Butterflies after you buy your horse?

The day finally came. Our horse was scheduled to arrive at the barn. Had we made a huge mistake, or were we about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime?

As we watched Sky’s trailer pull in, my heart was pounding in my chest. It was an old, rickety thing, but I could see her chestnut-and-white rump through the window. She was here. She was really here! With a hay net stuffed with munchies in front of her, she seemed somewhat content in the trailer, a good thing for sure. Later we learned it took over an hour to get her on the trailer. 

We let her owner unload her, and then we stared in awe as she nervously pranced around, unsure of her surroundings. This horse was now ours. It was an amazing feeling. It was also terrifying. Sky had lived by herself for a couple years, so she hadn’t had the company of other horses. We decided it would be best if she was turned out in the field next to her future herd mates. An electric fence separated them, but they could still touch noses if they wanted. The moment her lead rope was unclipped she took off cantering up the hill to greet her new buddies. There was lots of squealing and prancing, all normal behavior. Sky also hadn’t eaten fresh grass in a while, having lived in a mostly dirt backyard. She immediately dived in. Later I realized we probably should have introduced her to the grass slowly, but luckily she wasn’t hurt by it.

We watched her for quite some time as she grazed and said hello to her new friends in the adjoining field. Her owner gave her a sweet good-bye and drove away. But shortly afterward the barn instructor had to give a lesson, and since Sky was in the pasture next to the arena, she needed to be moved. That’s when our first OMG moment happened.

We couldn’t catch her.

She was having too much fun! She’d dart one way, then the other when she saw us coming. This was not what I had expected. I’d read enough about what to do with the hard-to-catch horse, but I certainly had never done it.

We finally caught Sky (with the help of the instructor) and I had my second wave of what-in-the-world-have-I-done. We grabbed our grooming supplies and started brushing Sky, and she immediately calmed down. I couldn’t blame her for being excited. She was in a completely new environment with new people, horses, and sights.

It’s normal to have some moments like this.

When you bring your first horse (or any new horse) home, there is going to be an adjustment period. I’ve heard it said that it can take a horse weeks or even a few months to fully adjust to their new surroundings. Give them that time. There are going to be some wild moments, but that doesn’t mean you made a mistake.

Some barns will require a new horse to be quarantined from the rest of the herd for a week or two. This is normal and actually quite smart. Other people recommend keeping the horse in a stall for a day or two until they calm down before turning out, but I tend to think this can stress out a horse just as much as turning them out. You’ll have to do what you and your barn think is best. If you think your horse will go bonkers running loose in a field, potentially injuring itself, give it some time in a stall to chill and turn it out for short periods, maybe an hour or two, at first. Or hand graze it around the property if you are comfortable doing that. But other horses will do better in a pasture near other horses. Since they are herd animals, they are often happiest when they can at least see others of their kind.