Seperation Anxiety

[Anthony]

I have a team of Suffolks, a 4 year old gelding and a 13 year old mare, who I’d like to begin separating so I can do some ground work/foundational training and begin working them single. I’ve been working with them since March, and I believe they had been a team for only about a year prior to that (they both had worked with other horses and been on other farms prior), but they are quite attached to each other.

I’ve attempted to begin the process by leaving the gelding tied in the barn and putting the mare out to pasture. At first she was anxious and would run back and forth along the fence line (single strand electric), lots of calling back and forth, but then settle in and I could leave her out all day. She would begin to be more aware of me and could focus well without her teammate. I then switched their roles and left the mare in the barn and put the gelding out to begin working with him alone. The mare became much more upset in the barn and pawed somewhat violently for a while, lots of calling back and forth, but the gelding seemed to settle in the pasture a bit, until I saw he was back in the barn and had run right through the fence. I put them back together for the rest of that day and tried again the next. He seemed to settle in better, the mare still very upset, but after a few hours had run through the fence back to the barn again. I decided to step back and try to figure something else out. Last night when putting them out to pasture I left the mare to graze and took the gelding out on the lead rope for a walk no more than 100 feet from the pasture fence. The mare was very unsettled, lots of pawing and running back and forth, reaching her neck over the fence, anxious, especially when I would turn a corner so the gelding was out of her sight, so before I got myself into a mess, I put them back together.

So, it seems that somehow I’ve actually gone backwards a bit! Can anyone throw me some ideas on separating these horses?

[Donn Hewes]

My two cents. When you have one tied up good, put the harness on the other and go to work. Next day tye up the other, do the same. Ignore the noises from the barn and keep the working animal busy enough so they will let go of the other while they are working. That is what I do.

[Does’ Leap]

I agree with Donn. My geldings were inseparable when I first got them. I tied one in the barn and pulled logs all day with the other. Then I switched roles. A few days of that and now they are fine. One warning: I would have someone occasionally check on the one tied. One of my geldings launched over his tie stall when tied alone and got all tangled up but not hurt.

George

[Jay]

I sometimes will separate for a shorter time to start with on a regular basis With mares and foals, I start with about 2 minutes,making it longer each day. With 2 adults like this 5 or 10 minutes to start and then longer as they get used to the idea, but as said above, keep the one who is away busy- best is working or at least taking a walk with you, not left alone unless you know they are in a really secure place. I also give the one left behind some hay to eat if they will, so that becomes something for them to look forward to.

Jay

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