Advice needed on small mixed herd.

[Vodkagirly]

Sorry for the essay in advance. I bought some land/stables in the summer. I only had 1 horse, a well behaved gelding who has always got on with whoever he has been turned out with and is my horse of a lifetime. Obviously I needed a companion and due to lockdown it wasn't easy but I found a nice mare.
Introductions went well and they got on nicely as expected. She was a bit over keen during her first season but after that was no problem. 2 horses in the adjoining field so when either horse is rode the other isn't totally alone. However the gelding starts to get excited when the mare comes back from an outing, he seems fine when she is away (camera on field)
Fast forward a few months and my gelding was diagnosed with ulcers. He isnt a stressy horse so my thoughts were he was internally stressing when left alone, so I borrowed another gelding who is retired as a companion to try and reduce his stress.
Introductions went well and the 3 seemed reasonably settled for the first week. Then the mare came in to season, in December! She is desperate for the new gelding, first gelding starts to get aggressive and chasing him off but ends up jumping fences himself. I tried splitting them up but first gelding starts crashing through fences. Tonight I'm missing a gate, the 2 new horses are cuddled up together and the gelding is looking on sadly.
I'm now stuck what to do, I have 2 horses to keep the first one company but they seem to be making him miserable at the moment. The companion can go back but what do I do about leaving alone then? Or do I sell the mare and find another gelding? She has turned out a lot better ridden than expected but...

Advise please?

 

[be positive]

You need to either get rid of the new gelding and have another mare or the other way round so you only have geldings, sometimes one mare will work in with 2 or more geldings but if they do get overly attached it can be a nightmare, I suspect if you have a second mare peace will resume.
Just to add he may not have been stressed because being left but could have been stressed by being in charge constantly when there were just the two of them, one of mine is far more relaxed when he is in a field with two others to take turn keeping watch, yours may take his responsibility for caring for the mare a bit too far so possibly would be best suited to a gelding only group.

 

[HashRouge]

I have one mare and two geldings and it works really well. I was worried at first because my two (the mare and one gelding) had been a pair for ages but they all seem to get on well. The mare is very elderly though and doesn't seem to come into season any more, so maybe that helps? I'd probably be tempted to give them a bit longer to see if they settle, as it sounds like they haven't been together long as a 3? If not I'd get shot of the gelding and either get another mare or try a small pony. 3 geldings would probably be easier but as you own and like the mare, it's worth trying to make it work. I think sometimes groups of 3 can get as clingy as pairs - small herds can be quite hard to get right!

 

[Louby]

We are on a very small yard, 3 horses. When the 3rd horse moved yards (a gelding) we tried seeing how the 2 mares were when one was ridden and it was okish if they were brought into the stable but not ideal so we decided to buy a 3rd. We ummed and aghhhed whether to get a 3rd mare or a gelding but Covid lockdown silly prices made the decision for us and a young native gelding joined us. Hes fab and a little star, one of the mares took weeks to accept him but thankfully they all get on well now. Tbh neither of the girls could care less whether he was there or not and although they are not bad as they were, they do call for each other if left. I feel they would be much better if we could have a 4th.
We have wondered whether a 3rd mare would have been better but then maybe we would have had 3 clingy horses instead of 2, nothings ever straightforward is it?

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

My old boy when I moved to a yard and was turned out with one mare and two geldings became totally obsessed with her. He became a nightmare part of it was anxiety on moving yards but in the end I had to have them separated as I couldn’t do a thing with him. Some mixed groups work and some don’t do no size fits all sadly.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I have a gelding and two mares. I wouldn't want to add another gelding to the mix. Mine are a very functional little herd with MrT thinking he's the Big Man with his little harem.

In your shoes it's not working so I would see about swapping the second gelding, if he's a borrowed companion, for another mare myself.

 

[Sprig]

If the mare has increased in value since you bought her it seems to be a no brainer to sell her on. See how it goes with just the 2 geldings. If you end up needing a 3rd see if you can find a gelding companion for loan.