Individual or together......

maisie06

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I have 3 - 2 can be turned out together no problems at all. But one gelding is very riggy and gets quite nasty towards other horses, he's also unhappy in himself when in a group, one his own he is no problem at all.
 

Fidgety

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Having had 1 fractured leg (caused by a pony with no shoes on) and 1 fractured head I now only ever individually turn out. All horses were sensible and good natured. I'd love to put them together but it's just not worth the risk to me.

Edited to add.. I make no judgement of anyone choosing to turn out horses together, I wish I could bring myself to do it!

Similar story here, resulting in one week short (and still counting) of 6 months box rest. Seeing my horse yearning for the company she had become used to and turning herself inside out in her stable to get to it (thus setting healing time back) has broken my heart. Never again.

She'd previously always been used to individual turnout after spending so much of her life at the same yard. It never stopped her galloping and bucking and f*arting with the others alongside and to be honest, she was so used to it that I believe she found herd behaviour hard to cope with as she has quite a dominant personality (undoubtedly what resulted in the kick).

Do what suits your horse(s) or what your gut tells you, they'll let you know soon enough if they're unhappy xx.
 

milliepops

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I was always a staunch defender of group turnout having had mine in herds for years. Have had some field accidents and am now a bit cautious but still prefer not to have individual turnout, my experience is it makes horses a bit miserable.

We have a mixed economy at the moment, to reflect the pecking order. When they are in the fields, my 2 mares go out together and Armas is on his own. Millie picks on Kira a bit, but Kira can get away from her, and as Millie is getting the cotton wool treatment post-injury, I figure she can decide how much she wants to torment Kira and will stop when she has had enough. Armas badgers Millie all day so she never gets any rest in the field. The 2 of them together would persecute Kira, so at the moment I opt not to put them all in together. It will just result in a squabble.

When it's too wet or icy to use the field, Millie and Armas are on the hard standing with hay and Kira is on her own in a little paddock adjacent. So they all get a go at being in company :) Works for us. 3 is a bit of a tricky number.
 

Tally-lah

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I have six, ranging from mini shetlands through to 16hh warmblood. Two are fully shod, one has front and three are unshod. All live out together 24/7, they never kick one another or get into scraps, they are happy and chilled horses because, I believe, they live in a herd environment where they get plenty of interaction and play time with one another.
 

FinkleyAlex

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Mine go out together, purely because they get hay in the field in winter and one of mine is very dominant around food and would start a riot with any horse other than my youngster. I'm thinking of letting two others go in their field for summer as my youngster could do with more playmates - my retired horse is starting to get tired of him.
 
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