Introducing miniature Shetland to welsh cob

[Beani]

So basically looking for advice. We have a welsh cob who's extremely down to earth and very gentle, allows us to do anything with him. We felt bad because he was all alone and so we went and bought a miniature Shetland. We kept them separated for 3 days, allowing them to see each other over the fence. We then let the Shetland out yesterday and after a run round, they were absolutely fine. Following each other and rolling together. However, now every time we go to the gate to go in the field, the welsh cob comes over to see us which then means the Shetland follows as he's only 2 and extremely friendly. However once they are both at the gate, the welsh cob kicks off and chases the Shetland, kicking his legs up and scaring him off. The welsh cob is 19, the Shetland is 2. How can we sort this and why's it happening?

 

[be positive]

You cannot sort this, your cob is behaving as the leader and just acting normally with a younger pony, as long as he is not being a bully and making contact he is doing no more than keeping the little one in his place, if you try to interfere you risk it becoming aggressive rather than just a threat, make sure there is no way for the little one to get cornered and leave them to work it out themselves.

Your cob needs to know he is still your number one horse so don't try to make a big fuss of the new one however much you want to, treat them sensibly, do the cob first then the shetland afterwards and make sure the cob gets enough food, he will need more than the shetland so it should be easy to make sure he has the biggest share and does not feel he needs to fight over it, as time goes on the chasing off should become less obvious, the shetland will learn to stay back in his rightful place so your cob gets to you first, for now just ignore it, being a bit scared will not do him any harm and he will learn his manners as all young ponies should.

 

[meleeka]

I made a pen with one strand of tape so that my mini could duck under and get away from the bigger ones. Could you make a pen near the gate for the little one?

My mini however learnt pretty quickly that he could annoy the cob and then dart under the tape so he couldnt retaliate! Luckily the cob is very tolerant and mostly just rolles hie eyes at him.