I get asked this question quite frequently. Horses as we all know are herd bound by instinct - there is safety in the herd. This is an instinct, some horses have a stronger herd instinct than others. Preparation is key as in all aspects of training. You need to break it down in small steps and make the time to do so - not before a ride when you have friends waiting for you to join them. You need to set aside some time to work on this and if you do, if you are consistent, patient and willing to do the work - you will be setting your horse up for success - not failure.

     Lets say you have 2 horses in your pasture - when you take out one to ride - his pasture mate has such separatioin anxiety that he works himself up into a nervous lather and you are afraid he will injure himself trying to break through the fence.

     So this is where you start. As you lead the one horse out of the pasture - his pasture mate will follow you to the gate - as you close the gate - the anxiety begins. Stop your horse that you have on lead right outside the gate where his pasture mate can see him and keep him and ask him to stand quietly until the other pasture mate is calm. Begin to lead your horse away but listen for signs of distress from the pasture mate - frantic pacing, etc., as soon as you hear that lead your horse right back to him and keep leading him as close as he needs to get until the pasture mate calms down. Now, this is not about getting the pasture mate upset - so if you have lead your horse away and you hear the pasture mate screaming - you have gone too far too fast. You lead your horse away and BEFORE he gets upset, you lead your horse back. At first - you may only be able to geta foot away or even less - just lead your horse back to the pasture mate, as soon as he is calm - lead him right back away. The pasture mate will feel some anxiety at seeing you lead his friend away but you bring him back before that anxiety blows into anything other than just feelings of concern. Then he will feel relief at the sight of his friend being led back to him.

     You will slowly be able to increase the distance between the 2 horses until finally you will be able to get out of sight of your pasture mate and he will be back in the pasture, relaxed with a foot cocked saying to himself - go already! It depends on the horse - it took me a couple of hours before I was able to get out of sight and have the pasture mate totally relaxed. I did this everyday for a week - and just changed locations - at first I had the pasture mate in the pasture - then I had him tied to my trailer on my ranch, then tied to my trailer out at the local fairgrounds. It worked like a charm - no longer does she suffer from the wild eyed lather sweatin' pacing traumas of being left alone - she stands quietly in the pasture, and tied to the trailer. It works like a charm.