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Starting Friendships on the Right Hoof Kathie Gregory relates how two horses, one of whom had lost his long-term companion and the other who had lived alone in a stall for the past few years, were introduced over a period of about 10 days to form an enduring friendship
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here are two common ways of introducing horses. The first one in volves putting them together from the outset and letting them get on with it, so to speak. The second is to introduce them to each other gradually over a period of time, watching their body language and adapting accordingly. In this article, I will explain how I gradually intro duced two unfamiliar horses to each other with a view to them becom ing friends and living together.
The Details Existing Horse: Bear Background: 15yearold Thoroughbred. Lost his longterm companion a short time prior to this introduction. An exracer, he went to several homes, only to be returned with the reason that the resident horses didn't get on with him. Injures were sustained. In his current home, he was with his companion for seven years. He does not go out and inter act with other horses, he remains on the owner’s land. Property and Land: A 30 ft x 30 ft barn, open to the yard on one side. Two x 2.5 acres fields off the yard, with a gate to each field.
Incoming Horse: Toffee Background: 20yearold pony, thought to be part Connemara. Was a child's pony, consequently he was out and about doing many activities. Owners didn't want to give him up, so once the child outgrew him he spent his life in a livery stable. The last few years, he has been kept in a 10 ft x 12 ft stall 24/7 with only limited ability to see other horses. The only time he left the stall was when it was mucked out.
Reasoning for the Introduction Bear was clearly not happy being on his own and needed company. Tof fee's owner thought he only had a few weeks left and wanted him to have some happiness and time out of his stall. A chance conversation led to the idea that the solution could perhaps be to introduce the two and see if they got along. The hope was that Bear would no longer be on his own and that Toffee could live out his last few weeks in a natural environment. Pertinent to that was the knowledge that Bear had al ready lost a companion, and the loss of another so soon might not be in his best interests. The plan was to see if they made a connection and as sess Toffee's health with the change of environment, then determine whether it would be the right thing for Bear's emotional welfare to pro mote what might be a short friendship. The horses would have access to the barn and field 24/7 but would not be shut in, so it was also impor tant that Toffee's health could cope with this after living inside for years.
Session 1 – 30 minutes: Bear was in the field and Toffee in the yard. Bear was inquisitive and standing at the fence line. Toffee did not go up to Bear straight away but when he did, he was calm, quiet and ap proached slowly. Before he got to the fence line, Bear reared and let out a highpitched scream, came back down and stamped his front hoof as
© Kathie Gregory
Before Toffee started his training sessions with Bear he had been kept in a stall 24/7 for a number of years with his only outings being to a grass verge outside his stall for a few minutes while it was being mucked out
he lifted his head high. In the wild, this is a challenge to a newcomer, basically asking them, “Who are you?” Toffee did not respond in like. He slowly backed up and created more distance between them. He then wandered around the yard, only barely grazing, moving towards and then away from the fence line but maintaining a distance where Bear did not react to him. When Toffee decreased the distance between them a second time, Bear gave the same response. As before, there was no follow up to this. Once Bear had given his side of the conversation he went back to grazing and Toffee moved away. Following that, both horses mooched about at a middle distance, not close, but not that far from each other. The body language of both horses was generally relaxed and there was no observable stiffness or vigilance. Then Bear initiated contact by coming to the fence line. Toffee responded and they touched noses and sniffed each other for a few seconds before Bear once again reared and screamed, but this time he did not stamp his hoof. His head still came up, but not as high as previously. Following this, Bear screamed another three times when Toffee moved about even though Toffee was not mov ing towards him and there was still some distance between them. Each time, the intensity of Bear's response reduced, his voice became qui eter, and it changed tone to more of a startled sound when Toffee moved and Bear didn't expect it. Bear went back to grazing and then they met once again at the fence line. This time they engaged for a cou ple of minutes just touching and scenting each other. This interaction
BARKS from the Guild/January 2020
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