Can a horse actually die from separation anxiety?

Is it possible for a horse to die from separation anxiety?

Long story short, I am moving my 16 year old gelding from my mom's place to a boarding stable.
Her 24 year old gelding is buddy bound to him.
They have been together since 2000 (but not with us, with the former owners).

My mom is convinced that the 24 year old is going to colic and die.

Spooky, if the horse dies, it'll be because your crazy mother drove him to suicide.

Are there other horses within sight distance of him? If so, he'll adjust. If not, he'll still adjust but won't be quite as happy about being alone.

If your mother's SO CONCERNED about the horse, either have her sign him over to you, or she needs to get another companion for him.

Don't let her suck you into the crazy, please.

Hehe, I should have added, he has another gelding there, my mom's 30 year old quarab.

Oh, then he'll be fine. Sure, he might miss Brandon a week or two, but he'll adapt.

Your mother's just trying to guilt trip you into not moving Brandon. You know it's going to be better for both you and Brandon in the long run when you're not subject to her nastiness on a daily basis.

Don't let her guilt trip you into staying! You NEED to get you and your horse out of that toxic situation.

Dang, this is the first time ever I'm glad my parents have absolutely no interest in horses!

What SR said.

I agree totally.


Yes, horses become attached to each other. Yes, the horse that will be left behind will miss his long term companion. Yes, things around there might be more difficult for a few days while things settle down.

Is it likely that that he will colic and die....Not at all.

He'll be fine then.

BTW, on side note both of my dogs almost died when all of us had to leave them for ~ a week in our house with my grandmom (who they know very well for years and who knew how to take care of animals). Both refused to eat/drink... So yes, they do die from separation anxiety, I just don't think it's a case here.

Oh I am definitely leaving, I guess I just wanted some reassurance that Tyler wasn't going to die.
I feel bad/guilty.

Maybe my mom should work with/bond with her horse so he isn't so dependant on another.

Stop with all that logical stuff, Spook. You are just being silly to expect that.

Ok.

My parents bought 2 TWH horses 30 yrs ago and 1 29 yrs ago (give or take a year). They were all from the same farm and spent most of their lives together.

When my parents moved they took Flame and Red, but left Sin with my Grams. Flame & Sin were 13 yrs old and Red was 12 yrs old. They all adjusted fine, though Sin was unhappy for a little while. Eventually we moved Sin to mom & dads because Grams was getting too old.

Fast forward to the girls being 23 yrs old. Sin died suddenly in the pasture one day. Flame & Red were a little depressed for a couple of weeks but did get over it and bonded closer.

Fast forward to Flame being 28ish and Red being 27ish. Red was put down. Flame was alone for a day or two and while she was very very frantic at first she did start to calm down and was eating and drinking just fine. I moved Soda in and they bonded.

Fast forward to last August. Flame died and Soda was alone for a couple of weeks until I found Lily. He was depressed, but kept eating/drinking/etc. He's obsessed with Lily now.

Point is, if my TWHs who were together for almost 30 years can lose herd mates and recover Tyler will recover. Especially if he has another horse there. Red, Flame, and Sin were highly bonded and a very very close herd. You should've seen the battles I had every spring trying to get them non-herd bound enough to ride. Horses are adaptable to changes in their herd structure. They may be a bit depressed for a little while, but they'll re-coop.

Hope my examples help you not worry so much.

Spooky, I've been following the other thread on your mother. I wonder, have you tried throwing water on the woman and seeing if she'll melt? That may be a quick and easy answer to all of your problems . . .

In all seriousness, I'm in agreement with the others. Brandon and Tyler will get over it. Don't let her get to you.