HORSE BULLIES..What to do? Same sex herds! *Rant on a Friday morning!*

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Gracie21

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I am hoping you will all be able to help me this morning! (I have bourbons for those who reach the end:D)

I am at the end of my tether with regards to my youngsters turnout.

He is on DIY livery, and horses are split into same sex herds. I have had numerous issues before but that's another story!

BACKGROUND STUFF:
At the mo he is turned out with 6 other geldings in a 6 acre field. There has been a lot of fighting going on (playful and aggressive!) since two new geldings arrived in October; and there has been a lot of rugs ruined (I personally have lost 4!) plus a lot of cuts & kicks. They are both big boys who throw their weight around and have also kicked/charged at people on the odd occasion. Their owners are lovely so I feel bad saying anything to them! All the other boys are well behaved.

My boy has come in with numerous kicks, bites and clumps of fur missing, as well as the front clasps on his rug snapped, filling all over the field and many torn through to his skin.

YESTERDAY:
I turned him out without a rug as it was so lovely & he came back in with a massive hoof print on his near shoulder and a chunk taken out of his neck.

What do we do?? The YO will not let us split the field!! There is no grass which is probably causing a bit of fighting. I am terrified that one day soon he is going to come in quite badly injured.

YO currently away so will be taking this up with her when she gets back. I don't like to cause a scene but we have all agreed something needs to be done! The herd was well settled until the new ones turned up. What's even more annoying is that there are only 2 mares in an 8 acre field!!!

Please give me some suggestions as to what to do! Pony is out in the 'sick' paddock today and will be for the foreseeable future, I am fed up of all the injuries :(

Sorry for this long and possibly irritating post.

I feel sick from all the bourbons I've just eaten :D
 
Your youngster (how old?) needs to be removed from the field asap, I'd say. The next time he could be coming in (or not) with a broken bone......

Or, the two 'bullies' need to be taken out.

A certain amount of playing and mischief is fine - but for the field to still be so unsettled since the new horses moved in is not good. And I would have expected things to have settled down after a week or so.

The geldings also need more room.

I would ask if your youngster can go in the with the two mares. And if the answer is no, I'd be looking for move yards I'm afraid.
 
Why wont YO split the fields? Obvious answer to me would be to split the mares field, have the 2 mares in one half and the 2 new geldings in the other.

Sorry, dont really do boubons, but if you have any liqorice alsorts I could take them off of your hands!!!!
 
Sounds like a lot of pecking order sorting going on.

Agree, either to separate or keep rugging. I also did not have a choice when my boy got turned out. Ended up with a big ol' Wug, and knee boots for protection!!! He still managed to come in with scrapes.

Are the older ones shod behind? Suggest, if you have that many boys out together, back shoes should be taken off until the spring grass comes and everyone is occupied with eating!
 
amymay-He's officially a 3yo but his birthday isn't until May :)

That's exactly what I'm scared of, he's not going back in there again!

I don't really want him in with the two mares as one of them has fractured both of my past horses' legs, and that was expensive, twice!

I feared that may be the answer I got! I love my yard, it is such a shame that these two have stirred it up, I've spent over £250 on rugs this winter :(

Should I approach the horses' owners and express my concerns?

Benson21-YO's son is a thatcher and rotates the fields every 3 years so she doesn't want to bang poles in every where (YES I KNOW, ABSURD!) That is a good idea, I will suggest that I think! :D

Tallyho-Even with rugs he is getting damaged and rugs are also getting damaged, proving very costly haha! Yes they are shod, which terrifies me, it will only take one one decent blow to seriously hurt my one!
 
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EDickens said:
He's officially a 3yo but his birthday isn't until May :)

That's exactly what I'm scared of, he's not going back in there again!

I don't really want him in with the two mares as one of them has fractured both of my past horses' legs, and that was expensive, twice!

I feared that may be the answer I got! I love my yard, it is such a shame that these two have stirred it up, I've spent over £250 on rugs this winter :(

Should I approach the horses' owners and express my concerns?
Click to expand...

You totally should approach YO. It's a business. You are the customer. Customer not happy. YO needs to find a solution or customer needs to find somewhere more suitable.
 
EDickens said:
amymay-He's officially a 3yo but his birthday isn't until May :)
Click to expand...

OP - he needs to be out with horses his own age, he's very young. I'd start looking around for youngstock livery.

Youngsters are often at the bottom of the pecking order and can take a right old battering if not herded appropriately.
 
In theory it wouldn't hurt to mention it to the owner nicely.

We used to have a mare on livery that bullied and ripped rugs. The owner was lovely but thought that the sun shone out of it's backside, and insisted that it was one of our horses, even when her horse ripped a strip out of our pony's fly rug right in front of us (she said it was an accident and the horse didn't mean it!). We ended up seperating the mare, only with a plain wire fence, so she could touch the others over the fence but not chase or injure. The owner got hysterical about it, saying we were mean to her horse, and left, without ever speaking to us again. We have never had a ripped rug since. Previous yards said the mare was a pain too. So bear in mind that the owners may not take it well, no matter how nicely you put it.
 
I would take it up with the yard owner. I would also not be putting my horse back in there. Its a shame, but when things like this happen, if they can't be sorted moving could be your only option. Hopefully it won't come to that. I would say that 4 months is adequate for the pecking order to be sorted, and that they are just bullies.
Good luck!
 
We found that at the old yard we were at the established herd acted like this in winter, with a few horses getting the brunt of it. The issue - food. We weren't allowed to hay the field.

4 of us moved with 6 horses to another yard. The winter field's actually smaller than our old one, but we're allowed to hay.

Result - no fighting at all. Rugs get the odd tear from the old hedgerow we have down one side, but our youngster (4yr old) went through 9 rugs the last winter at the old yard with daytime only turn out. And these were wrecked past the point of repair as we fixed what we could. 2 winters at the new yard and he's in the same ones with a few tiny stitched up rips.

If you don't want to move yards are you allowed to hay? Split the cost amoungst you all and stick it in a few piles.
 
I think you really need to do something before there is a serious accident. A kick to your youngster could ruin his working life forever. Can you not tape an area of the mares field off as suggested, and use that until the YO gets back? Then discuss the situation more fully with them.
Else I'd be looking for a new yard I'm afraid, your horse has to come first.
Are all the horses out 24/7?
If the bullies come in at night why not split turnout so that yours go out at night and in in the day instead?
 
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Thankyou everybody for your replies :)

Quick update...Ponio is is in 'sick paddock', heavily hayed as there is no grass! YO's daughter in law refused to let me fence off in mares field, so he will have to stay where he is until YO is back off holiday. He is agitated and full of energy :( BUT ATLEAST HE IS SAFE, and not coming in with any more lumps, bumps, bruises, kicks or cuts! He looks much less beaten up :D
 
:eek:This has been going on since Octoberand you've put up with it for that long!?

If it was my yard the two 'troublemakers' (intentional or otherwise) would have been taking out of the equation by November! It makes no sense to leave things as they are, horses are getting injured, you aren't happy. I wouldn't put up with it at all. Either the YO does something, you can put up with it, or move.

How about putting the boys in the 8 acre field and the girls in the smaller one? That doesn't involve any fencing at all, the extra couple of acres may make a difference, although 6 horses on 6 acres seems quite generous to me. I think your YO needs to wake up and smell the coffee as it were, otherwise business will be lost.
 
Enfys said:
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How about putting the boys in the 8 acre field and the girls in the smaller one? That doesn't involve any fencing at all, the extra couple of acres may make a difference, although 6 horses on 6 acres seems quite generous to me. I think your YO needs to wake up and smell the coffee as it were, otherwise business will be lost.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this - I would assume that there is grass in the 8 acre field and this should solve the problem albeit temporarily.
 
I had a similar problem with my boy and ended up removing him from the field - I had over 2 years of virtually monthly vet bills for various injuries and since I swapped fields I have had none.

I was fortunate that my Y/O actually witnessed my boy narrowly missing a kick, so she was easily persuaded. I would have a very frank chat with your Y/O and ideally show her photos of all the injuries / damage caused since these two have arrived... then offer some solutions. I think it is in everybodies interest that the troublesome two are seperated ;)
 
I have a happy ending to share! :)

After weeks of my boy being in the 'sick paddock' my YO is finally home from holiday & a solution has been found! I spent all day yesterday (along with my lovely mum & step-dad!) putting up fencing in the mares field. It is shared by my boy & a lovely quiet gelding :D It is all rigged up to the electric so hopefully the little man won't go anywhere...(although I won't count on it!)

There is still 5 geldings in the field but I think another one or two may join mine as there is a new one turning up soon!

Here is a picture of Jack checking out his new neighbours...! I told him that she is old enough to be his grandmother but he really didn't care :)

jack-2.jpg


ETS-Also explained to YO how dangerous the geldings field had got & she agreed. I showed her the scars on Jack & she agreed that removing him was the best thing I could have done. She was more than happy to find a solution I was surprised & a little taken back with her agreeable response (paying the livery just before probably helped ;))
 
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Haha CBFan, it actually isn't as good as it looks on the photo! The fields are rotated every 3 years for thatching so it's all a bit straw-like and over run with clover in places! But thankyou, he sure is a happy one!

Goldenstar...Isn't it just! I was ready with all my argument laid out in my head in a firm and clear but polite manner, and I never got to use it! :( :P
 
I am having very similar problems with my mares field mates, one in particular. Asked YO to move either the problem horse or mine, and he said no. Tried to give my mare an electric fenced section within the field, YO took it down. After many problems and injuries within the last month due to the field situation, i am moving her to a new yard next week. Good thing really as she is living in atm as she doesn't have a field she can safely go out in.
 
Reading this I got all burred up too and was ready to let fly - until I made it to the post with your gorgeous boy strutting his stuff.

I had problems years ago. Initially it was my old boy and friends old boy in together. Then my friends aged home bred pony mare was returned to her so that made 3. Then I bought a new horse and that made 4. Except that my friends old boy took to him like a dog with a bone. Twice I found my new horse in a fully fenced off section of the paddock (he had jumped 3 strand barbed wire fence fully rugged to get away). Friend was very nice and we split the paddock my 2 on one side, her 2 on the other side, all was well.

Friend went overseas for holiday and my old horse died. New horse was going burk on his own and kept breaking through dividing fence to be with friends 2 even though that horse was still beating the crap out of him. I finally moved him into the paddock next door with 5 other geldings. All was fine. Until one of the ladies moved a mare into the paddock. My horse was at bottom of pecking order so decided to be friends with mare. Boss gelding decided not acceptable and belted crap out of my boy. After a week of my horse being continually beaten and chased into furtherest part of paddock by this womans horse I begged another friend to keep him at her place.

Within a few months my first friends bully gelding died and her mare was on her own. When she got back from overseas we put my gelding in with her mare where they started off with.

I came down the morning after I moved him in. To find that the bully gelding from the paddock next door had been at my horse all night and in retalliation my boy kicked - and shredded his legs on the barbed wire, ripping down 2 strands and taking out 3 star pickets.

I now have a 2m offset electrified fence between our paddock and next doors and my boy still has the scars from the attack.

The attitude of the woman who owns the bully horse? So what. Her words.
 
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