Showing with herd bound horses

[Mcl1]

I keep my 2 geldings at home, one is a 6 yr old TB and the other is a 6 yr old mustang. They are very much inseparable which is not surprising given that they are together 24/7. They are generally fine and not herd bound when they are the one being worked with, but the one who is left behind in the pasture gets worked up (running, whinnying, etc.). I have a set up here where they can pretty much always be in sight of each other (holding pen attached to arena, big pasture that is in sight line of most of the property) and this has worked fine.

However - I would like to be able to take the TB off property to lessons and shows at some point.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue, and if so, what did you do? Is there any hope of acclimating them to being apart from each other? They are the only horses on the property.

I could bring them both along for the exposure but I am a little concerned about having two green horses off property with only my non-horsey husband to help. I honestly have no idea how the mustang would handle a new atmosphere. I got him untouched in July - he is now fully halter broke, I can jump on him bareback, pick up all fours, load him in the trailer, etc. I pony him all over my property and he rarely spooks or acts up. He generally has a very calm and very patient demeanor (would stand for hours to be groomed) but is wary of new people. He was doing pretty well with the limited interactions he had with strangers until he got traumatized by a vet visit for a dental. My husband can lead him, hold him, etc. but wouldn’t be comfortable if he were to start acting up.

My TB is just a lot of horse in every way. Not spooky, but zero patience, very mouthy (will literally pick up and grab ANYTHING within his reach), wants to be involved in everything all the time. He has gotten much better about his ground manners but he is the type that scares anyone non-horsey (including my husband).

Looking for any input or ideas for how to make this easier.

[Demerara_Stables]

I hate to say it, but you might need to get a third horse. Is it possible to get a third equid - maybe a rescue burro or mini or the like?

I’ve shown with herd bound horses, and once they are separated (one off property and one home), they are ok, if the one at home has another buddy. I wouldn’t leave one at home unless I knew it would be safe and not run through a fence. I have one mare that doesn’t care if she’s alone as long as she has hay, but she’s the only one out of 5 that I could leave alone (and I have horses right next door so she’s not really alone).

If you can get the “home” horse a buddy, I find that my herd bound horses are actually better when they travel alone vs traveling with their buddies. My older mare will go anywhere alone and be totally chill, but if I bring a horse from her herd to the show with her, she’s a basket case unless she can see the other horse. There are ways to manage it, but I would only trust a very skilled handler if you were to bring both horses somewhere together. If you have access to a handler that can get them used to traveling together, it’s possible to acclimate them to it, but it can take a long time, so that might be harder than just ripping the bandaid off and leaving with one of them.

[trubandloki]

@Mcl1

I keep my 2 geldings at home, one is a 6 yr old TB and the other is a 6 yr old mustang. They are very much inseparable which is not surprising given that they are together 24/7. They are generally fine and not herd bound when they are the one being worked with, but the one who is left behind in the pasture gets worked up (running, whinnying, etc.). I have a set up here where they can pretty much always be in sight of each other (holding pen attached to arena, big pasture that is in sight line of most of the property) and this has worked fine.

However - I would like to be able to take the TB off property to lessons and shows at some point.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue, and if so, what did you do? Is there any hope of acclimating them to being apart from each other? They are the only horses on the property.

I could bring them both along for the exposure but I am a little concerned about having two green horses off property with only my non-horsey husband to help. I honestly have no idea how the mustang would handle a new atmosphere. I got him untouched in July - he is now fully halter broke, I can jump on him bareback, pick up all fours, load him in the trailer, etc. I pony him all over my property and he rarely spooks or acts up. He generally has a very calm and very patient demeanor (would stand for hours to be groomed) but is wary of new people. He was doing pretty well with the limited interactions he had with strangers until he got traumatized by a vet visit for a dental. My husband can lead him, hold him, etc. but wouldn’t be comfortable if he were to start acting up.

My TB is just a lot of horse in every way. Not spooky, but zero patience, very mouthy (will literally pick up and grab ANYTHING within his reach), wants to be involved in everything all the time. He has gotten much better about his ground manners but he is the type that scares anyone non-horsey (including my husband).

Looking for any input or ideas for how to make this easier.

Before you buy another horse, I would give taking your TB off the property a try.

It might work out fine.

I too have a very herd bound pair of horses. The horse that freaks-out over the slightest bit of not being able to see the other horse (D), is the one that stays home.
When I load up my riding horse (S), D is… freaking out.
Now that freaking out settles down pretty quickly and all we do is annoy the neighbors with screaming periodically while S is gone.

I too have a non-horsey hubby.
When we started this I would put out some high quality hay that they did not normally get for D, in places that it would be easily seen during the freak-out. Yes, the hay will get destroyed as they grab a bite and then freak-out some more.

Mr. Trub was home to make sure things did not go sideways with D.
I started with a shorter time away and now I can go away for a few days.

Now clearly, you need to decide if this is something you can do with your horses. D was not the fence jumping type. D ran around and screamed and did get very worked up. Now D just expresses their dislike by screaming while eating hay.

[Pico_Banana]

I have this problem too. Had two mares for a while, one extraordinarily herd bound. Got a third horse - a gelding. Herd bound mare is not satisfied with gelding as substitute for other mare. Herd bound mare runs and runs looking for other mare when she cannot see her. At herdbound mare’s age (30), I worry that doing this too much will literally be the end of her. My plan is to eventually use ace and trazadone to attempt to take other mare off property. Ace to let us leave without a problem, then hopefully the trazodone will help her remain calmer when she wakes up to find other mare gone.

Have not yet run this past my vet but obviously will do so before attempting.

[exvet]

I own 4 but keep 3 on my property. The 3 at home are a coming 11 year old Welsh Cob (homebred) gelding, a coming 3 year old Welsh Cob gelding who we purchased in September and a coming 14 year old Mustang. The two older ones have been together for 9 years. They all ‘love’ each other and can get ‘married’ to each other. We regularly take the older two trail riding and leave the youngest at home. He will run, whinny and work up a sweat. Fortunately we have safe fencing and footing. I expect eventually he’ll get over it all as we continue this practice. If either of the other two are left alone while the others are gone he/they will whinny a couple of times, maybe run once and then bury their head in hay. It took a few times for them over being alone. Any of the 3 are very good away from the other two too. When showing 2 by myself, I have taken the mustang just to hang out at the trailer because he’s so good at babysitting and is perfectly happy to stand all day in front of a hay bag. It really just makes my life easier because when in the ring with one I know the other two will be perfectly fine.

Back to my 4th one, he is the best ‘buddy’ horse around and is now 23 (Welsh cob gelding). He weaned off several of my babies over the years, traveled with my stallion many times being left on a trailer or tied to a trailer all by himself with a hay bag. He is currently a buddy to another retired horse. He just doesn’t get married to anyone and has always made my life easier because of this trait. I have to say he was pretty much born this way as opposed to my other 3…but for me all of them just have to get over it as long as we’re talking about safe, pretty escape proof situations. I have yet to have one get so worked up that they tie up or colic…to that point since I am in Arizona, if it’s summer time and hot I will put the one left behind in a stall with plenty of hay just so they can’t run in the heat.

[Bogey2]

Don’t bring both if you can avoid it…I had to ship my horse separately to shows because he fell in love with the other horse on the trailer…and it went on until I retired him from showing at 19 LOL

[beowulf]

I do this every year… Give them the winter off and it’s like they all meld together and forget how to work independently for a living. The first few rides are usually accompanied by caterwauling, but we get it done.

The best advice I can give you is to start small and have a sense of humor. Don’t make your first outing off property be the important lesson. Bring your TB somewhere a few times before the lesson, don’t have an objective or goal, just let him settle in. Handwalk or ride quickly and go home - keep it SHORT. Chances are after a few outings he will remember his job. TBs tend to be a bit more worldly about this than other breeds. Leave the solitary horse with lots of hay/grain. I’m mean - I will withhold grain until right before I leave. Grain the solitary one and then pull the horse I’m taking off property and grain him in the trailer. I’m gone before the solitary one finishes his grain.

Mine are out 24/7. They can run all they want. I know some people pull horses when they start to run, sometimes it might be necessary for their safety, sometimes it might make the anxiety worse. If I ignore mine, they settle after a few minutes. They’re not fit enough to make a scene for long, lol.

It helps to use more high value food for this - alfalfa hay or grain, so that they associate it more pleasantly. As I get older I am more and more willing to provide food for good behavior.

[luvmyhackney]

Either a third horse or leave the mustang at home with a big pile of yummy special hay and a splash of trazadone.

Usually after a couple times they settle.

Signed,
Someone that had two horses and got a third to stop that issue when trailering but then started taking two horses off property and now need a 4th horse to make sure all have friends.

[NancyM]

Have had several instances of horses wanting to be together… but where you really see it being a problem is when you have them BOTH at the horse show. Usually, the one that’s with ME is ok, it’s the one that’s left behind in the stall who feels alone and does the screaming. There’s not much you can “do” about it… it’s a horse “thing”, herd mates are very important to some horses. Not such a big deal for others. You can’t “make” a horse not care about his herd friends.

My old horse, when I was a kid, he was very attached to his girlfriend. His girlfriend was owned and ridden by my friend, and we were often in the same jumper classes. So… we stood together at the side of the ring, and warmed up together, which were both acceptable options for my horse. (His girlfriend didn’t care one way or the other). But when the girlfriend had to go into the ring to do her round… my horse was not happy… but he allowed this, IF she went to the in gate but he could still see her, then he watched closely as she did her round, and she was to come DIRECTLY back to his side when she came out of the ring, he would allow this without pitching a huge wreck. He would sometimes give her a nicker of encouragement as he watched her round. As long as we all played by the rules, his rules, no problem. Any deviation from the rules, and all hell broke loose. And believe me, it was worth avoiding all hell breaking loose. This horse would also jump out of any stall at a show with a half door that opened onto the outdoors, whether or not his girlfriend was there… so if the show had stabling like that, I could not stable at the show, whether or not his girlfriend was there too. Self destruction and generalized disaster was always a real possibility if anything was not as required. By him. The humans in his life had to comply.
Even if we came to the show in different trailers, my horse could recognise his girlfriend immediately and from a distance, and the rules were applied. It was easier on everyone to play by his rules. THAT was the worst case of showing with herd bound horses I’ve ever seen. I believe he still wins the prize in that department.
If you are having the horse left at home throwing a wreck about your horse leaving for a horse show, it seems that you need that horse to spend time with another horse who will stay home when your show horse leaves to compete, so that your second horse still has a friend at home when you remove the first friend option for an outing.
Good luck. Horsie politics can be difficult.

[libgrrl]

It’s funny, people tend to prefer geldings over mares, but (in my experience) it’s the geldings that tend to react this way more frequently. My gelding would go absolutely bonkers if his favorite friend left, my mares couldn’t care less.

[Mcl1]

Thank you all so much for your advice!

I do have room for a third horse, but I was hoping to avoid that as I would rather put my time and money into the two that I have now. I had actually considered a burro but we have a lot of grass pasture here so I think weight management would be a big issue (same for a mini).

The mustang is pretty sensible in that I don’t foresee him going crazy and hurting himself - he will run a little bit but then just stands around and whinnies.

I can separate them out of sight on the property so I will start working on separating them periodically. The mustang is very food motivated so I will make sure he has plenty to keep him busy. He was the only horse on the property for a few weeks when he first came home and settled down pretty quickly considering it was the first time he had ever been alone, so hopefully that bodes well for him being able to handle separation.

[Mcl1]

The high value hay is a great idea, he is definitely not a fence jumping type and I have a nice holding pen where I could spread out hay and hay nets for him.

[Demerara_Stables]

@Mcl1

I can separate them out of sight on the property so I will start working on separating them periodically. The mustang is very food motivated so I will make sure he has plenty to keep him busy. He was the only horse on the property for a few weeks when he first came home and settled down pretty quickly considering it was the first time he had ever been alone, so hopefully that bodes well for him being able to handle separation.

That’s great! Starting on property is a good plan (with some yummy hay/grain) and when you do take the TB off property, keep it short as someone else mentioned. You could even just drive around the block and not even “go” anywhere. It’s doable!

[NancyM]

Rather than saddling yourself with a third horse, you could “try” a goat for company for the horse that is left behind. Eats less, cheaper purchase price, and is sometimes acceptable as an adequate companion.

[ParadoxFarm]

@libgrrl

It’s funny, people tend to prefer geldings over mares, but (in my experience) it’s the geldings that tend to react this way more frequently. My gelding would go absolutely bonkers if his favorite friend left, my mares couldn’t care less.

In my experience, this is true. I had an older gelding that I was showing by himself, and he was an absolute angel. Love this horse (he’s 30 now). He’s mellow and quiet, and the boss in the herd of geldings. However, we got a mare. He LOVED the mare. The mare was the boss. He LOVED the boss. But he never did anything silly, and I rode him without any issues at home, etc. Well, we took both to a show, and the mare was just fine. The gelding? I couldn’t ride him. He was in the warm-up arena calling and galloping and I had trouble controlling him. It was shocking how he reacted to being separated from her. And he was probably 20 years old at the time. Silly boy.

[SpicyPRE]

See if a local rescue needs a foster. Great way to give back and offset some expenses while the horse at home has a buddy.

[Djones]

The additional equid is not a guarantee. We have 3 horses and one donkey. Take 2 horses away and horse 3 will run over poor Chico donkey to fully express his dismay. Alfalfa fixes that pretty fast.

The tb is already a lot of horse. Teach him to manage himself regardless of the source of the angst du jour.

[luvmyhackney]

@NancyM

you could “try” a goat for company for the horse that is left behind. Eats less, cheaper purchase price, and is sometimes acceptable as an adequate companion.

And so much more of a PITA than another horse/pony.

I love my goats and use them as friends for my pony, but they are silly escape artists who always want what they can’t have.

[prunebey]

I’ve experienced this as well! I have a mare, and my friend who shows with me has geldings. Unless my mare is in heat she pretty much doesn’t care whether anyone else lives or dies (especially if I’m with her). The geldings on the other hand…they flip-a-sh*t & scream nonstop when you take their buddies away lol.

[PonyApocalypse19]

My geldings become bonded when they ride on the trailer together for as short as 45min. It’s awful but at least all they do is call for the one that has left. I’ve tried the alfalfa treat while I go to my class and it sort of works but not 100%. At home they aren’t even stalled next to one another and there’s grumpy faces when I put the one in the cross ties next to the other’s stall. I guess they figure they have to stick together once they’re off the property or they might get left alone there forever!
We’re planning on taking our 3rd horse (small horse) with to shows this year, so it’ll be interesting to see if #3 will keep the other one calm while I’m showing one of them. My luck I’ll have two calling for the missing buddy since one lives next the small horse and the other used to get turned out with the small horse. Can’t win!