>>> The last horse I bought, a sensitive and intelligent TWH, had a terrible transition when I bought him. He had been owned only briefly by the seller, who had moved just before I bought him. I brought him home to our place then moved him up the road a mile to a boarding facility where it was easier to work with him. I took him to one endurance ride and then he had a big time crash required $3000 worth of hospitalization and the only diagnosis was stress.
Well, we live and learn, don't we? Thanks for sharing that. I think the difficulty of transition periods are too often overlooked by new owners but at least you can share and hopefully make more people aware. >>> So, when I bought Stephanie's Icelandic, I actually bought two just so that the move from the only home they'd ever known would be easier on them.. They have had the most amazing adaption I've ever seen. I don't think you've been on the list very long...? About three years ago, we bought Falki and Skjoni, and they had a way-too-exciting trip to NC from British Columbia. At least it was way too exciting for their new owners, who were impatiently awaiting their arrival. Despite our checking references, the hauler got pretty flakey on the trip, ended up going AWOL with them for three weeks, and we had to bribe her to get them out of her possession. I'll spare the list and I won't repeat the story, but long story short, they arrived home seven weeks after they left BC, not the one-week we expected. But, they were buddies before they left and apparently the nutty hauler didn't abuse them, so they arrived here, perky, chipper and no worse for the wear. I say thank goodness they had each other. I know they had SOME adjusting to do when they got here, but they did very well. >>>> The question for me, however, is am I creating a monster by encouraging this bonding between them? Will I have trouble when I need to separate them for whatever reason? Hard to say, I guess. Do you have other horses? I think two single horses on a property tend to get more obsessive about each other than if there are multiple horses to befriend, but even then, some do fine. Falki and Skjoni live in a pasture with our stallion, and we have no problem taking one or the other out, or both together. We do have 25 horses on the farm though, so there are always plenty of horses in sight. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
