introducing yearling to established herd

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bheb2186

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Hi, I have my 3 boys. My oldest and my shetland have been together on their own for 7 years...I bought a foal last year, he's 10months now. When I first introduced them my oldest was a right bully, chasing the youngster around and pinning him in to corners, biting etc. I split my field in to 2 sections after this, one for my oldest guy and the shetland and one for my youngster. I think the youngster is getting bored on his own now and I ideally want them to all be together in the same field and not in separate fields, dont want my youngster to only ever be in on his own. They seem to get along much better now, almost like friends over the fence, grazing side by side, touching over the fence. I'm just scared that one of them will get injured if I re-introduce them to the same field again. Does anyone have any advise on how to make the transition as easy and smooth and injury free as possible? Thanks x
 
i would probably remove the shetland from the equation putting the youngster in with the older pony until they are really settled and happy, it may take several days but by keeping the shetland away it should allow the old one to accept the youngster, he was probably just defending his friend initially and the yearling got panicked by the aggression, if he doesn't have the shetland to "protect" he should take the yearling under his care instead, hopefully once that happens they can all go together again.
it may also help if you can move them into a different field, or part of, so it is new to them, the older one may be less possessive if there is fresh grass and different smells to keep his interest.

It is no life for the youngster being alone, even if it is only across the fence, he needs to be able to interact properly.
 
I know it's no fun for him. I did think about doing that so i'm glad you suggested it too. There isn't another field I can move them to either, I tried to see if there was a small paddock at the local yard I could use for a short period but there's nothing available. My hubby is dead set against integrating them because he seen what happened when they were first together, no matter how much I explain that my youngster cant always be alone he disagree's but he has no experience of horses prior to meeting me and only helps out occassionally. The grass is starting to come through very slowly here already to so hoping that I wont be as much of an interest to them, so if my older guy see's the baby coming towards me he wont be as protective and the grass will occupy him more. Thanks x
 
Do you know if your foal had time in a herd environment with his mum with other mare and their foals? If yes, that will have taught him a lot and I would be less worried about him than a youngster which had not had that experience

There are several ways to do this but if they are all very settled and generally all seem to get on now grazing in next door fields but still able to interact over the fencing then I think it would be okay to turn them out as a mini herd now.

Do you have somewhere that you can bring them in and put the youngster and older one next door to another other for a bit whilst you take down the separating barrier (and fence off any potential traps like corners if it made you feel happier) then turn the two of them out together. ideally turn them out when they are a little more hungry as that way they are also more likely to be more interested in grazing than testing your nerves then you can pop the shetland after the other two settled

Alternatively, put the shetland in with the youngster for a few days then do the same with your older chap before turning them all out together
 
I think i would do it when the grass is growing well, then they will want to eat rather than pay each other too much notice, then put yearling in with one of the other two, then when settled reintroduce the other
 
Last edited:
be positive said:
i would probably remove the shetland from the equation putting the youngster in with the older pony until they are really settled and happy, it may take several days but by keeping the shetland away it should allow the old one to accept the youngster, he was probably just defending his friend initially and the yearling got panicked by the aggression, if he doesn't have the shetland to "protect" he should take the yearling under his care instead, hopefully once that happens they can all go together again.
it may also help if you can move them into a different field, or part of, so it is new to them, the older one may be less possessive if there is fresh grass and different smells to keep his interest.

It is no life for the youngster being alone, even if it is only across the fence, he needs to be able to interact properly.
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Perfect advice.
Introducing to just the older one first will certainly make things easier.
I also add to the group on a new field. Neural territory and new to them all so they all think they are the newcomer.
 
He only had 3 months with his mum and then she unfortunately had to get pts :( after that though he was in with a foster mare for a short time and then was in a field with 2 other geldings before coming to me. No stable access at the moment to put them next to one another, there in the process of being built justnow. I did think of tying them up to opposite sides of the shelter and grooming them both before turning them in to the field. x
 
Hopefully the grass will start to come through some more soon...shetland will be in a grazing muzzle so thats one less set of teeth to worry about :-/ x
 
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