Because maybe hes mourning his barn/pasture buddy? So it's been about 2 1/2 weeks since we put chuy down and my other horse is really acting strange... not badly that I'm concerned with his health,  hes just off... hes eating like normal.. he just looks kinda bummed out ... not his normal high energy self. I work with him daily either lunging or riding for 45 minutes or more and I started turning him out on the big pasture again early mornings but bring him back in at noon. Hes got a very large cush stall with an added run put on so he can go outside now. I know this horse very well but something is off with him.. when I ride him past or walk him past where chuy is buried he gets snorty and spooky almost. So before I get too worried and start panicking I'm trying to see if hes just going thru losing his friend..  they werent buddies for a really long time, less than a year but hes never been a solo horse before.. hes got horses on both sides of the big pasture we share a fence line with neighbors that have horses but he seems to ignore them when hes out there anyway. When I ride him hes totally fine energy wise as he always was and does his occasional spook at nothing routine. I feel bad for him if hes really missing him, he always acted like he hated him and couldn't care less about him but I'd catch them in the pasture scratching each others backs often. 

Sounds like he is mourning his friend. Horses are such social animals. Do you like ponies? If so here is a good reason to get one!

My big gelding grieved so much when Dan died; Faci and Dan had been together almost 19 years. Faci is kinda like a cat--he will let you know when to love on him.  And that may not be too often!   However, when Dan died, Faci would seek me out--put his head on my chest and just stand there.  If I moved off, he was right with me.  He would also hang out around Dan's grave.   The others did too, but more so with Faci.  After several weeks he went back to normal.   They certainly grieve, no matter what some people say--when Sean went to bury Dan at 7 am (the vet came at 3 am so he couldn't dig his grave until daylight), all 4 of the horses were lying near him; Faci was the closest tho, with his head stretched out on the ground towards Doodlebug.   Sean is pretty tough, but he came home crying. . . .

Awwww that's so heartbreaking:-(   I know we plan on getting another horse but itll probably be a while, but you never know there might just be one that comes along we cant pass up, sooner.  

Im sure they grieve and that would be why hes acting just "off". We put down one of our dogs on friday and the other one keeps looking for him (shes never been a single dog). So while we arent sure if we want to get another dog right know, if the right one comes along we certainly wont say no.

On the grave spooking thing when i was younger and at a boarding barn, a friend and i were riding past where they had buried the barn mascot pony (40+ yr old free roaming pony) and both horses took off and were just acting spooky as anything. Neither had ever acted like that and didnt act like that away. I think they can sense things we cant.

I agree.. I think he knows that's where hes buried .. him spooking and lunging forward or sideways is nothing new with him, hes a dork, always has been but he just tenses up when we ride past that area on the far side of the arena, that was never his spot to booger until we buried chuy there. And he snorts when I make him walk by it. He was way more perky this morning so maybe hes starting to get on with it. 

I lost my older barrel horse in September and only have my current barrel horse now.  He was fine at first but now here we are 4 months later and I feel he is getting very lonely.  Very hard to catch as I feel he is more lonely inside the barn at night and doesn't want to be in there.  He can see my neighbors horses during the day from his pasture.  At night when I am ready to put him inside he is always standing on the other side of the fence from where my older horse was buried.  I am in the process of finding a pony to keep him company as I am not ready to buy another barrel horse yet.  

My horses are the opposite, We buried Slick in July at the corner of my arena next to my pens and the others are always going over there and stand next to Slick, when they are in tha same pasture as the arena and where Slick is they will mill around his grave, they have never spooked are even let out a snort in that area, but Slick was everybodys buddy, this horse did not have a mean bone in his body and I know they all know hes buried there they all watched as Slick was buried so I think they all go over to say Hi to him and hang out. They were all together for about 14 years so they know..

A pony is a good ideal for companionship I have two mini's, Stanly I have have him for about 4 years now and got another one 2 weeks ago {Merle} and everybody is best buds out here, when I bring my geldings up from the pasture in the evenings they go and look for them..The big guys adore the Mini's...

They know

Im scared to get a mini pony out here... my sister in law had 2 ... we share a fence line and basically have the same pasture grass... they both foundered badly on the grass ... it was an ongoing battle to try to keep them sound other than keeping them locked up in the small dry trap. Also I think my horse might hurt one... hes kind of a jerk ... when my trainer had him at his place he turned him out on the front pasture and he had several young calves out there, he chased them all till they couldn't run anymore he had to literally get on another horse and rope my horse to get him to stop running the calves. I'd hate for him to do that to a sweet little pony. Chuy would yield to him, so he never had an issue. I know I just made my horse sound like a total a-hole lol! But hes my a hole ...

LOL, I have a A-hole too and thats Melvin, but as hes gets older the better he is with the other horses, he does have his own pasture and pen because of how mean he is with them, but sometimes I let him out in the pasture while Homer and Memo are in his to see how Melvin will act with them, I just close off the pens going out into the pasture so he cant get someone in a corner and hurt them if they get to running and run into their pens. But he has mellow out over the years..

When the grass comes up in the spring I cant let Melvin out (hes IR} and the ponys I have to be careful with Stanly, he founder few years back because of mesquite beans and green grass, so the ponys will stay up in a huge pen while the others go out {Homer and Memo} they are the only two that gets to go out to pasture. Right now I can let the ponys go out with the big boys since the grass is dead, but once spring hits no more pasture time, unless its late into the summer and the grass is not so full of sugar and has dryed out. 

Maybe a rescue horse, even if it's just a pasture pet, would help your A-hole () plus save a life???

The word a-hole just made me giggle Debra, :)

Me too! But he totally is 

Hey, his momma called him that first