NOVEMBER 2010

Have just enough space, money or
time for one horse? Here's what you
need to know if you're thinking of
going it alone.

sign hanging in a
friend's stable reads:

"Horses are like

. potato chips ... you
can't have just one."
hat pretty much

said it all for my small circle of horse
friends in past years.

Then, the economic squeeze hit.

Like equestrians everywhere, we began
to cut back on tack, then training fees
and finally on the size of our herds.
And that's when we discovered that
horses aren't at all like potato chips.
You can have just one.

The one-horse possibility isn't
something most of us willingly em
brace. But it may, in fact, be the only

. option for equestrians today faced with
less money, less space and less time to
spend on their horses.

Fortunately, going solo can work if

a horse has the right personality, is
kept in the right surroundings and
receives the right care. My riding part
ner Linda discovered as much when
the horse she boarded on her property
went away for several weeks of train
ing. That left Linda's 9-year-old mare,
Bella, as the single equine occupant on
her two-acre lot.

Bella was perfectly content in her
pasture by herself with only the oc
casional glimpse of the neighbor's
horses across the fence. What's more,

the absence of her buddy made the
mare look to Linda for leadership. We
all noticed the change in the mare
immediately, and it wasn't long before
Linda decided to make the new living
arrangement permanent.

On the other hand, Julie, another
rider in our group, had a less positive
experience with single horsekeeping.
When Julie purchased a Pony of

the Americas (POA) mare, she figur
ed her new horse would do fine as

a pampered only equine. From the
day she arrived at Iulie's place, how
ever, the mare began pacing the
fence line.

Weeks went by and things didn't
improve-in fact, they got worse. The
mare stopped eating and whinnied
constantly, ultimately pawing a man
size hole through the bottom Of her
stall. Afraid that her new pony would
become ill or injure herself, Julie even
tually sold her to a family that had
several horses.

Some horses are just not cut out
to live alone, says equine behavior
ist Bonnie V. Beaver, BS, DVM, MS,
DPNAP, DACVB, a professor at Texas
A&M University. Many will fret,

pace or otherwise act out when no
other horses are around. Others sim-

. ply live in worried silence, possibly
developing behavioral quirks or physi
cal problems such as ulcers.

E QU U 5 39 8 73

I,;
i"
,!

YOUR ONE
& ONLY

• has adapted to stall confinement.

Confined horses are already used to b
ing separated from the herd, especially
if they've been kept in stalls where th ,
can't see other horses. The transition

to only-horse status may not be as dif
ficult for these horses as it might be for
others who are used to communalliv
ing in a herd.

When I began my search for an only
horse to live on my small lot, I was
introduced to a sorrel gelding who obv •
ously had an independent streak. I no
ticed he kept to himself most of the ti
and seemed alternately indifferent to
and annoyed by other horses. I was tol
he preferred people over horses, even
though he'd spent most of his years on
the ranch as part of a large herd. He
was equally willing when I rode him

. alone or in a group, whether going to 0
leaving the barn. I decided he was the
right horse for me.

Louie didn't disappoint when I
brought him home: From day one, he
seemed perfectly content as the only
horse on the property. To this day, he
hasn't so much as whinnied to the
horses two lots over, although he will
occasionally greet them with indiffer
ence when they are turned out into th
adjoining pasture to graze.

Although there are no guarantees
that any particular horse will adapt to
living alone, a little observation will
yield clues about which individuals are
likely to cope well. To find a horse who
can happily live by himself, says Beaver,
look for one who:

• separates easily from the herd. If

he leaves his barnmates without
hesitation or isn't concerned when his
buddies leave him at the barn, he's
probably fairly confident that he can
take care of himself. If, on the other
hand, he is anxious to join up with
other horses and refuses to depart from
a riding group, he may not be able to
cope with being alone in a pasture for
days on end.

• has more "fight" than "flight."

Horses who stand their ground rather
than run to the herd for assurance are
generally more self-assured by nature
and are more apt to have the coping
skills to be on their own.

• hasn't established a long-standing
relationship with another horse. An ex
ample is a horse who seems unaffected
when his pasturemate leaves for several
hours on a ride.

My previous horse was an off-the
track Thoroughbred who also seemed
to do well on his own, although this
probably had more to do with his back
ground than his personality, I suspect
his formative years at the racetrack,
where he was kept in a stall on the
backstretch, prepared him for life alone
on my property,

In both cases, I had every reason to
believe that my horses were happy with
the arrangement Each was eating and
drinking, seemed alert but not overly
worried about his surroundings, and as
far as I could tell, exhibited the same
pattern of behavior as usual.

PROVIDING A SAFE
ENVIRONMENT -

A horse's surroundings have a
strong influence on whether he feels
comfortable alone. "The safety factor in
the herd is most significant when there
is potential danger or when moving into
unfamiliar environments. If there is an
established paddock, barn or pasture
that the horse is used to, then there is

a security going with the location as
well," explains Beaver.

The survival of the equine species
over the eons depended on this ability
to assess dangers in the environment.
Whereas a person may have forgotten
about the horse-eating creature that
darted out from under the bush on

a ride some time ago, you can bet

the horse remembers the place and
the exact bush. He has survived be
cause of how well he distinguishes
between those objects that are non
threatening and those that are new
and, therefore, suspect.

The good news is that this desire
for security can help keep the peace in
otherwise challenging situations, such
as when a pasture mate moves away or
dies. To a horse the familiarity of the
stall or barn is the next best thing to
the safety of a herd and may even

NOVEMBER. 2010

EQUUS 398 75

substitute for one. "In many cases, these
horses don't even know the other is
gone because of the familiarity of

their surroundings," says Beaver, who
experienced this firsthand when the
older of her two horses passed away
recently, leaving the other alone and
otherwise unaffected.

If a horse is comfortable with his
surroundings before going solo, that's a
plus; if there are also other horses near
by at a neighboring farm, even better.

Beaver says just seeing other horses
in the distance can have a calming ef
fect on an only horse. I've noticed that
Louie will often lie down to snooze in
the sun, but always on the side of the
paddock closest to the neighboring
horses, even though they are some dis
tance away. It's reasonable to assume
that he is not too concerned a lion could
pounce on him at any moment while

he dozes because he is confident the
neighboring horses are keeping watch,
even if they are several hundred feet
across the fence line.

SOCIAL CREATURES: Some horses are
simply not cut out for living alone. They
will fret, pace or otherwise act out when
no other horses are around.

EVERY HERD
NEEDS A LEADER

To help a horse adapt to solitary

life requires that you provide him

with some social support. This

means that you must assume the

role of the lead mare in your herd of
two. Without that leadership, according
to Beaver, the only horse will never

feel safe.

I can attest to this. Remember the
Thoroughbred I mentioned earlier?
When I first brought him home as

an only horse, he seemed content.
However, as time went on and he dis
covered that my newness to the horse
game kept me from becoming the lead
mare he hoped for, he began to grow
anxious and to look wistfully at the
other horses across the way. Within

a few months, our relationship had
soured to the point that I decided I
could no longer earn his trust back and
sold him to someone who could.

It was a painful lesson, and I now
take my role as the lead mare very seri
ously. I spent two years learning the
language of horses from a reputable
instructor in my area. He taught me the
leadership skills that my horse so des
perately needs for his overall happiness
and well-being.

I also try to "stand in" as his herd
during especially scary times. Every

, I

76	E Q U U 5 398

4th of July, for example, I park my lawn
chair next to Louie's stall to assume my
role as the lead mare, hopefully provid
ing that calming influence he needs just
in case the fireworks upset him.

I like to think that I share a special

bond with my horse because I am both

his human and his herd. He certainly
greets me warmly at the gate, and he
seems especially hooked onto me in our
rides out with others. Still, I recognize
that I can't always fill those big horsey
shoes for him-certainly not while I'm
away and sometimes even when I'm
there. Those are the times that I wish he
had a four-legged companion.

THE GOAT QUESTION

Sooner or later, everyone who has a
single horse thinks about get

ting a goat. It's tempting

because goats are also herd
animals, yet they're much

. more affordable to keep

compared to an
other horse.

But can a goat really, truly fill in
as another member of the herd to
my horse?

Yes and no, says Beaver. "A horse can
only do horse things, and a goat can
only do goat things. So the bonding isn't
exactly the same. Think of it this way,
we bond with horses and dogs but we
don't bond in the same way as the horse
does, or the dog. At the same time, there
is an interaction that is appreciated,"
she comments.

Certainly, this is true of Louie and
the goat that lives in the neighbor's
property in back of ours. They make a
point of greeting each other by touch
ing noses across the fence, although
any sort of withers nibbling is out of the
question as far as the goat is concerned.
In fact, the goat appears downright
puzzled by Louie's gelding antics, and
therefore probably fails any sort of test
that might endear Louie to him as a
source of safety during those scary
times when the neighbor's boys are
wildly chasing each other around the
adjoining backyard.

Donkeys are a good al
ternative because, as fellow
equines, they. can mimic the

horse-to-horse relationships that a
herd otherwise provides. People I know
who own donkeys say they have a calm
ing influence on horses. These equines
are easy keepers, too, although I'm told
that their hooves do need to be trimmed

NOVEMBER. 20

regularly by a farrier who understands
them, and they can get laminitis if fed
hay that is too rich.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of ex
amples of horses buddying up to chick
ens, cats, rabbits and other unlikely
companions. The best equine compan
ions sometimes just happen along, as
Rosa Lee, another member of our small
riding group, discovered. She recently
moved her Paint gelding to a new facil-'
ity that came with two Great Danes.
Concerned initially that these big dogs
would be a source of aggravation for her
horse, she was pleasantly surprised to
find that they have become her horse's
steady companions and protectors. The
true test came during a recent storm,
when she found both horse and canines
huddled under an overhang, the three
of them riding the storm out together.

when I slumped in the saddle, no one to
cheer me on when I reached new mile
stones in my training. I spent months
on my own and then started looking
elsewhere for human companionship.
Fortunately, I didn't have to look far. I
found a small band of horse enthusiasts
close by, and they've been a continual
source of inspiration, instruction and
friendship ever since.

Most feed stores can supply a list

of local horse groups. My horse com
munity is a support network I wouldn't
want to do without as a single-horse
owner, knowing that I can call on any
one of these kindred spirits to share
information and resources during good
times and bad.

As a group, we sometimes buy horse
supplies in bulk and split the savings.
We each bring to the table unique
ideas, techniques and even amenities.
Whereas one in the group may have an
especially nice riding arena, another
may have a trailer that can comfortably
haul long distances. And, what we don't
have between us can usually be found
in the wider horse community. There
are several nearby arenas where we
can ride for free or are available to rid
ers for a small annual membership fee.

Without a doubt, owning one horse
can be both liberating and limiting. But
whether it's by necessity or by choice,
it's more than enough to satisfy the
horse dream for many of us. '"

DO YOU HAVE
WHAT IT TAKES?

After all is said and done, the one
horse situation may be harder on you
than it is on your horse. After all, your
horse isn't the only one who is going it
alone. You may find this arrangement
isolating, particularly if you leave a busy
barn to take up horsekeeping on your
own property ..

This was an unexpected wrinkle in
my grand plan to own a single horse.
There was no one to take me to task

78	E QU U 5 398

NOVEMBER. 2010