A lonely horse, or a happy horse?

Question

How do you all feel about leaving a horse alone?

My horse was pasture boarded at my property w/ another gelding, who has recently been sold and trailered away. At first my horse was a bit upset, but now he has completed settled and seems perfectly content. I plan on hooking him up with another pasture buddy as soon as possible; but, honestly, he seems perfectly content. He rides even better than usual, actually.

I've heard some horsemen preach against leaving a horse alone, while others recommend it. The folks who recommend it say that you can ride your horse out w/ out it running back/ bellowing to its buddy. Others, of course, say that leaving a horse alone interferes with his/her's " natural herd mentality."

What do you think?

Answer 1

I can't see why anyone would recommend a horse being alone.  A horse should always have a pasture buddy.

Answer 2

before i moved we sold a lot of our horses and kept 1 at my grandmas until the barn was built and my horse was by himself until we moved him to the new house and had other horses with him and you can take him out without him wanting to go back to the other horses but 1 of the other horses always wants to go back if some other horse isnt with him and he has always been in a big herd of horses

Answer 3

Both arguments are correct.  The "buddy sour" problem can be avoided by getting a different species as a pasturemate, such as a goat.

Answer 4

I think if someone spends time with the horse everyday and the horse is able to see familiar people outside and around his pasture, I think the horse would be fine. I think the loneliness comes when no one pays attention to the horse for days at a time. A horse doesn't need 24 hour companionship, but needs to interact with someone or something on a daily basis. The best though is for the horse to have a companion.

Answer 5

As long as the horse seems happy, fine. We have one horse who would sit in your lap if he could and just loves humans with all his heart. He thinks he's a dog. But. . . He HATES other horses. He enjoys being turned out alone and attacks any other horse we try to put with him. He is perfectly content to be left alone in the barn or in the field. so some horses are just loners.

Your horse sounds like he is fine without a buddy, but would probably enjoy having one since he had one in the past and enjoyed it. Maybe having a horse alone helps to strengthen his bond with his caretaker.

Answer 6

I think it totally depends on the individual horse.  Some horses are so lonely when not in a herd and it stresses them out.  Others are totally fine being along.  If your horse seems fine, if his attitude hasn't changed, his habits haven't changed, he's probably fine.  I wouldn't worry about it.

Answer 7

When I was young and still lived with my parents, I had a little Arab gelding. He lived by himself since we could only barely afford one horse. I paid attention to him almost every day, and I thought he seemed okay. I did notice that whenever neighbors would ride by on their horses or if there were horses he could see on the neighbor's property he would be very excited.

When I went to college, I took him with me and for the first time in years he was turned out with other horses. I cannot describe the absolute glee he expressed at finally having company of his own kind. He was ecstatic. He whinnied, he ran, he jumped. And I realized how lonely he must have been all alone in the pasture for those years. And I vowed that he would NEVER be alone again. And he wasn't - not ever again - until the day he died.

I really regret now that he was by himself for that long. I really think that horses as herd animals need company, so I hope your horse gets a nice new buddy soon. Yes, there is the risk of horses getting co-dependent or herd bound. However, the risk can be controlled by separating them regularly for work, and ensuring that both horses have good manners and discipline to do their jobs.