Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Stress and Coping

My sister shared on a phone call last night that she's decided not to be stressed anymore. To tackle problems as they come and not to worry about what cannot be changed. Sage advice for one so young.

As she was philosophizing I happened to be patting myself on the back because, I thought, I very rarely ever feel stress. Except for last night of course.
Who knew buying a house could be stressful?

Once I actually tackled the problem this morning (with instrumental help from my Dad) all was right again in the world. Back to relaxed, non-stressy Emily.

Until I got to the barn! Gah! Ellie has developed girl crushes on Polly and Belle in the neighboring stalls. Belle was out in a lesson and Ells was pacing and weaving in her stall.

I found her the same way on Sunday morning when Polly was out in turnout and she was left behind. She was frantically pacing in her stall and when I took her out (right away) she was incredibly anxious and spooky.

I've also noticed that she has been a little "looky" and will shuffle off if something spooks or startles her. Clearly I'm overreacting here. It's not like we're dealing with some tail up bucking Arabian. But up until this week she was completely unfazed by any encounter.

I'm sure she's just getting fitter and brighter- and we should expect some antics. I just worry a bit- Wilbur started off the same way and the next thing I knew he was terrified of flowers.

I just need to take my sister's advice- know that Ellie is in capable hands in her day to day- and not stress out!

Has anyone else dealt with stall separation anxiety?

Our potential house! Fingers crossed all goes smoothly until close!





15 comments:

  1. Henry used to screeeeeeeaaaaaaam and call when he first came.

    Praise The Lord he is over that!!!

    She may just be settling in and finding her place :)

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    1. Agree! I know I'm making a mountain out of a molehill and she just needs to settle in!

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  2. Ghazal was terrible about being separated at any time. He actually had the nickname of mother hen because he was always trying to figure out where his "chick" were. He never totally got over it but the more I made him work and focus on me the better it got. Lots of ground work making him focus on me really helped.

    The house looks really cool!

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    1. Thanks! She does settle down and go right to work- I think she might be suffering from some stall boredom.

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  3. House is lovely!! Having a garage makes me a very happy person :)

    For awhile after we moved O she would rear, spook, and be totally obnoxious when taken away from her herd of buddies. Once the newness wore off she returned to her normal self. I'm sure Ellie is just finally fitting in and finding friends, and the exuberance will subside soon!

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    1. Totally- I'm sure she'll end up fitting in just fine :)

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  4. Haha, I hate to be "that blogger", but given her recent life style changes, you might keep an ulcer preventative in the back of your mind.

    I mean, the behavior doesn't sound that far off normal for a young horse learning to live a new life. Best wishes! The house is cute--can't wait to see what you do with it.

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    1. You're totally right- she's just being a baby in a new place. Totally not being "that blogger" at all- I think it's a great suggestion and something to think about if she continues to become more and more anxious!

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  5. I'm afraid I'm not much help with the worry thing. I'm a huge stress worrier and trying to get better about it.

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    1. I'm usually not a huge worrier! But when I do I tend to go all out!

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  6. Ain't nothin' wrong with some girl crushes. I should know! :)

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  7. Ramone is super attached to other horses. I ignore him and tell him to get over himself. But I also used to own a horse that hated everyone which I liked lol. That horse was super secure and confident in himself.. sometimes too much.

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  8. Love the house, beautiful!

    As for the separation anxiety, I was blessed with a very calm "leave me with grass or food and I'm happy" type of horse so I haven't had to deal with it firsthand, but there's a TB mare at my barn that would literally hurt herself, jump fences, run around (once she even fell..hard...) if my horse left her (which made for interesting rides for me, lol) but soon, she settled in and made new friends and was fine. I'm sure she'll get over it!

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  9. Fiction gets very anxious when he is in alone and the other horses are out. He will whinny/weave in the crossties. If I ignore him and move slowly, he calms down quite a bit. As long as I continue on as normal, he realizes there is nothing to be concerned about!

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  10. Some Acid FX may help - as per Sprinkler Bandits suggestion. My only comment is that your house is big! Hope you have a cleaning lady hehehe

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