introducing horses to each other!!

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jomax

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Had a really bad evening. My horse has been the only livery on a small yard for quite a few months, apart from a companion pony. However a new livery has been taken on and the yard owner has insisted that my mare be but in with the new pony. My mare is a 14h 3" welsh cob and the new pony is a 12' 2 welsh gelding.

They have been stabled side by side for the last few days, and this evening we turned them out together, having put forage in tw separate piles first in the field the horses went to the food and started to eat, then the pony approached my mare with his ears back, and turned his bottom towards her and kicked her, my mare kicked back, she then slipped and fell onto her side, got up limping on a back leg and ran off. The pony went after her and all this happened again, no biting or rearing, just bottom to bottom kicking back. The pony is not shod at the rear, but my mare is. I am amazed that the little pony is being so agressive, as i was told that he was socialised and got on well with other horses, whereas my mare has not had much socialising and tends to prefer her own company. In the end, myself and the owner of the pony came away, cos it was just too traumatic to watch. Dreading going back in the morning now!!!
 
Hi. Don't worry they will be fine. There will always be a pecking order and once they have established who is the boss etc you won't have any probs. I have one mare who is very dominant over the other but Saffy knows when to keep out of the way. I can lead them in together and they are fine.
 
:mad: I REALLY don't subscribe to the 'leave them to it' attitude, I'd never suggest any of my liveries introduced horses like that. I put one in a round pen for a bit whilst they make introductions and pull faces through 5' high round panelling. I am a little paranoid after loosing a horse that was left with another that chased her to exhaustion though.

I'd have whipped one or the other out smartish, just for the night, then try the introductions again in the morning when everyone has more time and they have eaten thus no food to fight over. The last time I had two horses do the bum to bum thing it cost me $300 in Vets fees for needlework and drugs. I wade in there with a lungewhip now I am afraid and re-think field arrangements for a bit.

Mind, hopefully by the morning they will have worked it out and be sharing the same blade of grass between them and you will both have been worrying for nothing. Hope there is nothing worse than a bit of bruising for your mare, it is quite dramatic when they hop off because they've been given a dead leg.
 
Thanks for your comments so far. I know that i am worrying over something that is done on a regular basis by livery yards everywhere, but its still an upsetting event. It could only be worse if she was being introduced to an all ready established herd. This is at least one to one and not one to 10+. But it has so suprised me by how aggresive the little one is!! I reckon i wont sleep well tonight, and I am too much of a wooze to go the yard myself in the morning, i will be sending my daughter down (20 year old) to check things out first, before I go. I know that the owner of the pony is really worried too, all she could do was keep on appoligising to me for her ponys behaviour, as she was as amazed by him as I was! Anyone else want to reassure me that things will be alright??
 
Dubsie said:
In future it might help to put the forage in at least 3 or 4 piles, that way there's still something for one to eat if chased off the biggest pile by the other. Hope they're OK in the morning.
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We always make sure that there are more piles than horses.
We also always make sure that horses are introduced over a wall or sturdy fence, until the squealing has died down. That can take a few days. I do think that I might have taken one or both of them back out of the field until your mare could have her back shoes taken off for safety's sake.
However, they probably will have settled down by now.
 
I'm sure they will be ok this morning and will have worked things out. I was a bit traumatised when we introduced a shettie into our field with a lively 16.2, a feisty 15.3 and the 12.1 we've had for years. They squealed over the fence first and then we let them out together within about 20 mins and don't seem to have had any problems but it was stressful! They chased him away for the first few days, on and off, but not as in chasing him round and round, just chasing him off if he got too close (he wasn't worried). They soon settled though. :)
 
Milly went out alongside her herd for about 2 weeks in a separate field when we turned her out. Then when she was in with them for the first time there wasn't so much as a squeal, it went very very smoothly.
 
My older horse is vile when new horses are introduced in the filed - he bites, kicks and would run them into the ground if left to their own devices. He just needs to spend a couple of weeks with the new horse alongside, with the paddock spilt with electric fencing. Then when they're together he's absolutely fine.

Is there any way you could temporarily split their paddock so that they can get used to each other that way first. Personally I wouldn't want to leave them to it, as there's too much risk of injury
 
Don't panic. They have to go in together at some point. I got 2 shetlands as companions to my 16.1 competition horse. They were put in adjacent fields next to each other. Within an hour they had got through the elctric fencing (which packs a real punch) and were busy trying to kick ten bells out of each other. I seperated them a put up an extra line of fence. The next morning I found that they were in together again and had obviously sorted things out between themselves. It's not nice but sometimes they know best!!
 
abi31 said:
It's not nice but sometimes they know best!!
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Yep, and sometimes it just isn't worth it, some horses just don't like other horses, bit like people really:)

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Thanks yet again to everyone. This morning when i went to see them, all was calm. They were brought into their stables and we checked them over. The 12.2 seemed fine and my mare was slightly favouring her rear left leg. That was the side that she landed on when she fell, giving herself a dead leg. We have now discovered that the pony was socialised as said before and kept in a herd, where he was a very 'pushy' pony always wanting to be noticed and craving attention, the other herd members would keep him in his place, so basically, he was the bottom of the chain. And upon leaving that enviroment, and being placed in a field on his own for a couple of days and then my mare being placed into the field with him he has decided that he is going to ascert his authority straight away, not intending to be second in the pecking order, wanting to be 'top horse', hence him instigating the first blow.

This evening we put my mare in the field first so that she had the chance to run away when he entered the field should she wish. She was eating one of the piles of haylege when he entered the field, he put his ears back and approached her, she immediately took flight away from the hay to another pile, he started eating her hay, that happened a few times. Later they where at opposite ends of the field, when my mare saw me she came down the field to me for a 'cuddle', which she had. The pony saw this and immediately came across the field to me, she saw him and walked away from me as he approached me, i didnt 'cuddle' him, as he needs to know that he will not receive affection by 'muscling in' on the other horse.

It appears that we have an insecure, attention seeking pony who is looking to better himself in life, and so far, my mare appears to be letting him do so!!
 
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