Just like humans, horses can also experience loneliness. Therefore, horses should only ever be left alone temporarily for reasons such as illness or injury, such as when on stall rest.
Loneliness can lead to poor behavior such as kicking the stall door and other aggressive behaviors in horses, due to pent up social energy that needs releasing.
Restlessness
Like humans, horses can experience feelings of isolation when they feel alone. They will become unresponsive to their environment, have glazed eyes and may appear unresponsive during grooming or riding tasks. Furthermore, lonely horses might stop eating or drinking properly which leads to weight loss which often indicates their condition.
Pacing back and forth along a fence line is one of the clearest indicators that a horse is lonely. It is a form of stress behaviour which may cause horses to become easily distracted from their tasks and difficult to manage, while at the same time increasing risks such as hoof-tangles or even injuries such as tangled hooves due to repetitive movements straining tendons and muscles.
Another telltale sign of loneliness is excessive sweating, an indicator of stress response which may stem from emotional or physical upset, an unfamiliar environment such as being moved to new pasture without herdmates, etc.
if your horse is showing symptoms similar to these, it’s essential that they undergo a comprehensive health exam to identify its source and seek assistance as soon as possible. Once identified, adding another companion could help alleviate loneliness while improving their wellbeing and overall health and well-being.
An effective way to prevent your horse from feeling lonely is to provide them with companions or herdmates – this could include living together in a field, joining an established herd led by someone they know well or going on regular riding adventures and providing daily challenges that keep their mind occupied and prevent feelings of loneliness. You could also try playing music in their stall to simulate herdmates or herd leaders and keep them entertained without wandering off into potentially hazardous areas where predators await them.
Depression
As with humans, horses may also become depressed when feeling isolated from others. If this occurs to your horse, take steps immediately to alleviate their loneliness as quickly as possible. When depressed horses develop bad habits that are hard to break such as pacing and stall walking; loneliness may even cause weight loss which is never healthy for an animal.
Another sure sign of depression in horses is when they display what’s known as the “withdrawn stance”. A horse in this position will hold their neck lower while their ears move droopily and their eyes take on an empty look, distancing themselves from the environment around them. This withdrawn posture often occurs in their stall and indicates they feel lonely being alone.
If a horse appears disengaged and disinterested, this could be indicative of depression and should be addressed quickly. Spend time with them in their barn or pasture and do activities they enjoy like grooming; offer toys like the Jolly Ball to play with to keep them engaged and reduce feelings of boredom that lead to depression.
One study involved giving a group of horses the opportunity to experience being alone or with another animal, with treats and attention intended to foster socialization. Results demonstrated that those horses able to form bonds with their fellow horses handled their situations more smoothly; horses who had spent most of their lives confined within stalls had more difficulty adapting.
An isolated horse may exhibit signs of neurotic behavior known as “cribbing”, in which they repeatedly bite at fence rails or similar objects – known as neurotic behavior – to cope with being alone and try to cope with being isolated. Unfortunately, this behavior can have detrimental health impacts such as joint and tendon damage.
Loss of Appetite
Horses cannot speak, yet they still tell us when they are feeling stressed and lonely. Horses typically become disengaged and less interested in their surroundings when depressed; this may be evidenced through body language such as having their head held lower and with an arched back or through behaviors such as stall walking and weaving within their stalls.
Horses often lose their appetite if they feel isolated and depressed, as their minds will become consumed with negative thoughts of being alone and won’t have enough energy to eat properly. This loss of appetite often results in weight loss for horses which is an extremely serious condition.
Lack of appetite in horses can be indicative of serious medical issues, including colic, mouth ulcers or inflammation of the esophagus. When horses don’t eat enough they risk serious and even life-threatening consequences.
Horses are herd animals that exist within a social hierarchy governed by leadership and pecking order, making isolation detrimental to both their mental health and separation anxiety, which can become highly dangerous if this kind of separation becomes regular over an extended period.
Loneliness can lead to destructive behaviors in horses such as wood chewing and cribbing – whereby they compulsively bite on fences or rails and then sip air through their windpipe – as an addictive fixating habit that occurs when bored, anxious, or lonely horses become anxious or bored.
Excessive sweating in cold weather is another sure sign that a horse is feeling lonely, sometimes known as stress sweat. Stress sweat is common among humans when feeling nervous or worried. Either way, horses who live alone can be especially susceptible to it and this behavior should be assessed by a veterinarian to discover its source.
Fatigue
Horses are herd animals by nature and thrive best when living within a social structure, so when isolated they can quickly become lonely. Lone horses will often display stress behaviors such as fence pacing and whinnying; additionally they may lose weight which needs to be checked by a vet to identify its source and develop treatment solutions.
Depressed horses tend to become isolated. Their depression may not show itself with restlessness or pacing; rather, your horse will likely stand still and appear listless. When depressed they may even cease eating altogether! If your horse becomes isolated and doesn’t react to its surroundings or its owner, stall toys like jolly balls could help stimulate movement and encourage playback.
Cribbing, another telltale sign of loneliness for horses, can be extremely harmful. Cribbers develop compulsive biting habits aimed at self-mutilating and often result in stomach ulcers as a form of self-mutilation; horses that crib often experience weight loss, dull coats, loss of appetite and behavioral issues.
Loneliness in horses can often trigger their natural instinct to protect themselves and other members of a herd, thus prompting a flight or fight response. When alone, horses feel vulnerable and at risk – hence why they often act out when alone.
Some horses are particularly sensitive to feeling lonely. It can be challenging to discern when one may be lonely and how best to assist it; the key to ensuring their wellbeing is having another horse around for companionship; also give lots of attention and show love!
One way of doing this is to play music in the barn to break up the silence and bring some comforting noise into their lives. Additionally, playing games with your horse in pasture may also help break up their monotony of stall life and help burn off extra energy.