in a small, safe place.

Then, if you have three, the same may apply, if one of them is badly herd bound, it will flip when his friend leaves, even if it has another left with him.

You can try training them by a steady routine of taking one out, then the other, always the same, then starting to change the routine and making the distance and time longer and longer, see who reacts how and go from that.
Also at times haul one only, next time both, even if you only want to take a lesson with one, leave it tied to the trailer, etc.

There are all kinds of possible combinations, you have to manage whatever kind you get, to keep them all happy and safe.

[GoForAGallop]

I did it for a bit, and eventually ended up with a third. One could handle being left alone, the other couldn’t. Didn’t do anything crazy, just paced the fenceline for hours and hours, working himself into a lather. No matter how often his buddy left. He still can’t be left alone, which is fine because he’s in full work. The other two can be left alone, even if their two buddies leave. Finally have a nice workable arrangement!

Had one here when there were four horses on the property who would literally go through fences (no-climb + top board) or try to smash out of his stall if even ONE of his buddies left. I had known him for five years at that point in a variety of settings (which is why I felt fine having him come stay), and his owner had known him for 15, and he had NEVER behaved like that before. Moved him to a huge boarding barn and he was better.

All that to say that even with three+, you can still have issues depending on the specific individuals. Horses are a pain.

[Zu_Zu]

Herd animals are always better/ safer with a ‘magnet’ … Three ~

I have found usually, as in almost always :lol:
[B]

herd animals are safer and happier ( not fence walking or just running through fences ) if they always have a

[/B]
“Magnet” = a buddy …

Hunt in twos … Board in threes

[SLW]

Agree with the others, it depends on the horse. I am down to two- my Connemara and my donkey. The Connemara gets hauled out a lot and the first time I left the donkey she called out but now she is a fine.

At the first hint of herd bound behavior I change things up. It’s one thing to be herd bound when being ridden and another to be herd bound at home in the pasture.

[Frog_Pond]

[QUOTE=Bluey;8223640]
There are all kinds of possible combinations, you have to manage whatever kind you get, to keep them all happy and safe.[/QUOTE]

Yup, and since you’re still in the planning stage, plan for the likelihood that you might need three stalls, if you can afford to build a bigger barn. You’ll never regret having extra space for storage if you end up with two sane, mellow horses. And if one of them starts losing their cool at any point, you can empty the stall of hay/shavings/tractor parts, and get that mini/donkey you’ve always dreamed of :lol:

I have a riding horse and a mini at home, and a two stall barn. My 3rd horse will be another mini, and I’m well aware that this might not solve the mini’s separation anxiety . . . at which point I’ll toss up a run-in and get another big horse :eek: :lol:

Seriously, though - no farmette owner has ever said “My barn is too roomy, what am I going to do with all this space!” You’ll fill it, with horses or horse-related-junk!

[coco10]

Thanks so much for all of the good information! I think I will try to situate things so that we have three. I hope we get lucky and our horses don’t have any major separation issues

[SquishTheBunny]

I had 3 and went back to 2. They will call to each other when one is away, but after a bit of time they just deal with it. I visually give the one left behind some grain or put them in their stall.

It would be beneficial to have them separate for an hour or so on a routine basis…ie one in a stall and the other outside. They get to know the other will be back!

3 is a good number though. I’m likely having #3 move in soon.

[ElementFarm]

We started with three. Things were great: we could take one horse away and leave two, we could take two horses away and leave one. Everyone was fine for 6 months. Then one went off to the trainers. Within a week, the two remaining got more and more attached. To the point where the redheaded mare (normally a sane, sensible show horse) would bolt over people and through stall guards if the other horse got turned out before she did. Prevented from bolting out, she would proceed to run around her stall screaming. The other horse got upset too, though to a lesser degree. We brought a third horse back into the mix and within a week, equilibrium was restored.

We now have 4, which I think is the perfect, manageable number. I would never do 2 again, and would insist on 3 based on that experience.

[Texarkana]

Just here to echo everyone else…

I brought my two horses home a few years ago, thinking they’d be fine with just the two of them. Nope, not a chance-- they were stark raving lunatics. Got a donkey to keep them company and suddenly all was right with the world again.

[saultgirl]

I have two here and it works for me, however, I don’t trailer either one off the property so I can’t say for sure how that would work.

I can ride my mare within eyesight of my gelding and they are both fine.

My mare won’t go off alone. And my gelding will freak/go through fences if he is left behind.

I can ride my gelding anywhere and the mare doesn’t mind. The mare is mostly retired so it doesn’t matter much.

[S1969]

I think you need about 5. #1 to go to the clinic, and #3 to stay home with horse #2 when they don’t go to the clinic with #1. And #4 that can stay with #3, if for some reason you also want to bring horse #2 to a clinic with horse #1. And #5 is the one that you find on Craigslist because no one else wants it.

Don’t get me started on what to do if one of the riding horses is injured.

[js]

I started out with two, was alright as long as both stayed on the farm together, no hauling out separately. Also, when I took one out to ride the other would run around the pasture and make a scene, was hard for the other horse to concentrate on work. I quickly got a 3rd horse, solved all problems other than now have 4!

[Flash44]

[QUOTE=coco10;8223627]
We are in the process of planning our barn on our small farmette.

Was wondering about the feasibility of keeping only two horses on our farm. They will both be riding horses, and I do plan to periodically trailer out for lessons/clinics/shows with one horse.

I’m thinking I probably need to consider having three horses.

Does anyone have only two at home where they are doing shows, etc. with one of the horses?[/QUOTE]

Right now I do. If one gets left alone, it’s in a stall. If you regularly tie them up and ride one at a time and separate them, you should not have a problem. When you cater to them, you start having problems. I can ride one at a time or haul one out and they are both fine.

[Fergs]

[QUOTE=Flash44;8223987]
Right now I do. If one gets left alone, it’s in a stall. If you regularly tie them up and ride one at a time and separate them, you should not have a problem. When you cater to them, you start having problems. I can ride one at a time or haul one out and they are both fine.[/QUOTE]

I have two mares at home, and this is what I do. Keeping them in their stalls with hay to occupy them seems to keep them calm and not obsessing over being the one left behind. That said, I lucked out in having mares that get along but don’t really like each other – it has really helped keep the crazy to a minimum.

[KitKat987]

I have two at home. I take them off property at least a couple times a week, whether i ride them out or trailer them to a lesson or some other activity we have planned. Sometimes I take both, sometimes just one alone. Neither are herd bound in the least, which makes it easy. I bought them both as youngsters and started taking them off alone on a regular basis to make sure that they didn’t get super clingy to one another because I’m not sure there’s anything i hate more than herd bound horses. It worked, they are perfectly happy to go without one another. Most I’ll get is a little nicker when I pull up in the trailer with one after being gone all day. If I had three, one would probably end up alone anyhow half the time.

[tabula_rashah]

I’ve done both 2 and 3- I pretty much have the same problem with either number because I sometimes take 2 with me. What I did after some not so great trial and error was give whichever horse that I am leaving at home a dose of ace before I take the other horse(s) out of the field. After a couple times on ace, I weaned down the dose until finally no ace. It seems to have worked well for me and now they will call but they don’t spazz. I also make sure when I’m ready to go that I load and leave- I try not to linger to make the calling back and forth get the horses wound up

[Bluey]

That is what I do, but being older ranch horses, they are used to being alone just fine.
I don’t even have to put the one left behind up, he just waits in the pens on his own and if gone for long, goes on to graze alone.

I did have for a while four and one was an insecure, scaredy-cat type horse, that would lose his marbles if anything was out of the ordinary, so he flipped every time a horse left or came back.
He didn’t last long here, was not good for him, needed to be in a different place and management.
He is fine now as a weekend competition horse and boarded in a riding stable.

Every horse and situation is different and can change also, just play it by ear first with your two horses and add if you see a problem developing.
Three over two does seem to keep most of them from getting as buddy sour as some do, if they tend to do that.

All bets are off, until you try it with your horses. They may surprise you.

[King_s_Ransom]

I had two when both were retirees and not going anywhere. I could ride King out alone, but Eli would dive-bomb us, bucking and farting for attention. We didn’t mind and King never even looked at him. After a while, he stopped and we were all good.

Now I have four and two of them go off regularly, except everyone stays home all winter. Every spring, my retired OTTB gets his nose out of whack when the other two start leaving. Eli does not care one whit. (Though I don’t suppose he would care if all three of them left and never came back, he is not attached to them … at all.)

When I start taking the other two out for training and riding in the spring, I put Cooper up in his stall with hay and water and he throws a couple of total fits and gets very snarky for about two weeks. Then it’s over and he’s fine for the rest of the year until the next spring.

I agree with everyone else, it really does depend on your horse(s). However, I do think most feel insecure to be left completely alone. Four is a good number for us as we take two out and can leave two at home. (Though I say Eli doesn’t care about the other horses, I doubt he would like to be completely alone either.)