Single Horse... Solitary Confinement?

[verthandi]

Quote:
Has this horse been living alone? and just recently you haven't had as much time with it? A thought, if this has been a normal lifestyle for him, what about finding a responsible neighborhood kid that might like to groom him now and then? You might be surprised how many young people would think they had died and gone to heaven just to be near a horse. It seems I always have some young teenager that just wants to visit with the horses. They don't care if the horse is ridable or not, or the fact that they won't get to ride, they just want to work around them. My older horses seem to really appreciate the extra attention.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I know what you mean. I have a horse and bought a pony to keep him company. When one or the other dies I plan on advertising to find someone with a similar situation that is happy to have a place to keep their horse. I think it would be a great solution. You may even find someone that wants to pay you to keep their horse in your pasture in exchange for keeping an eye on it. Many people don't want to give up their horse when they can't ride anymore, but they don't have a place to keep them.

 

[Redcatcher]

Quote:
Has this horse been living alone? and just recently you haven't had as much time with it? A thought, if this has been a normal lifestyle for him, what about finding a responsible neighborhood kid that might like to groom him now and then? You might be surprised how many young people would think they had died and gone to heaven just to be near a horse. It seems I always have some young teenager that just wants to visit with the horses. They don't care if the horse is ridable or not, or the fact that they won't get to ride, they just want to work around them. My older horses seem to really appreciate the extra attention.

He has been alone in the past but there was always a lot of activity going on. Things to watch and sounds to listen to. He is equally "entertained" by human activity as by horses. The temperatures here have been in the teens (F) during the day and nobody is going to want to spend any amount of time out there, nor would I expect them to. So far, the older kids I have met around here are apathetic about animals. Spoiled rotten. Basically an old farm here surrounded by $750,000 homes. I wish it were not that way.

 

[2pinkmom]

You might be surprised. I'm the product of city parents, and grew up in the suburbs. I rode and was a working student on the horse farm. But If a neighbor had asked me if I would like to come over and fuss over their horse... I would have been there so often they would have been sick of me!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Same here.

 

[Alabama ee]

I also think you would be surprised at how little a small donkey needs. The hard part is not feeding them too much. They can get fat very easily. During the summer I just give them treats like apples etc. Now that it is winter and there is little grass, I give them good quality hay twice a day. I never give them grain. It is too much for their systems.

These little donkeys are a lot of fun too. They have a sweet gentle nature about them. Just like you mentioned about your horse, many of them like to watch people. Ours LOVE to do live Nativity scenes. People will drive up to see the scene and watch them. They are watching right back. They are almost like equine dogs. They are so loving and smart.

 

[The Lisser]

My neighbor keeps three large paint horses with 2 mini donkeys (they are as small as my mini Nubian goat - they are smaller than my Alpine goats!) and they all live together in complete harmony. The big horses share their food with the minis no problem. The minis are like dogs they are so tame. I would think the only expense with the mini donkeys that would be more than a goat would be having their hooves done.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

How about goats? When we brought my first horse home, we only had one horse. Before we brought her from the place we were boarding, we bought two goats and put them in a pen right next to the horse paddock. They spent most of their time together and goats are so easy to take care of. Ours were nubian whethers and complete dolls. I wouldn't put the horse and goats together, they will enjoy the company even if it's just between the fence.

 

[geebs]

even a goat makes good company...

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Two "solitary horse" stories. #1 Years and years ago. My first horse. I was on active duty and shared a house with a bunch of people. I bought her at an auction and brought her home to a smallish paddock with a shed. No grass so I fed hay free choice. Rode her every evening. Fed every morning and evening. Imagine my surprise when the local kids started coming to the door asking for rides. Come to find out from them that every day after I left for the base, she'd jump the fence and go visiting. At one time or another every kid around had ridden her bareback. She went from house to house visiting all the neighborhood horses! and would be back in her pen by the time I got home. If the kids hadn't told me, I'd never suspected. Once we moved her to a commercial barn with other horses, she never again offered to jump a fence and go visiting.

#2 happened more recently. After we retired, my brother and I each bought property here in Alabama, built facilities, and eventually moved about 25 head here. Only 3 of those were mine. However it took half a dozen 900-mile trips to get everybody here. The plan had been that my 3 would come together in one load--the last load because my fences weren't built yet. Somehow my oldest mare got shipped in the first load. I wasn't really thinking about it when I moved her straight here instead of leaving her over in my brother's barn with all of his horses. Maybe 3 weeks went by with her still alone in my barn. Then a neighbor's horse got out in the middle of the night. We found him standing with his head over Star's door, basically just keeping her company. He did the same thing the next night. By the 3rd day the neighbor had his fence fixed and we got no more visitors. Once the gelding was gone, my mare Star quit eating. She stood by the paddock fence and watched for him for hours and hours. At night she called for him until her voice got hoarse. It was heartbreaking to watch, so I immediately put up some fencing and got my other 2 up here on the next load. Her reaction to their arrival was a stunning eye-opener for me. She rubbed them and licked them and crowded so close that I had a hard time getting her in her own stall at night--she wanted in with one or the other of them!

Horses really are not meant to be alone.

JMO

Rusty