Horse Adjusting to New Barn

Hi! I moved my 26 year old TB gelding to a new facility last week. I’ve posted before and the care he was getting at the previous place. I’m so impressed with his care he is getting now. His pasture and herd mates are amazing and he is getting along great with them. The barn owner sends me updates on how he’s adjusting and everyone is very attentive. He’s even eating all his food now!

However, I am a stressed out mom because at the old place, he was bomb proof. Nothing bothered him EVER, but he also had zero personality. He was a dead head. He was there for three years and I got him last summer. At his new place, I know he’s still adjusting but he’s been a lot hotter and more stressed. There is less human traffic but there are farm animals that live there like pigs and dogs and chickens that he’s not used to. The pigs especially freak him out. I got there today and they were doing some work in the pasture next to him and he was so freaked I thought he was going to run me over. I took him to the wash stall to hose him off and it took two of us to focus him because he was so nervous.

On top of that, I was able to ride him for 10 minutes on his second day and in the middle of the ride he suddenly went lame in his front leg. The vet couldn’t see anything obvious but she’s coming back next week because he is still lame, albeit much better.

I’ve done ulcergard for his move and tried to make everything as smooth as possible. This personality change shook me. I have an amazing trainer I work with so she’s helping me through this but I just don’t know what to expect or how to help him so that he can settle in.