DAN: "My horse lost his pasturemate today.
I put another horse out with him,
but he is still pacing and crying out.
What are some ways I can help him cope with this loss?"
I'm sorry to hear that, Alyssa.
That's sad.
This was a tough one.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
And I'm a vet, but I'm also a horse owner
and I've been through that.
And it's tough to go through it yourself,
but it's also hard to see your horses grieve like that.
There's unfortunately not a lot of science on this,
but this is one of those topics that maybe don't need science
to tell you what your gut does.
We know that humans, obviously, animals, all
feel grief very powerfully.
I'm sure you've seen the videos of elephants standing
over a baby or something and the primates,
like chimpanzees, that are mourning
the loss of say, a matriarch of their group or something.
So everybody experiences loss.
They know.
And horses, being such emotional creatures,
they can suffer this very profoundly.
So I think her idea of putting another horse out there
with the one was a good idea because there's a saying,
loneliness magnifies grief.
So even if it's not that horse's favorite buddy,
they're herd animals.
They're social creatures, and so having somebody there
to talk to and just be your friend is-- it's a good thing.
The best thing that an owner can do,
and I don't know if she had-- it's not always possible.
But if you can, let all the horses,
but especially that the horse that passed away,
his closest friend, let them see the dead body.
DAN: I was going to ask you.
I've heard that before from people,
and I wanted to get your thoughts on it.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yep.
Like I said, they know.
They know when an animal is not living,
and they'll investigate thoroughly.
They will smell.
They will they will muzzle, lick.
They'll talk.
Some of them will paw.
And they might take some time, and it
can be very hard to watch.
I can feel myself getting emotional because I've
done that for horses.
It can be tough to watch, but it's the kindest thing
you can do to let them have closure, to let them know--
because think about it.
If a horse is suddenly gone from their area,
your horse is not going to know if he died or got
sold or just changed barns.
So if the horse did pass away, let his friends know
and try to get that closure.
That doesn't mean the horse is going to be
over his grief right then.
But at least now he knows what happened,
and he can begin to move forward with your help.
DAN: Well, to your point, because usually
in the days that this happen, which are always tough days--
but usually, the vet is down there,
the barn manager's down there, the owners are down there.
There's a lot going on.
And so the horses are picking up on all that energy.
DR LYDIA GRAY: They're anxious.
DAN: It's like, they don't know what the end result was.
And it just ends, and they're like, what just happened?
[AUDIO OUT]
DR LYDIA GRAY: So you got to show them.
Now that's-- if the horse say, went to colic surgery
and didn't make it, and you're not going to bring the body
home, it's going to be taken care of there, boy,
then you don't have a choice.
And it's really hard because the horse just
left and never came back.
So then, what are some other things you can do?
You can try to take the horse's mind off it
and help that loneliness by doing things the horse likes
and that are going to be comforting--
long grooming sessions, long walks.
Maybe some playful groundwork, like, not work-work, but just
some activities in hand that the horse likes to do.
Maybe it's going over poles, or maybe set up an obstacle course
or something with cones.
You're going to have to be a little bit creative to help
your horse through this.
There's people who say-- and I've not tried this,
but I believe it-- that bodywork like-- are you familiar
with the Tellington-Jones TTouch?
DAN: No.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh, OK.
Well, it's just it's just a version of hands-on healing
that the horse owners can do themselves.
There are people certified in it,
but you can certainly learn the techniques yourself.
But even having-- like, there's specific acupressure points
that seem to help the horses go through this process quicker.
So it's worth a try if you've got a bodywork
person that you trust that you already work with.
DAN: That's a great idea.
I was going to ask you, the bodywork--
I was going to say even do some, potentially,
grooming or something like that that kind of gives them
that sense of--
DR LYDIA GRAY: And just grazing--
take him out and graze and spend some quality time with them.
I do-- before we close this, I want
to end up with the signs of grief in horses
because just like people, horses are going
to manifest them differently.
And so hers is more, I would say, anxious.
She said he's running the fence line.
He's calling out now.
Now, it's just been-- it just happened that day,
so it's going to decrease his anxiety over time.
But some horses are quieter than normal, right?
This could even become to the point
of listlessness or depression.
They can just be lackluster.
They can go off feed.
They're just depressed, waiting by the gate,
waiting for the horse to come home.
It's very sad to see.
DAN: That breaks your heart.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, they can have reduced social interaction
with other horses.
So even if you see that, it's so good
to have other horses around.
But they might not feel like hanging out,
and they might not want to graze with somebody.
They might want to be alone.
They could even have a decline in their physical health.
If they have a preexisting condition,
it could get worse, because this affects your immune system.
Or they could get a brand-new condition,
so be observant and watch for that.
DAN: Well, I was going to say, the added stress
of this change, pasturemate and change of routine
and all that, is absolutely going
to have a impact in their immune system
and, therefore, open up for potential other [AUDIO OUT]..
DR LYDIA GRAY: So this is a time to spend more time
with your horse, pay close attention,
help him where you can, and step in if you need to.
DAN: Well, Alyssa, I hope this helps you guys.
I'm so sorry, again, for your loss.
And hopefully, your horse will start to make a new friend,
and you guys can start to move forward on that.