Am i doing this right?

[Groom Mum]

New pony arrived on Sunday.

I put him in a sectioned off part of the field with my other two, so he was just across the electric fence. They had a sniff and seemed to be ok.

So two days later we decided to put all three in a big field and watch them. My older one wasn't too bothered by him but my youngster was a bit mean. They pawed each other and squealed a bit at each other. Then went their separate ways to graze then went at it again, this went on for about half an hour, not real nastiness just a bit of argy bargy.

Then today again I put them in separate areas of the same field, and they were ok. But when I took my two out to feed them the other one was quite stress so I moved him nearer again and he settled.
Is it ok to put them together for a couple of hours a day? im not sure whats best , they seem to be ok

thanks

 

[Pinkvboots]

As they have been together and have got on ok I would just keep them in the same field now.

 

[Micky]

As long as the field is big enough for new comer to get away, they should be fine....we usually introduce for a week over the fence, then put in with others, there is always a bit of hoohaaiing, squealing and bossiness but after a week it settles down ��

 

[applecart14]

I would keep them together from now on.

A new horse is lower down in the pecking order by default and tries to establish its way to becoming the Alpha male, this is why there is squealing, pawing, etc. If the submissive new horse isn't respectful, it is rejected from the herd temporarily (thus, vulnerable to predators). Because of this mentally traumatic rejection the horse will learn to be respectful and dependant upon the leader in order to survive. Everytime you reintroduce the new horse after taking it out of the herd you disrupt the pecking order which has to be reestablished again and again.

 

[fburton]

If the submissive new horse isn't respectful, it is rejected from the herd temporarily (thus, vulnerable to predators). Because of this mentally traumatic rejection the horse will learn to be respectful and dependant upon the leader in order to survive.

Or so the popular/folk wisdom goes - although there isn't a lot of actual evidence for this as far as I can tell. But no matter...

Everytime you reintroduce the new horse after taking it out of the herd you disrupt the pecking order which has to be reestablished again and again.

Agreed. It is true that dominance aggression is often provoked by changing herd membership, and this will generally (but not always) settle down in a matter of days. If it doesn't, and one horse continues to be bullied, I would consider separating them if that is practical. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to make horse get along with each other. Giving them plenty of space and feeding them in a way that doesn't encourage aggression will help, but bullying is still a possibility.

 

[Groom Mum]

Well today we put our new one in one half of the field and my other two in other half they were fine. Didn't take any notice of each other. I've notice my new one if he can't see my other two gets a bit upset and stressy. So I've been keeping him close to them. When they have been together my young one and new one have a bit of stamping and squeaking and my young one did go for him mouth wide open once. But they seem to be settling. I'm giving it till the weekend then I'm going to put them together and see how they go. I'm sure they will be ok. I'm trying to get my two older ones to be less dependent on each other. So hoping he will balance them it out a bit.