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Horse Behavior and Training

Separation anxiety when away in a float

By:

LennyLlama

Date:

2014-Sep-18 at 05:54AM

My mares very herd orientated and is more of I the follow the leader horse. She self loads on the float by herself or with another horse. When travelling with another horse she is fine, she will stand still contentedly and munch on hay. By herself she will load on and be fine. But as soon as the car moves, she may start to panick and call out, turn her head, get her head stuck behind the divider on the other side of the float, move back and forth and generally get very anxious. Is there a way to teach her that it's okay to go in the float without her buddies and it's fine to go out without them?

JoHewittVINTA 2014-Sep-18 at 09:36AM

Hi. Your mare, like every other horse, is wired to be part of a herd. Some horses cope better than others with the challenges we give them. I would suggest that you take her friend too when travelling as she will be less likely to injure herself & therefore save on heartache & vets bills. Look at what we ask when we travel a horse; put yourself in her position. We ask that they go into a confined space, often for long periods. It moves, it makes noises, it bounces about. Perhaps the journey ends in a fun event, but maybe, from the horses perspective, she will never see her friends again ( if you have moved away ). Possibly, the stress of joining a new herd. Horses have minds, albeit on simple terms but they have genuine concerns. Often we 'require' horses to match the behaviour we perceive normal when a little thought would show us we are not being as reasonable as we believed. Cheers, Jo