I’m a longtime rider but new to keeping horses myself at home, so please be kind if this is a terrible question. We have two horses currently, an older mare and a young OTTB. The older mare lived by herself before he arrived and is fine away from him. The OTTB is extremely herd bound to the mare, however. I can take him off our property without her and both are OK (well, he’s nutty, but typical OTTB baby stuff, manageable). If SHE leaves, though, I am afraid he will run through a fence or kick apart his stall when he realizes he’s alone. I’d like to take her to a show for the day a few times this summer. Would it be safe - and would it even work - to tranquilize my other horse so he doesn’t hurt himself?
You can get him un-herdbound, but it’s usually a lot of training. You have to work on his anxiety issues, and put him on a tying up program, and regularly work on separating them. I only have 2 horses as well right now, and separation is part of my every day routine training program, so when I do take one horse away, the other is fine.
I’m not big on drugs, so can’t help you in that respect. A third horse can help.
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Yeah, we are working on it and there’s been a lot of improvement, but I’m looking to do something in the meantime so he doesn’t hurt himself. I don’t see making enough progress this summer to separate the two otherwise.
I would be leery of using a tranquilizer unless there was someone home to monitor the horse all day.
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I can’t really blame him for being upset at being alone. Attachment issues are partly why only 2 horses is tough to maintain. I would get them a third pasture puff that will babysit whoever is alone. It could even be a mini or a donkey or something. It will be much safer and more reliable than drugging the horse for a whole-day show. You could try Ace in your training efforts to manage the herd-boundness, as they can learn on Ace and it can help take the edge off their anxiety – you don’t necessarily need a lot, they shouldn’t be drunk, but I’ve used in on many TBs for many different issues involving anxiety. BUT there isn’t any kind of drug I’d give and expect to work for being away all day, especially in a horse that I knew what so distraught, and unless someone was home to monitor the horse the entire time (and knew how to re-drug the horse, I guess, because what else can be done?), I’d be a nervous wreck expecting the worst when I got home.
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Agree with this. I’d be worried about the other horse all day.
I had the same issue when I first brought my two horses home. The old one didn’t care but the young one freaked out if left alone. I got a mini-donkey, problem solved. The horses still prefer each other but no one outright panics if left alone, as long as the donkey is there. Personally I wouldn’t want a third horse just to be a buddy. My donkey is a lot less expensive and less work than a horse. Plus if I take both horses somewhere my donkey brays and paces, but his sense of self-preservation is too strong for me to worry about him hurting himself.
I suspect your attachment issue might be extra bad because one is a mare? I’ve known a couple of otherwise sensible geldings who get crazy-attached to “their” mare but are fine with other geldings.
I’ve used dormosedan paste for this occasion. I have two at home. Over the years I’ve found eventually they all get over it if given plenty of time. Some horses are better locked in a stall while others do better in turnout. I always give them a special snack like hay cubes before leaving. Even the really herd bound ones do come around once they realize you always come back.
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Yes, you can try the tranquilizer, do a trial run before actually taking the mare away with someone staying home and making sure that the young horse is OK while you and the older mare are gone. See how much of a dose you are going to need to be effective. There is nothing immoral or illegal about using some tranquilizer. Probably a good solid dose, 2 cc of acepromazine (atravet) given IM 30 to 60 minutes before you go to load your older horse, but your vet will probably have input on this for you too. Once you get the other horse AWAY and out of sight and range of answering the calls from the horse left alone, the young horse may call a bit, but will usually give up when his calls don’t get answered. AND get a goat as a third member of your herd. 3 is a better number than 2 because you can take one away and the horse left still has company. Good luck. Horsie politics are always a PITA.
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Thanks! This is really helpful feedback. We WOULD plan to have someone home while I was at the show, so I’m less concerned about that. And I am working on my husband coming around to the idea of the third herdmate, either equine or something else (goat, maybe).
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I will second/third what posters above have said. I have two at home and one is a bit of a pickle about being alone. So, before I ride / trailer out the other one, I Ace the fussy one – about 45 mins-1 hour before I plan to leave so it is fully effective. I will sometimes give a second dose before I start prepping the other one to actually leave. Then fussy one goes in her stall with water and hay. I know she is safe in the stall. The first few times I go through this routine, I’m not gone very long - an hour or so. As the season progresses, the away times get longer and the Ace gets reduced. Usually I get to a point where I can just leave fussy one in her stall. She makes noise, but she is not frantic and pacing because she has learned / remembered that other one always comes back.
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Minis are easy keepers and they are often pretty easy to find for free adoption. Might be an easier sell to the husband. 
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Minis are TOO easy keepers, and can come with health issues due to their breeding to produce the very small size. They are small, but have the same vet bills as big horses. They founder easily. They can’t eat alongside your big horses, often need a different diet. I’d go for the goat. The main downside to goat ownership is the need for goat proof fencing. Goats are the classic “companion animals” for horses at racetracks, they are often tethered outside a nervous horse’s stall. The only danger in using a small animal as a companion pet for a nervous horse, and keeping them together, is that some horses will strike at the companion animal, or play aggressively, and the companion animal becomes “hoof packing”. Or it can be kicked, and break a leg or be killed. Introduce them carefully, and hope for the best.
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Not a horrible question, but the herd instinct is DEEP AND STRONG I have never found that tranq is enough to ensure horse is safe alone and eat and drink. IE if you give enough they stay calm, it is too much for them to eat safely. Plus he will come out of it while you are gone. I would just bring him along if you want to show her that much.
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The other downside to goats is that some/many like to eat horse tails and tractor seats. I boarded at one place that had goats. If you parked the tractor in the field you needed to bring the seat into the barn. They had eaten 2 previous ones. John Deere tractor seats are expensive and apparently taste good.
If they do get out they like to climb. Your car is fair game. Many goats are escape artists.
You also need to make sure they don’t get into feed with copper in it.
I only have two…I keep working them away from each other, but I’m also fortunate that where I am boarded, there is a mini in a paddock near mine that my horses can see. Mine are getting better and better and less screamy the more consistent I am with their routine. Good luck! Two can be tricky! There is cattle fencing along one side of my paddock, but if they were going to be too attached (I just got the second horse), we were going to get a couple goats.
