Can leaving two geldings alone in field cause possessive traits?

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Suehodson

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Hi all. Hoping for some advice.
We have 2 geldings. One we have had for 10 years and although he can not be turned out with mares as he becomes possessive, he has always been a gent in the field. The other we have had for nearly 2 years and they are stabled and turned out together on a livery yard. We have been on our livery a year now. Initially we turned out with other geldings and all was good. The other horses then moved away and ours were left alone. No other horses on the yard were moved into our field. The owner then put a rig Colt and another into our field. The Colt constantly tried to mount our dominant horse and chased him around the field. I asked for them to be separated as he has issues with his legs and back and this did not seem to be settling down.. Our two were then left again without companions. The rig and one another we kept in the adjoining fled. Last week a new horse to the yard was put in with ours with no introduction. Our big horse kicked him around and the owner moved off within a week. A new very fancy horse has arrived and the livery owner has told us we have a problem horse and now have to pay extra to keep ours in a separate field. So my questions are:
Has keeping them separate and alone caused possessive traits?
Is my horse lashing out at the horses after the mounting by the rig Colt?
How on earth do I integrate my horse and pony back into a herd?
The pony is now also very attached to the horse and becomes very stressed if we separate them (other than when the pony is being taken out ridden alone) all advice gratefully received!
 
It depends on your horse from my experience. It doesn't help that your yard just put horses in together without any introductions over the fence. For such an established pair they should be meeting over the fence for a few days at least before being put into the field together, that would probably help matters alot.
 
Your YO has contributed, if not caused, the problems by failing to introduce hew horses properly, your older one may be feeling a bit sensitive if he has physical issues and being constantly hassled by the youngster has now made him aggressive as a form of defense.

That is a fair amount of coming and going within 12 months and enough to make even the most settled horse tricky, I expect if introductions were made properly and horses of a similar size and age were together yours would be fine, not many would put up with a colt mounting them, it is going to be difficult if the YO does not have more sense, it is usually best to put the dominant one into a new group rather than put the new ones into the dominant horses space.
 
I think it is natural for some horses to want to 'posess' their herd, and keep other males away, as in the wild a stallion would keep other stallions/colts away from 'his' mares. The 'friend' gelding becomes a substitute for a herd of mares.
We have a gelding, hes 18 now but fit and feisty, he lived as boss with our home-bred youngster happily for 5 years til said youngster was brought in to be sold. Prior to bringing the 5 yr old youngster up I introduced a new gelding into the pair and the 'boss' wouldnt let the new fella anywhere near HIS friend. Nothing really evil, just chased him off if he came within a certain distance.
Now the youngster is gone, the other 2 are friends.
 
I wouldn't dream of putting a new horse straight in with my herd! I've got one who can be trusted to be nice to newbies, so they go in with him til they've settled in and met everyone else over the fence. I have to be most careful introducing other boys to Alf, as he is very much the boss of my mixed herd, and can be vile to new geldings. I put him in with new ones for a few weeks, before trying them back in the herd, so they can make friends first. Just not worth chucking them all in together, as he will ALWAYS assert himself when he's got his ladies with him!
 
Just like to add, I used to have an incredibly dominant mare. The only way to introduce into the field was to do it over the fence for a few days to a week (Depending how she was reacting) then put them in together, say an hour or two before "bring in" time, just so that if it kicked off, we were all about, but touch wood it was always fine. She used to "chase" the new horses off for a few days then eventually allow them into the fold.

She was pair bonded with one mare in paticular and turned out as a pair for months (because ironically the other mare was deemed as dangerous and noone would turn out with her for months, they were both absolutely fine!!) and we managed to sucessfully introduce 2 other horses (one a tiny pony, one a horse) with no injuries this way.

I would also like to add that my mare actually dominated another mare who thought she was a stallion and previously branded as dangerous. They HATED eachother at first but noone would turn out with us so we sucked it up and they LOVED eachother after a few days.

Introductions no matter the horse need to be done sensatively and I personally cannot stand peopple who brand horses as "dangerous". (My last mare was and she wasn't that bad at all, people over dramatise things so much!) Your boys have been hassled and had alot of change. I have to say that unless you paticularly want them out in a herd, I'd be happy to have them alone together.

P.s Next time an introduction is done, let them meet over the fence for a few days and take all back shoes off to limit any kicking damage!
 
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