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I brought home two horses (both previously companions of each other) from a boarding and training facility. Since being moved to our property, the horse I have had the most experience working with (lunging, riding, ground manners) is bonding the least to both my husband and me. He accepts very little touching and prefers to shy away. If I try to catch him, he initiates an escape plan. The horse I have had the least amount of experience with is very personable and willing (follows you everywhere, allows himself to be groomed, lunged, etc.). Also, when I took the second horse out of the paddock for lunging, the first horse threw a fit and ran around, bucking and complaining. The second horse was never out of sight of the first horse. The person selling the horses thought keeping these two horses together would be a good idea, but I am having second thoughts. Any suggestions?

Last Updated: June 18, 2009

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Horses are herd animals and feel very secure in a herd environment. Some horses bond very strongly to other horse(s) in the herd and when separated have a lot of anxiety. It sounds as if your horse fits that behavior. The only way to reduce the separation anxiety is for the horse to learn that it will be fine and can relax when the other horse is removed from the paddock. Here are a couple of suggestions: • If you have two paddocks that are not adjacent to each other, you can separate the two horses. Granted, the one horse will run the fence and whinny for a while, but over time the horse will settle down. Make sure there are no protrusions on the fence line that could potentially injury the horse. • You could also place the horse with the most anxiety in a stall and leave the other one in the pasture. Once the horse in the stall begins to settle down and relax, go in and rub on the horse. Feed the horse in the stall and generally work with the horse on the ground. The horse will then begin to adjust and be more relaxed and associate you as a calming force. To reduce their anxiety, you will need to leave those horses separated for quite some time, or they will re-bond. The process will be very much like weaning a young foal.

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