Keeping a horse alone/ segregated from the others

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Louby

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I keep feeling really guilty about my boy as he goes out in his own field alone. He is in the same field as his mates but seperated with electric fencing.
Last November he fractured his radius and is lucky to be here and since recovering he has been seperated from his mates. The fracture was a result of a kick from his mate probably from my boy taking things too far whilst playing. They played constantly, getting rougher and rougher, we'd never seen horses play like they did and it was an accident waiting to happen.
Since buying him he was injured almost daily, he was on a big yard in a field of about 20 horses. We were really lucky to get to move to a small private yard where he went out with 3 other geldings and everything was fine at first but then the games got rougher and eventually I found him with a fractured leg so I decided to see how he went on his own.
Tonight I was bringing him in and boss horse ran at the fence to get my boy as in the old days boss horse would come in first, my boy had a proper go back at him. Its like my horse thinks hes boss now. I sometimes wonder what would happen if they got together. I know Ive created this problem but I cant see a way arround it. I'd love nothing more for him to be out with others as I dont think its fair him being alone but hes such an idiot. Do any of you graze your horses alone?
 
cant you get him a companion for his field , one from the rescue center like a shetti?
i wouldnt risk him in with that other one .... lots of horses graze on there own
i prefer to have them in a group but if i had a HOYS winner or somthing along that line i would have individual just my thoughts
 
I kept my previous horse in a seperate paddock for 5 years and she was fine.

I know how your feeling though because I felt exactly the same when I moved to the yard but that's how they did it.

One thing, my mare never suffered from kicks etc, she adjusted to it fine - I think it was me that had the problem!
 
Yes I do think its me too. Hes fine alone but I know he misses contact like scratching each other cos he hounds me to do it now. Im turning into a right worrier just incase they get through the tape to each other. I annoy myself with all this 'what if'. The 3 geldings havent much grass left now and my boy was playing over the tape with his old mate, last time they did this part of the tape came down with his mate striking out. Now my boys gone and upset boss horse. God horses, so much stress
crazy.gif

Theres no stables free for a companion and to be honest I cant afford to keep another horse. I did think about a shetland but lami could be a problem and I'd end up seperating my horse again.
Thanks for replying
 
I would not worry about it because to me you are doing the right thing in order to keep your horse safe and free from injury.It is not as if he is totally isolated as he can see other horses over the fence by the sounds of it.
My boy by lived by himself since I got him four years ago and he is fine and happy, injury free, no rug repairs to do, no separation problems! He can see my neighbours horses over the fence so is not isolated but he would not be bothered if they went to be honest. He is quite happy and wants for nothing and I do not have the stress that other owners do about when to bring in and put out etc. Horses are intelligent animals and in the main, do adapt well to their environment.
 
If you have the confidence and if your boy takes you as boss I might put the horses (especially the boss and your boy in the yard together tied up and keep a close eye on them and let them establish the hiarachy in a contained environment where you can do damage control, pulling faces and such. My boy and one other gelding (my boy is still entire (20 months)) really don't get on even though my boy is submissive the gelding (who thinks that he is a stallion) really trys to exert dominance and my boy reacts and since my boy is 14.3 and no shoes and the gelding is 16.2 with 4 shoes it's not safe to put them together but they can be in the yard together (they didn't used to be safe together in the yard not tied up) and the gelding doesn't react to my boy anymore since they pulled faces in the yard together and he realised that he was still dominant. Sometimes it just takes you to stop worrying (I know it's hard) but they need to be horses.

Good luck
 
hello
yes hierachy needs establishing everytime an you usually get scuffles, but from my experience some horses just dont mix well, if the two geldings are v dominant your asking for trouble, as much as they may settle with time it sounds like they are both up for a fight to sort it out and i dont think your horse should have to run the gauntlet till it settles?! you need to find yourself a nice submissive charachter to turn out with yours
as regards fencing could you make it more permanent as yes the temporary electric posts do come loose
 
I wouldnt worry...sometimes it just wont work and I dont think its worth going thru injuries to try.
I thought I was doing a really good thing for my mare by putting her with a group of mares at a yard...she is normally pretty dominant but fine with other horses - she doesnt do anything but pulls faces and she expects that to be enough and with most it is...but she got beaten up, just a few scrapes firstly but then quite badly and I removed her...it wasnt worth her suffering to try and get the mix to get on.
She spent time on box rest and away from the group..so it was always her being brought back in as the outsider...plus some went and new ones arrived so hierarchy always changing.
It started to affect her and I didnt think her personality should change just because of me trying to keep her 'natural' environment - which obviously wasnt doing her any good and having her hurt as well.
I am at another yard now and she goes out with one other quiet mare now...or is on her own but is always next door to others...she is fine so long as someone next door and more confident in herself again.
 
Yes I do.

I got so sick of constant field injuries from playing / fighting that i took the decision to have him out alone.

Hes been turned out on his own since we moved in april (he, like yours, has ponies next door to him)

Ive got to say, while its not the ideal, ive had zero injuries with him since the changes and the relief has been immense. I was constantly on edge wondering whether he'd come in injured, how bad the next would be and so on.

We're soon moving to our own place and its looking like we have acquired two donkeys. Im going to try and get them out together and see if that works since they shouldnt be as much threat as 16 hh horses with shoes :|
 
Mine goes out on his own, but has horses on both sides of the field, over a post and rail fence. He had too many injuries and is accident prone, so I took the decision to keep him on his own. Not ideal, but better than another general anesthetic like he had last year.

He bugs me to scratch him whether he's been out with other horses or not! But now that he is on his own, I do take the time to give him a good groom/scratch every day.
 
Yes I would keep doing what you're doing, as others have said, it's not as if he is totally alone, he is in sight and sound of his "herd". Learn a lesson from mine - 2 dominant geldings playing rough all the time, YO insisted the herd was fine and they were just "being horses" - until one of my mares got caught in the crossfire and is now recovering from a nasty leg injury. Needless to say, they are now separated...
 
Yeah, have you tried a little shetland or something a bit older which hopefully wont play?!

My old shetland is on her own most of the time as she is no longer allowed ANY grass so is stabled at night and out in the (hardcored) yard during the day. She can touch horses either side of her. And I do put a pony in with her every few days so she gets some interaction. She seems pretty content with that but then she is 17/18 years old so likes a quiet life now. Had she been a lot younger, I would have got her a fellow companion.
 
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