Sarah W
Well-Known Member
Might be a good idea to get a cuppa before you read this, it's long!
We've currently got five horses;
Murphy - section D; dominant but benign - everyone knows he's the boss but he doesn't make a big fuss about it.
Troy - Lusitano; petrified of most things and very respectful of Murphy.
Gribbles - Lusitano colt (due to be cut in November - can't do at the moment because of flies). Hero-worships Murphy and follows him everywhere.
Dream - TB/Luso cross. Lived alone for a long time before we got him in December. Very placid and seems to prefer being left alone. The others ignore him except Gribbles who chases/plays with him much more than Dream would like. Currently separated as he has had cracked heels.
New horse - Tido, Lusitano and another sweet, placid horse.
We have a paddock paradise track system and the four existing horses get on well (bar Gribbles bugging Dream). We put Tido in a separate field, surrounded by the PP for two weeks and all seemed to be going well - lots of interest over the fence but no aggression - so we decided to let him join the others on Monday.
Initially Murphy checked him out, a bit of squealing and a couple of kicks, which Tido did not react to, but nothing serious. Troy and Gribbles hung back. However after a while Gribbles decided he wanted to practice being the boss and kicked/bit Tido who was having none of it. Murphy came to the rescue of his protegee and Tido bit him as well - big mistake. Murphy went mad and kicked Tido until we were able to intervene. Tido has several cuts and lumps but no serious injuries (all are barefoot).
We've now put Tido in with Dream and they are getting on very well but we'd really like have all of them on the track - it's almost 1km long so there's plenty of room.
Any advice on the least traumatic way of integrating them? Should we take Gribbles out of the pack until they have sorted themselves out? Or isolate Murphy until a new pecking order is established?
Help!!!
We've currently got five horses;
Murphy - section D; dominant but benign - everyone knows he's the boss but he doesn't make a big fuss about it.
Troy - Lusitano; petrified of most things and very respectful of Murphy.
Gribbles - Lusitano colt (due to be cut in November - can't do at the moment because of flies). Hero-worships Murphy and follows him everywhere.
Dream - TB/Luso cross. Lived alone for a long time before we got him in December. Very placid and seems to prefer being left alone. The others ignore him except Gribbles who chases/plays with him much more than Dream would like. Currently separated as he has had cracked heels.
New horse - Tido, Lusitano and another sweet, placid horse.
We have a paddock paradise track system and the four existing horses get on well (bar Gribbles bugging Dream). We put Tido in a separate field, surrounded by the PP for two weeks and all seemed to be going well - lots of interest over the fence but no aggression - so we decided to let him join the others on Monday.
Initially Murphy checked him out, a bit of squealing and a couple of kicks, which Tido did not react to, but nothing serious. Troy and Gribbles hung back. However after a while Gribbles decided he wanted to practice being the boss and kicked/bit Tido who was having none of it. Murphy came to the rescue of his protegee and Tido bit him as well - big mistake. Murphy went mad and kicked Tido until we were able to intervene. Tido has several cuts and lumps but no serious injuries (all are barefoot).
We've now put Tido in with Dream and they are getting on very well but we'd really like have all of them on the track - it's almost 1km long so there's plenty of room.
Any advice on the least traumatic way of integrating them? Should we take Gribbles out of the pack until they have sorted themselves out? Or isolate Murphy until a new pecking order is established?
Help!!!
and it's interesting to determine which way is best. Personally I would isolate the trouble maker in this case Gribbles and try Tido in with Murphy and the rest . If this goes ok ( you will know straight away) and they all settle and chill down together for a while when you reintroduce Gribbles and he tries to stir some mischief he may not have any backers and him vs Tido may be more quietly resolved
