moving to new barn

Question
QUESTION: Hello!  I will be purchasing a new horse next week, and she will be alone in a home for 2 weeks.  What is the best way to do this?  Should I stall her for a couple of days alone and lead walk her around, how do I keep the anxiety down??

ANSWER: Dear Shelly

First, keep your own anxiety down.  She MAY be a relaxed mare that doesn't get too anxious.  Allow for that.  You say she'll be alone for two weeks.  Does that mean you will have company for her within two weeks?  You don't mention anything about your facilities.  IF you have pasture with a good fence, I'd turn her out so she can comfort herself with some grass.  Personally, I think being locked up causes more anxiety than it could possibly help.  It is important that the fences in her new home be safe and sound. I wouldn't stall her if I had ANY other option.  It's a bit like locking yourself in a closet...more time to stew and nothing to take your mind off things.  If you don't have a pasture, a paddock with a shelter would do.  I think horses were meant by nature to be outside, they certainly are happier there.

Good luck with your new horse.

Lynne Curtis Gudes
"Common sense isn't."

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Quick response, thank you.  A second horse will be arriving at the barn in a couple of weeks.  There are 2 barns, one barn faces the actual pasture, where if I chose to, she could walk in and out of her stall as needed from the pasture.  There isn't really a secured paddock.  The fencing is the white stripped electric fences.  I've always boarded my horses, this is something that is really concerning me.  I was told by someone NOT to let her run free as soon as she arrives.  Should I maybe just walk her around the fenceline by lead for a while when she arrives and leave the stall open for her? Thanks for your time! This is a great help!

Answer
Dear Shelly

If I understand you correctly; your pasture is ONLY fenced with electric tape.  If this is so, I would get some real fence installed.  Even two friendly horses that like each other can get exuberant or careless and run through an electric fence on occasion.  The big question is; what is on the other side of the fence?  If it is a road or highway or access way to a road or highway,please put up a real fence.  

Most every state in the U.S. has laws about what kind of fencing must separate livestock from a road or highway.  Your fence needs to be up to that code for your horses' safety and that of drivers. You can look up the law in your state.  For most states, a fence must be a MINIMUM of 4-4 1/2 feet high and there are requirements for what type of material, what gauge of wire and how many strands of barbed wire if you use that.  Now, if your pasture is in the middle of a well fenced area that is absolutely isolated from any access to a road, the electric fence may be fine.  Once in a blue moon, a horse will go through the electric fence.  If there is nothing dangerous on the other side and you only have to replant your garden, it no big whoop.  If there is access to road and your horse and the driver of a car die, it's a major tragedy.

I use electric fence to separate my horses into one half a a large pasture for part of the year.  If a horse gets through, they may not be where I want them, but they are in no danger because the entire area is securely fenced outside the electric separator. If there is road access at issue, I wouldn't let the gentlest old pony in the barn out with only an electric fence between her and the road.  Good fencing is expensive, the death of a horse and the ensuing lawsuit for a horse on the highway is way more expensive then the best fence on the planet.

Lynne Curtis Gudes
"Common sense isn't."