Mare obsessions!

[Flipo's Mum]

There’s a mare on our yard who displays some interesting equine behaviour and I’d be interested to better understand it if anyone might shed some light on it.
She’s a bit of a magpie, always interested in the newest horse in her field/ in the field next door to the point of obsession and complete distress when that horse is removed.
She had a fieldmate, but when flipo moved back next door to her, (he was on boxrest last winter) she wouldn’t leave him alone and would stand for hours next to him while he stood snoozing (he has a particular spot and he’s a quiet lazy dude!!) they groomed and just liked being together. She would scream and run up and down the fence line when I took him out but that wasn’t often as he was still convalescing. Then flip got a fieldmate and suddenly the mare next door switched her affection to the new horse (a five year old highland mare) and flipo was ousted. She’d walk away any time he came near her , ears back and he was all but ignored by all horses.
The mare’s fieldmate then was sadly pts but this seemed to have little affect since the mare was now obsessed with the highland and would go daft whenever she left. Running up and down for hours, screaming.
The highland then moved to another yard and it was just flipo and her for a few days but she was now not interested in him and ignored him. Then she got two new neighbours on the other side of her and became obsessed with the mare in that field, becoming very distressed whenever that horse was removed, no matter the fact that she had company from flipo.
These two horses have now moved across the road (but still within sight), two other new horses (geldings) have moved in next door to her, and interestingly, she’s still obsessed with the mare across the road and is very upset when she is taken in which is sad to see.
The owner doesn’t work the horse due to an injury the mare experienced as a youngster and she’s now around eight or nine and just a sweet loveable pet.
There’s no chance of her being fieldmates with the mare she’s obsessed with and it’s sad to see her so distressed by the removal of one horse when there are so many others around her. Could she have been weaned poorly? Would that have contributed? Can it be resolved for her?

 

[Jessey]

One of my neighbours geldings has been like this with Jess since we moved, he never took the blindest bit of notice when we were the other side (it was all about his 'brother' then) but is now completely besotted with Jess.

What you say about weaning could be something to do with it, I know E was a blood bank foal and came to his current owner at about 5 months, so weaned pretty young and I doubt sympathetically, likely just shipped off to his new home.

It could also be a lack of stimulation if she's just a pet, E's owner doesn't ride much and he isn't allowed in with his 'brother' as they play fight too much and rip rugs, so he's in solitary confinement with little respite from it and always has been and I wonder how much that must effect him.

 

[newforest]

So who is her companion now?

My first thought was seperation anxiety.
Second thought, she has lost a foal.

Not being ridden doesnt have to mean no work mentally and I would probably try and add some other interest in their lives.
Inhand work might give them something else to do, the next twenty years living like this doesn't sound great. To me if a horse can walk around a field, it can walk elsewhere.

 

[Flipo's Mum]

Thanks for the replies. I don’t think she’s had a foal herself, although I guess I could be wrong. She’s now flipos fieldmate, but I was concerned about the possibility of separation anxiety between her and flipo and that flipo needs a quiet environment now he’s getting older (and she does sometimes have a lot more energy to expend than my old man of a horse) so they are sharing a field but for an electric fence barrier that splits them. They have, reluctantly spent a bit more time side by side, and I was worried about taking him out after not being able to get him out for the last month due to work and the weather, but to my surprise, she didn’t even notice him gone. Too interested in spending most of her time at the bottom of my field staring at the mare across the road and neighing to her the odd time.
I’d like the two of them to be better friends but I can’t risk my horse’s joints. They speak over the fence but for the most part it’s like a sort of bickering that I witness, she goes to sniff him and he puts ears back. He goes to groom her and she moves away, although I wonder how much of this is to do with me as my horse is a bit jealous of me speaking to other horses these days. I’m not sure what they are like when I’m not there and have over the last few days spent a bit of time at the field to see what they get up to, but the majority of the time my flipo just stalks me, and the mare is down staring at her long lost pal across the way.
Workwise im not sure, I think the owner does some stuff with her during better weather. I’m never around during the day when she’s about so I wouldn’t like to judge but I might ask if I can play with her a bit on the ground. She’s a sweet thing and a wholly different temperament to my flipo’s slow and quiet way, so I’d be interested to see how we get on together.

 

[squidsin]

None of the mares are that extreme on my yard but I've noticed they're much more fickle than the boys and tend to be 'best friends' with each other for a couple of weeks before moving onto a new best friend!

 

[newforest]

She could do with a horse in with her. She still doesn't have any company.

 

[Flipo's Mum]

Yes maybe newforest but I can’t afford to take that chance with flipo right now. I’ve not ruled it out as a possibility but I’ll always put my horse first. Trouble is she was like this with her separation anxiety with flipo when she was attached to him, but was sharing with another horse. Didn’t matter that the other horse was in beside her, when I tried to take flipo to the Vet one day, she went mental.
I’ve now been down at the field for two hours and it’s a stormy day so the owner of the mare across the road has taken her in to her stable. The two geldings are also in, so it’s just flipo and the mare. Flipo is gandering about, munching, having a snooze etc, while the mare has done nothing but pace around her field, intermittently screaming. She walks past flip when he’s stood at his bit at the bottom of the field but just can’t seem to settle because her latest obsession is no where to be seen.
This isn’t going to get any better aswell, as the mare she’s attached to, will move fields during the summer. She might end up back in the field next to her. She might end up away at the other end of the yard, who knows. But what would be better? That she can see and touch her idol, or to deny her all access to her completely?

 

[newforest]

Having had an elderly horse with this issue keeping her alone was advised when I bought her. It went against everything I knew about horses wanting and needing company. The only option for company was if I handled both all the time.
She would do the up and down pacing and screaming after splitting up from a hack with a friend. After an hour she would settle down again. It was horrid everytime we split up.
When I went to a show we went solo and kept away from any horses we knew, she would just latch on big time. So if I had two you can't take both in the ring at the same time!

If she is is pacing around is she staying sound? Could she be worked? I was told this would help give mine something else to focus on besides constant worry. Magnesium might help which with mine I didn't think of back then.

 

[Lissie]

Sounds like she'd be better out in a herd set up.

I agree @Flipo's Mum I wouldn't want a horse like that in with mine I wouldn't want to start problems from injuries or having to deal with a pair bond if yours is happy how he is.