So I brought home my first horse last Friday (Nov 30th). She’s a 17 y/o QH and she was at her previous home for 13 years, very calm and sweet, wants to run back home on the trail but I’d say that’s her only vice. Her old stall had a small turnout and she lived with one other horse and two minis. I was expecting a long adjustment period considering that she was at her previous home for so long, and going from a private backyard home to a large commercial barn, but we’ve run into a few bumps.
First day she’s here, we put her into a 12x24 pipe stall with neighbors on both sides. She seemed relaxed enough and got along okay with her neighbors, and by the third day she was eating all of her food and drinking well (she thought bermuda was gross at first but now accepts it, haha). Fourth day comes around and her neighbor is taken out for a ride, she paces back and forth and calls for the neighbor for hours, and doesn’t eat her breakfast because she is so anxious. That, combined with her stall becoming a mud pit from the recent rain, prompts me to move her to a barn stall.
First night in the barn stall, wouldn’t follow me into the stall and seems afraid, won’t eat or drink, paces back and forth for hours and works up a sweat. Long story short, after calling the vet and talking to my old trainer and getting some tips from both, she’s eating well and drinking again, and is calmer. Follows me into the stall and watches what she can from behind the bars (barn stalls have windows but aren’t allowed to keep them open for long). Rolls and runs around when I turn her out, then just paces back and forth in the direction of that neighbor she loves so much. Here’s my problem:
I don’t know if I should keep her in the current barn stall, or move her back outside to a different pipe stall. Her old owner says that she’s a busybody and that she’s very social and loves to observe, which I can tell. She seems upset that she can’t see past the barn stall walls or say hi to any other horses. So I have the option to move her to a different section of pipe stalls, not close to the neighbor she got too attached to. She might be happier up there since she isn’t isolated and this one neighbor that she got too attached to may have just been that certain horse. On the other hand, she may just latch onto her neighbor no matter who it is because she’s anxious, in which case it might be better to keep her in the barn stall even though she seemed happier outside. I’ve always been of the mindset that outside with neighbors is the most natural, but the separation anxiety is upsetting for both her and myself. It’s apparent that it’s going to take a lot of time for her to be back to her normal self, and I just want to make the adjustment period as easy as possible for both of us.
BTW, I’ve gotten advice from old owner, old trainer, new barn manager, other boarders, and everyone is saying different things for different reasons. So I guess my solution is adding more opinions into the mix :sigh: haha, please help!
