Introducing a new horse

[soloequestrian]

I lost my elderly companion so now have a friend's teenage mare to keep my two company (so I can hack one and leave the other with a friend). She's taped off from them at the moment. My two are a mare and a gelding. I'm swithering about the next stage of the introduction - do I just take down the fences and let them all be together or do I put one of mine in with her first? She's doing huge squeals and leg lift thingys (what are they called? not really a strike as such) when she sniffs the gelding. My mare is a bit baffled by it all - she has only been in with geldings since leaving her mum. I wonder if I should keep her out of the way in case she gets caught in the crossfire OR if she will just get really agitated if she can't join in when they meet loose....
Opinions please!

 

[TheChestnutThing]

At our yard we only have herds, when new horses come in we just let them loose and off they go. They will sort their own lives out.

 

[milliepops]

how long have they been over the fence from each other?
if you were merging into a bigger group then i'd be inclined to pick one horse to go in with her for a while before adding to the gang, but as they will be a 3 that feels like it may be overkill. if your mare is not joining in with the squealing then she will probably continue to keep herself out of trouble.

With mine I generally try to do a week or 2 (more if things are not settling) with a fence dividing the newbie and then pick a quiet day to merge them, either with new grass or some hay or something to encourage them to settle... headcollars stay on so I can grab anyone i need to and then keep your fingers crossed!

 

[outdoor girl]

I had a mare and a gelding when I wanted to introduce my new mare. We kept them separate for about a week, with no squealing or striking out so thought there'd be no problem putting them together. BAD MOVE!!!! The gelding was the problem and he wasn't impressed. Cornered her, chased her, was thoroughly nasty to her. The only way we managed to sort the problem out was to give him some Sedalin before they went out so he was truely chilled. We did this for about 3 days and hey presto. Calm was restored to the field. Good luck. It seems to depend very much on the horses. Just keep a watchful eye out for the first few days.

 

[soloequestrian]

Yes, it's amazing the difference that little strip of tape makes... I hate introducing new ones! I've only had the new mare since Monday evening so not long. I'll just keep observing.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

What is the shoeing status of all members of the herd?? I'd be inclined to remove hind shoes before putting everyone together.

If you want to know every good reason why NOT to turn out mares with "boys" too soon then just Google "mare kills stallion"........ (warning it is NOT nice to watch).

You just can't be too careful. The very worst IME are mares-with-mares.

 

[SEL]

Here's what I did back at Easter when the new boy joined (existing horses were 2 mares and 1 gelding who had been together 2 years).

Firstly he went in a paddock next to them but with a double layer of tape because one of the mares strikes out with her forefeet when she gets excited. Both mares promptly came into season and all the squirting and silliness kicked off. Poor new boy was totally bemused

On about day 3 while I was there I put the two boys in together in a paddock which had a lot of grass (thankfully both boys can have grass). Elder gelding was grumpy at having to do babysitting but I can rely on him not to beat anyone up these days. Everyone went back to their existing paddocks at night so the mares didn't kick off at losing their friend. I did this for a few days then allowed the mares to talk to newbie over the fence.

I think it was about a week and ensuring that both mares had got over their hormones before they all went in together and that was in the paddock with grass so they'd all concentrate on stuffing their faces. I had planned to put the newbie back in his own paddock that night but they settled pretty quickly and he knew he was at the bottom of the pecking order so I kept my fingers crossed and left them all out. Back shoes only on the little mare who has had foals herself and is good at dealing with other horses especially youngsters.

I agree with the post above that introducing new mares to mares is more stressful. I had to split my mares last year when a new one turned up on the liery yard and my big mare got the little one on the run. Took ages for them to settle.

 

[soloequestrian]

No shoes on anyone. It's terrifying enough without involving knuckledusters....