My horse (Agnes) has seemed pretty depressed lately. I took her to the vet the other day for her shots and I'm not sure if it was the change of scenery or the other horses there but she perked right up. She seemed the happiest she has been in awhile. At the moment she doesn't have another horse in with her but in my mom's horse a 2 year old is right next to her. Unfortunately she seems to hate him. Agnes is 22. Does she need a friend closer to her age or was it the new place that seemed to make her happier?

I think it was the new place that perked up her attitude. But horses are herd animals and need companions. It may take a while or it might be really quick for Agnes to develop a friend but it'll be worth while to find her someone that she can be with.

 I do think most horses prefer to be with a larger group and have things going on. When I first got my horse I had her at home with no other horses. She was just three and had always been in a large herd. She escaped twice in two months, not just wandering around either but trotting right down the road like she was on a mission. Pretty soon after that I moved her to a boarding stable (for other reasons) and she's much, much happier now. 

They seem to make friends according to their own rules. Gracie's best friend was another young mare she was put in with for a while. I didn't realize how close they were until I was working with this other horse one day (some basic ground training) while Gracie was loose to graze in the outdoor. When she caught sight of her old friend, she came trotting right up neighing like, "Hey, long time no see!!" Here I am trying to hold this mare's foot up without having her lean on me, and Gracie is practically nuzzling her. I don't think it's necessarily age-related, just something about their personalities that clicks. 

It's a shame Agnes doesn't like the horse next to her, but they seem to have definite likes and dislikes in other horses.  I think horses are happier with a buddy.  After I lost my mare last summer, our gelding, who is 22, was alone for about 4 months, and  just didn't seem too interested in much.  He really grieved for my mare for about 3 weeks, but even after that he just kind of stood around most of the time.  When I got another gelding, who was 13 at the time, they get along pretty well and my old guy has really perked up.  They run around the pasture like 2 yr. olds on a cool windy day!  My new gelding was with other bigger horses who picked on him all the time, so they both are enjoying being buddies.  I hope you can find Agnes a friend she likes to hang out with; I don't know that age makes much difference, but maybe the 2 yr. old is a little too active for her!  Good luck!

Would it be possible to let your Agnes be in the same pasture as your Mom's 2 year old?  It's been my experience that horses become much happier when they are physically in the same area and can mutually groom each other, and chase around, etc.  I have 6 horses in together and it's really interesting to watch the "herd" mentality at work.  They all respect my oldest mare who is 16 and she gets the pick of what ever she wants!  They do suffer the occasional bite or kick, but never have suffered any lameness or other serious injury.  The key to having them in together, I think, is having enough space that they can move away if any crabby activity starts up (we have 10 acres).  

Good luck! 

I agree moving the horses together MIGHT be a solution, but from your description of Agnes' obvious dislike of this 2 yr. old, I would proceed very cautiously at first.  Even if they have lots of room to get away from one another, that does not mean they will; if one gets angry and goes after the other, they could chase each other all over the pasture.  That happened when I brought a new horse home last year.  He and my gelding seemed to get along just fine, and all of a sudden, we looked outside and my old guy was chasing the new horse all over our 4 acres pasture and did not stop until we went out and literally made them go separate ways.  Meantime, my old guy had gotten the new horse trapped in a corner and the new horse got some cuts and bruises from the fence trying to escape.  Now, they are just fine, but I really hope you are very careful so someone doesn't get hurt!  Good luck!